

Nitro-Fueled feels like a proper current-gen mascot racer. The general visuals and sense of speed are also super polished, so the overall experience is just really solid. Sane Trilogy, and the environments are lush with details. Characters are as well-animated and furry as they were in the N. This is easily one of the best kart racing games you’ll ever look at with your eyeballs. Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, developed by Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions house Beenox, appears to be relying heavily on polish, and with a good result. For any game that isn’t Mario Kart, the developers have to do a lot of work to stand out. Kart racing was so thoroughly run into the ground during previous console generations that the genre almost died outright. On the other hand, I found myself intensely frustrated by it. On one hand, I liked a lot of what Nitro-Fueled had to offer. After spending time with the new Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, I come away with mixed feelings as a kart racing enthusiast. So, I was happy to finally give the Crash Bandicoot version a whirl, especially in the wake of Activision’s well-received platformer remakes. I like racing with goofy characters and throwing items at them. Team Sonic Racing is one of my favorite games of 2019 so far.

Mario Kart is something I’ll always be down for, and I’ve even been into the stranger offerings in the genre such as Donkey Kong Barrel Blast and Konami Krazy Racers. However, I freakin’ love kart racing games. I played the Crash and Spyro core titles, but my nostalgia radar doesn’t really include those characters. Needless to say, I missed a lot of the more mascot-y stuff, in favor of the more insular Japanese fare I was into at the time. I wasn’t much of a PlayStation kid, never getting around to that platform until the smaller PSOne remodel and Final Fantasy IX. I have never played the original Crash Team Racing.
