Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Crash Team Racing is one of the greatest and, if we're honest, lesser-known kart racers of console generations gone-by. It's definitely one that deserves a fresh audience and Activision, along with the help of developer Beenox, is happy to oblige. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a new version of the rubber-burning classic, rebuilt from the ground up to run smoothly on the current generation of consoles. Borrowing from Diddy Kong Racing before it, the game features a planet-threatening plotline that, for reasons that only make sense in a videogame, requires you to win a series of crazy, power-up fueled races in order to save the day. It's a fun idea that introduces racers to the core mechanics, tracks and characters of the game while setting them against a series of increasingly tough bosses in order to progress. If you want to really amp up the difficulty you could also work your way through the series of time trials and crystal collecting arenas, too! One of the features that the game first introduced is active power slides on corners. Drift around a corner and you can pick up a speed boost. The longer you can hold the drift the greater the speed boost, but you're also increasing your chances of losing control and spinning out. It's a mechanic that brings a fun - and sometimes excruciating - extra element of complexity to handling and race strategy. One of the big draws, especially for older fans, is the inclusion of couch co-op. The frame rate holds up well even with four of you on screen at once, and it adds a level of wildness to the levels that it's hard to see topped in another kart racer. For fans old and new, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a very welcome blast from the past.