In 1999, Sony decided to release a game to rival the success of what ws
the Mario Kart franchise. The task fell into the hands of Naughty Dog,
who delivered unto us the Master Piece known as Crash Team Racing. Not
only did this game prove to be a better racer than Mario Kart, it still
remains the single best kart racer ever.
Similar to the Mario Kart franchise, this game put more emphasis on
creative tracks and over-the-top racing. While some may feel it was a
mere clone of Mario Kart, CTR actualy managed to deliver all of these
aspects even better. The tracks are far more creative, ranging from
multiple arena's such as in a "Tomb-Raider" inspried track or on a
track that is a hot wheels collector's wet dream. As well as being
creative, certain tracks are extremely challenging, most notable being
Doctor N. Gin's level, requiring several play throughs just to get use
to them. Even after perfect the tracks, the enemy AI are hard in this
game. At some moments you may be close to victory obly to have it
stolen from you at the last moment.
The weapons given in this game are really amazing. There are several
unique and distructive weapons that can be found to add more depth to
the races. Some weapons, such as the Tiki sheild, creates
invulnerability and will take down any opposing car that comes into
it's path. Other weapons, such as the heat seaking missles, exploding
chemicals, and energy bubbles make the races far more fun to play.
Aside from the main races there's also a duel mode where up to four
players battle it out until the last man is standing. This is
especially fun when playing it multiplayer.
Like the Mario Kart franchise, this game does suffer from a weaker
single player mode, but because of the more challenging tracks, it does
not affect this game as bad. Aside from that, this is a game any
Playstation owner should search out for. Almost a decade later, and
it's still hands down the best Kart Racer out there.
