Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled: Everything you need to know

After successfully releasing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Activision is back at it again remastering another classic Crash title. It's been nearly twenty years since Crash Team Racing first released for the original PlayStation in 1999, and though the Mario Kart series has dominated the kart racing scene for those two decades, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled looks to give it a run for its money.

What's new with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled?

While you're waiting for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled to finally release, stay up to date with the latest information.

June 17, 2019 — Get ready for CTR with its gameplay launch trailer

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled releases in a few short days and before then you can catch a look at its gameplay launch trailer ahead of its release. If you played CTR as a kid, you won't want to miss out on its remaster.

June 2, 2019 — Adventure Mode detailed with 20 minutes of gameplay

With Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled releasing in less than a month, PlayStation released 20 minutes of new gameplay footage from its Adventure Mode. The video was accompanied by a blog post that detailed how Beenox plans to retain the spirit of the original campaign while bringing to the table something new and fresh.

According to Co-Studio Head Tom Wilson, Beenox wants to keep the challenges, characters, and "thrills" the same, but they are adding new incentives that will make players even more hungry for that first place spot. Every time that a player wins a race they have a chance to earn new kart parts, character skins, or kart customization items. Bosses will now be unlocked directly after defeat instead of after Gem Cups.

Adventure Mode is also set to feature two ways that people can play: Classic or Nitro-Fueled. Those playing in Classic will not be able to change their racer or kart during the middle of the campaign. Nitro-Fueled players, on the other hand, can swap to any previously unlocked racer, kart, or customization item at any point during Adventure Mode.

What is Crash Team Racing?

Originally developed by Naughty Dog, Crash Team Racing is a kart racer featuring a bunch of characters from the Crash Bandicoot series. The evil boss, Nitros Oxide, is the self-proclaimed fastest racer in the galaxy, and he looks to turn Crash's earth into a concrete parking lot. The only way to save it? For Crash and pals to beat him at his own game. Because don't ever let anyone say a racing game can't have a plotline.

Taking the reins from Naughty Dog, developer Beenox has now been tasked with remastering the game and releasing it as Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. If the name Beenox sounds familiar, that's because it's the same studio that developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.

Gameplay

According to Thomas Wilson, creative director at Beenox, the team's main goal was authenticity. As such, you can expect a game that delivers a similar experience to the original. Back in 1999, Crash Team Racing featured five game modes: Adventure, Time Trial, Arcade, Versus and Battle. These should be making a return with some minor adjustments, one being the inclusion of online multiplayer. In Wilson's words, "Playing split screen is a lot of fun, but racing online is awesome!" After all, what good is a remaster if the experience isn't modernized a bit? If online multiplayer isn't your thing, you'll be happy to know that it still offers local 4-player split screen.

On top of that, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will still retain its traditional kart racing feel. From official screenshots that have already been released, it looks like crates are making a return, meaning that you'll be able to access a variety of power-ups and weapons to give you an advantage while on the track. Essentially, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will have everything from the original (characters, power-ups, tracks, modes) with a few new features thrown in. Beenox teases that even more has been added to the experience like new karts and tracks, and the ability to customize your kart.

Confirmed characters include:

• Crash Bandicoot
• Coco Bandicoot
• Nitros Oxide
• Doctor Neo Cortex
• Polar
• Pura
• Dingodile
• Tiny Tiger
• Dr. N. Gin
• Ripper Roo
• Papu Papu
• Komodo Joe
• Fake Crash
• Pinstripe Potoroo
• Dr. Nefarious Tropy
• Penta Penguin
• Nash
• Krunk
• N. Trance
• Big Norm
• Small Norm
• Crunch Bandicoot
• Zem
• Zam
• Emperor Velo XVII
• Geary
• Baby Crash
• Baby Coco
• Spyro the Dragon
• Tawna Bandicoot
• Isabella
• Liz
• Ami
• Megumi
• Baby T.

Graphics

Developer Beenox has confirmed that Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will run at 4K on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X. Presumably the standard PS4 and Xbox One will run at 1080p.

Frame rate is harder to guess at this point. For comparison, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy runs at 30FPS on consoles, but PC supports 60FPS. We'll need to wait and see just how well Beenox can optimize the game.

As for the design and aesthetic itself, Wilson said, "We established very early on that we wanted CTR Nitro-Fueled to be brimming with personality both from an environmental and character stand point. Fans will see this attention to detail shine through in every part of the game from the camera work, to the characters' quirky animations, to the lush environments you're racing in."

You can expect the same level of care that Activision's previous remasters, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, received.

When can you play it?

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is set to release on June 21, 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

You can pre-order the Standard Edition right now for $40. A digital-only Nitros Oxide Edition can be pre-ordered from the PlayStation Store for $60, and it includes a few additional character skins, Nitros Oxide as a playable character along with his kart, and more content to be announced at a later date. (Nitros Oxide and his kart can also be unlocked in-game for players who do not purchase the Nitros Oxide Edition.)

Updated June 2019: We've added a more complete list of its playable characters.