First things first: The default control scheme is terrible. Seriously, who makes a racing game and doesn’t make the trigger button the gas? You can argue that these games originally came out on the PS1, and they’re just replicating the original experience, but I’ll gently remind you that the PS1 also had shoulder buttons. Just because it’s a really old mistake doesn’t mean it’s not a mistake.
The good news is the controls are easily changed. We had a little difficulty finding the option when we played, because we were livestreaming at the time and our heads covered up the “options menu” part of the screen. Oops, how embarrassing. However, even after changing it to the much superior “Alternate” control scheme, we still had a problem in that it only changed it for player one. I don’t know if it’s a glitch or what, but we couldn’t figure out how to change it for player two.
And while trying to fix it, I somehow managed to lock out player one’s controls completely and turned player two’s controller into player one. Maybe we just missed something again, or maybe the programmers are so used to people playing online, that they didn’t playtest properly for split screen. If it is a glitch, hopefully it will be fixed in a patch.
Second gripe: Most of the unlockables are only unlocked through playing single player. I might be wrong about this, but going by my own experience this weekend, combined with the Cheat FAQs I read online, it appears to be the case. Kart racers are generally more fun with more players, and therefore all your unlockables should be obtainable without even touching single player mode. Ideally each unlockable should have two ways to be unlocked (I’ve seen some fighting games do this), so that you can get everything whether you’re a complete loner or a party animal.
Third gripe: The unlockables you can access seem to be based on player one. What I mean is, let’s say Bob plays single player for a while and unlocks items A, B, and C. Then Sarah plays single player for a while and unlocks items X, Y, and Z. Then they both log on and play two player mode, with Bob as player one. Both players are able to access items A, B, and C, but neither can access X, Y, and Z. It’s not the first time I’ve seen a game handle unlockables this way, but it always irks me. If I unlock a really cool kart, I should be allowed to show it off regardless of whether I’m player one or two.
Gripe #4: Power sliding. This is an important technique that you must master to get around corners in some tracks. I’m sure I could get a handle on it with practice, but I don’t wanna. I don’t want to learn a lot of new gimmicks for each different kart racing game. To me, this is a party game, and as such I just want to pick up the controls and play. Sure, have some secret techniques that let some players master the game, but don’t design the tracks around them, and don’t make those tricks required to beat the enemy AI. Which brings us to gripe #5…
Gripe #5: Difficulty. Admittedly I only rented the game over the weekend, so I didn’t have time to get good. That said, I couldn’t manage to beat the third track on single player. I attempted it five times, and while I did manage to come in third place a couple of times, apparently you have to come in first to beat the track. When playing with my wife, we kept coming in seventh and eighth (out of eight racers) consistently. Look, I don’t expect to master these games on my first try. But I am pretty good at kart racers, so I should at least be able to master the early tracks in just a few tries. Blame my aging reflexes if you want, but I own the road on Mario Kart 8 and Beach Buggy Racing.
Gripe #6: The Flavor. Okay, I’m not a huge fan of the Crash Bandicoot universe. Sorry, but to me, he’s the epitome of the 90s trend of “Radical” animal mascots. But I can’t hold that against the game; I shouldn’t have even rented it if that was going to be a problem. (“When you play Chutes and Ladders, do you complain about all the chutes and all the ladders?” – Sheldon Cooper.) But even within the Crash universe, I had a hard time finding characters I liked enough to use. I kept playing as the tiger kitten simply because I didn’t like any of the other characters better. This one might be more related to having too many unlockables. I like being able to unlock lots of characters, but in this case not enough of them were unlocked from the beginning.
I also thought some of the weapons were boring. The "bowling bomb" was neat, though hard to aim. But there were too many crates and beakers. I hardly ever picked up anything else.
And the way the single player mode uses a "Diddy Kong Racing" aesthetic. I hated Diddy Kong Racing. I don't want to have to drive to my next race. Just give me some menus, and let me select the next challenge from there. Every time someone turns a series into open world experience (See: SSX3, Burnout Paradise), I end up hating it.
Final Gripe: That certain undefinable thing. This is the biggest one, and I can't even put it into words. Racing games just have to feel a certain way, or it doesn't actually feel like a vehicle to me. A while back we rented "All Star Fruit Racing", and it was beautiful. I loved the graphics and the characters, but... it just didn't feel like driving. My wife and I both recognized it after one race. The carts just felt sort of sluggish, IMO.
Beach Buggy Racing has great controls, and it's only $10. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled almost nails it, but it still feels just shy of actual driving to me.
Bottom Line: Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled is a terrific game. I really appreciate all the work that went into it, and the sheer number of tracks and characters. The customization is fantastic, with all the kart colors and characters skins. I want to like this game. But this is one of those times when minor flaws add up to a lot. Hopefully some of the issues will be solved in a future patch, but some of my gripes are intrinsic parts of the game. It's a great game, but I don't think it's for me.
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