Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a nitro boost to the original

Break out the nitrous oxide

After the release of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, fans were wondering if they’d ever see a remake of the beloved racing game. But while Vicarious Visions was hard at work with remastering the PlayStation trilogy, developer Beenox was eyeing Crash Team Racing.

The upcoming remake includes all the characters, tracks, controls, and power-ups from the original game. Beenox didn’t use any of the original Naughty Dog source code, a representative told Polygon at a recent press event — the studio recreated everything from scratch.

Impressively, there’s an attention to detail in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled that reflects a long-time love.

“We used to play Crash Team Racing during our lunch breaks,” a representative from Beenox told us. “If you lost a race, you had to forfeit your spot. So if you wanted to play the whole hour, you had to be the best.”

Beenox/Activision

Nitro-Fueled isn’t just the old game with a fresh coat of paint; New character animations add another layer of loving detail for HD screens. There are all kinds of nuances that, while may be overlooked on their own, work together to create a brighter, richer version of a beloved classic. Whether they’re sitting idle or featured in the winner’s screen, the cast of Nitro-Fueled exudes attitudes of their own.

New modes and features like online multiplayer and leaderboards will also be coming to Nitro-Fueled. And for those of you who remember the mess of MultiTap days on the original PlayStation, a local splitscreen mode for up to four players is also included.

As someone who poured hours into Crash Team Racing, picking up Nitro-Fueled was natural, even easy. I appreciated that Beenox stuck to the original soundtrack, even if the developer did recreate all of it on their own. Memories came rushing back as I slid my way through Polar Pass and dodged pairs of rolling seals. All of the same shortcuts are still in these tracks, and my muscles showed me the way before my brain caught up to where I was — it was fantastic.

“I remember this!” I yelled as I gleefully whizzed past the wreckage of a pirate ship. A few seconds later: “Oh god, no, I remember this.”

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled releases Jun. 21 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Polygon