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The Big
STORIES EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
have often had a certain amount of
cartoon vibrancy, and the company
had a hand in creating some of the
Skylanders games, including
Skylanders: SuperChargers, where it
took charge of the racing sections.
That experience, and the studio’s
love for the original Crash Team
Racing, are visible in how full of life
the remade tracks look in Crash
Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.CRASH COURSE
“We established very early on that
we wanted Crash Team Racing
Nitro-Fueled to be brimming with
personality both from an
environmental and character
standpoint,” says Wilson. The remade
locations are teeming with detail,
from temples surrounded by lush
vegetation to neon-lit, graffiti-
sprayed metal walls to wrecked
sailing ships, and the character
animations are full of little quirks
that bring them to life. The PS
game was a leader in that regard,
and Beenox is taking full adavantage
of the current gen’s greater
capabilities to make sure this
remake continues to lead the pack.
But the team members aren’t
going hog wild and doing whatever
they want with the game. As fans of
the original game, they want to
capture its magic in full. “Whatever
improvements or bells and whistles
we were going to add, we needed tobe authentic to the inspiration of the
original experience,” says Wilson.
After all, Crash Team Racing is one
of those magical retro gems that still
sparkles every time you dig it out.
“We’re spending a tremendous
amount of time making sure it’s the
same great racing experience that
fans remember with a level of polish
that could only be achieved by
today’s standards.”
So far it’s not entirely clear how
much new content Beenox will be
adding to the game, but making such
a faithful remake is work enough,
especially with the sort of luxurious
detail that pops out of every second
of the action we’ve seen so far. While
it will still have the same local
multiplayer options as it first did (a
welcome rare inclusion these days),
it will introduce a brand-new online
mode so you can race with people
from around the world. That alone is
a big enough addition to the Crash
Team Racing experience to make us
tingle with anticipation. With a fully
featured single-player adventure
mode, and the option to test our
mettle again and again online, CrashTeam Racing Nitro-Fueled is sure to
be something we can keep coming
back to for some time.CLASSIC CARS
Nitro-Fueled is releasing on 21 June,
nearly 20 years since Crash Team
Racing came out – which is a
landmark achievement in and of
itself. The original PlayStation helped
to birth many great series that have
remained dear for such a long time,
and to see those still being
celebrated is truly something special.
While PlayStation has always been
home to fantastic mature
experiences, it’s also a family-
friendly platform, and Nitro-Fueled
looks like exemplifying that aspect.
Few series offer the colour and
vibrancy of Crash, and it’s going to
be great to introduce a fresh wave
of gamers to one of our favourite
kart racers – lovingly recreated with
all the modern benefits of PS4. From
your nan to your nephew, they’re in
for a treat. But now we’re beyond
just sharing that experience with
friends and family coming over to
our house. With online competition,
and the a the return of split-screen
couch-play, we can all experience
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
together in a way that wouldn’t have
been possible before now.WE NEEDED TO BE
AUTHENTIC TO THE
INSPIRATION OF THE
ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE.
Q We wouldn’t normally bet on someone
called Crash to win a race...Q Look at his face, Crash is having an
amazing time. And so will we.CTR Nitro-Fueled is coming 21 June.
Excited? Let us know @OPM_UK.KEEPING TRACK
The original CTR was filled with plenty
of content. “There was nothing like it
at the time. The amount of time I spent
playing that game!” reminisces
Thomas Wilson, Beenox’s creative
director, on the PlayStation blog.From snow-covered
courses to underwater
temples, tracks are varied.