Reckless animals driving big suped up killing machines. Cool.
You all know what type of game this is. Cute cuddly characters jump in these little killer racing machines, and they try to destroy each other while racing to the finish line for the gold trophy...not caring who they hurt in the process.
Crash Nitro Kart does this as well as would be expected. But something is lacking from it that Crash Team Racing had....and I still can't put my finger on it.
Let's try to figure out what went wrong.
It has great characters. Everyone you would expect in a crash racing game...plus some new faces and some hysterical new bosses like 2 french alien mimes...or an obsessive compulsive robot. That's all pretty cool, so that's not the problem.
What about power-ups? All the major power ups are there, plus a few new ones. However...they do seem to feel a bit....underdone. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't get the satisfaction out of using most of these like I did in CTR.
How about the tracks? Crash Nitro Kart has some great levels. They are really inventive and quirky and a hell of a lot of fun. The graphics also look great in the tracks. So no problems here. This is probably the biggest improvement from CTR.
Music and sounds? Great. It all seems to fit wonderfully. The music tracks are actually quite good and almost good enough to remember when you're done playing....humming them at the dinnertable, annoying everyone around you. Again, this is NOT the problem
What about the Gameplay? Ah. Here might be the problem. You see kids, Crash Nitro Kart tried to put something new in the game...namely, racing in teams. This means that there is this sense of team work. And maybe that's why it wasn't as fun. Because in a game where I'm racing with weapons, trying to destroy all in my path to pass the finish line, with only my ego to guide me.....the last thing I want is friends.
The teamwork thing works by having you race with a buddy....but still in different karts. And as you race, you charge up some kind of meter. Once the meter is full, you get some kind of special power. I got a "frenzy" when I played. This meant that I had unlimited power ups for a short amount of time. Sounds pretty cool huh? Yeah, it sounds cool, and something about it IS cool....but the idea of having buddies just drags the fun out of it a little bit.
Look. You are an island when playing these games. The only person you can trust is yourself. You don't need friends, you don't need anybody! Nobody loves you! You're a FREEEEEAKKK!!!
So that may be the major problem...the gameplay, not the fact that you're a freak. You'll have to deal with that elsewhere.
The teamwork aspect mixed with a lacking sense of speed certainly takes this game down a notch from CTR. But with all that negativity I'm focusing on, it's still a good game. It has some great characters and tracks and you won't be bored. It's fun playing against an opponent or by yourself. So please, don't let all my hateful remarks keep you from playing this game. It's still great...CTR is just a hard act to follow.
.....and I'm sorry about the freak comment. Still friends?