Crash Nitro Kart has a zany style and some neat character options, fun story mode, and some good replay value.
(-) If you know how to power slide then the game will be extremely easy
Forget about the Mario Kart spin off idea, Crash Nitro Kart is a nice little racer in its own rights. You have the biggest roster of any Crash Bandicoot racing game, with Crash, Coco, Cortex, Crunch, as well as some new faces like N-Trance, Fake Crash, Velo, Zim and Zam (I can't tell those two apart). You have a selection of twelve pretty unique tracks to choose from with their own distinct attitude and hazards along the way.
The gameplay is simply put getting items during a race to slow down other racers, about what you expect from a kart racer. Gathering wumpa fruits scattered on the track will benefit for several good reasons. First of all, your kart will move a bit faster, and second, any item you pick up will be improved. For example, TNTs will now be Nitro boxes, which explode immediately instead of popping on the characters head giving them an opportunity to shake it off. You play the story mode as both teams Crash and Cortex. This is made up of single races, time attacks where you complete a track within a time limit but hitting time boxes stops time within 1, 2, and 3 seconds, and C N K challenges where you win the race and having collected those three levels hidden throughout the track. So there is lots to do in the one player story mode.
The game itself is pretty easy though. If you remember how to do the power slide and keep doing it, then there's a good chance nobody will even approach you and stand a chance even on the highest difficulty. But still, the game tries to lure you in for more by adding some time trials for expert ghosts to unlock new characters and other content. You also have a cup mode, where you can complete a set of three races in succession and strive to get the best average of three scores. The multiplayer is also in good supply here, but probably nothing that would surprise you. You have your racing modes and battle modes. You can also create a battle mode arena, but in reality it is little more than just placing certain items on existing levels rather than actually creating a stage, which is a little sting on what could have been a brilliant idea.
The graphics are okay, but nothing that would really stand out from this generation of video games. The characters have their sharp cartoony color, with the levels given much detail but it seems to fit one particular pattern. The sound could have been better, some of the phrases that come from the racers get old after a while. But still, they lend the personalities of the characters pretty well. The music is alright but nothing entirely memorable.
Crash Nitro Kart is a good game, with a lot to do in the single player story mode but only moderate multiplayer value. But as it is its one of the better alternatives to Mario Kart that copy the formula surely but apply their own signature style to it and make it an ideal game to play and have fun. I mean this especially if you don't have a Gamecube.