Crash Nitro Kart (2003)
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Platform: X-Box
Induction Date: 2004
Crash's oblivious nature is charming but I rather play as his sister Coco.
After being abandoned by its creator, Naughty Dog, Crash Bandicoot's rise to stardom via his first two games for the PlayStation quickly diminished into nothingness. That didn't stop Crash's adopted developers to abuse the license and cash in on what was left of his popularity. Thankfully, Crash Nitro Kart is one of the better games that came out of this. This Diddy Kong Racing clone features a plethora of racing options which include the traditional lap race as well as several fun battle modes. There is even an adventure mode as well where you can select between Crash and his friends or Neo Cortex and his lackeys who were all kidnapped by an alien race and forced into a racing tournament. The actual racing itself is responsive and there are a variety of weapons to pick up on the tracks. The impact of these weapons really lacks visual oomph however when a racer gets hit by them. The stylish simplicity of the graphics looks great and the game is one of those lucky X-Box titles that got a 720p treatment. There is a consistency problem with this however since the clarity of the visuals is marred by low resolution 2D overlays. The computer opponents are pretty fair to race against and it is the player that is actually a bit broken - there is a "Team Power-Up Meter" that you can fill up by racing close to your teammate and when the gauge is full, you can spam power-ups constantly for a good amount of time. This almost always guarantees a win providing that you don't get hit by weaponry or fall off the track while performing this deadly move. Overall, Crash Nitro Kart may not present a lot of originality but it is definitely a lovable kart game even if you don't know who the heck Crash is.
LIBRARY STATUS: 4 out of 5
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