We recently had an opportunity to go "hands on" with Crash Tag Team Racing and felt a lot more relieved after playing it, it seems we're in for a good racing game come November. Vivendi have enlisted the help of Radical entertainment, who developed The Simpsons Hit and Run and from the very beginning it is apparant that Hit and Run and Crash Tag Team Racing are very similar. For starters, Whumpa Fruit have been replaced with Whumpa coins; no longer will players try to collect fruit for lives, but coins for power crystals.
That lovable character is back, but with a host of new characters
The first part of the game introduces the story. Cortex challenges Crash Bandicoot to a race at a theme park, with the intention of destroying the bandicoot once and for all. The story is introduced amongst very high quality cut-scenes, although in reality it's just an excuse to connect the gameplay, where players will race and also take part in platforming challenges.
Thankfully, unlike Crash Twinsanity, the cut-scenes are completely skippable; yes, even the cut-scenes that go for a mere two seconds are easily skipped by just pressing A.
The game itself actually begins with a platforming section. For the unaware, Crash Tag Team Racing isn't just a cart racing game, but also features a scattering of platforming, which is why the game reminds us so much of Simpsons Hit and Run.
Some of the new characters in the game include Von Clutch and Cassadina. In addition, Crash himself boasts a wider range of moves, including the ability to climb ladders and hang onto ledges whilst moving left and right.
Another new addition to the game is Die-A-Ramas. There over thirty five Die-A-Ramas in the game. When Crash dies creatively a small cut-scene will play showing his death; this is called a Die-A-Rama, and one of the aims of the player is to "unlock" all the Die-A-Ramas. One such example is when Crash falls into the water, and sharks begin to circle him and eat him.
We admit the Die-A-Rama's aren't as creative as the Fatalities in Mortal Kombat, but they are a cute little addition.
Weapons, Sweet sweet weapons
The main game takes place at the midway, and aside from racing, the bandicoot can wander around and take part in mini games such as bowling and duck hunting. These are novel distractions, and there are five minigames spread around the midway. Achieving a certain score on each of these midways will grant the player a power crystal. Players can also buy clothes for Crash from many of the vendors who are spread around the midway.
When it comes to racing, it is as simple as entering one of the doors scattered throughout the midway. The first race we entered was a course called "carburnator". When entering a track, players are given a choice of many modes such as race, time trial, 'rolling thunder', and 'run and gun'. The course itself is fairly decent - however, the tracks feel a little too familiar. The sense of speed in the game is great, feeling much faster than its predecessor, and the handling is much better as well. Initially players can only choose from Crash or Cortex, but more characters can be unlocked over time.
N. Sanity beach?
One of the surprises for us really came during the middle of a race, at which point a small prompt came up that instructed us that by pressing 'Y' your character can actually merge with another cart. When merging you can actually take control of a gun, or control the cart and take out opposing characters. The gun only lasts a short while, but this was a surprising addition that we didn't see coming, and we like it. The racing element of the game is really great and a huge improvement upon Crash Nitro Kart.
Aside from the main racing game, there are also battles, where players can assume the role of a driver or a shooter and try to take the other players out. This mode plays out like a mini deathmatch game, and is highly enjoyable.
There are still a few flaws with the game, such as the linear gameplay in the platforming sections (even though the world is fully 3D). The graphics are still in the style of older Crash Bandicoot games, but that's to be expected; crucially, the gameplay is fast and fun, and that's the most important thing.
Crash Tag Team Racing left us very impressed. The game felt finished, and yet it has over two months more development time. The platforming elements are nothing spectacular, but with added moves and better environments they should be more engaging. The racing is fast and something completely different to what we expected; we're thinking maybe Mario Kart does have something to fear...
Crash Tag Team Racing will be available in November for the Xbox, PS2 and PSP. We'll have more on the game as soon as it becomes available.
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