Developer: Beenox
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: June 21st, 2019
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Another blast from the past that’s a lot of fun, Nitro Fueled delivers on both lovingly recreating the original and adding plenty of extras to bring the game onto modern platforms. There are various modes, tracks, and characters to provide hours and hours of gameplay.
The main mode is Adventure Mode, which tells the story. There are two ways to play Adventure Mode. Classic locks you into one character and kart, and has no difficulty levels. It’s the original experience, for the most part, as the game was years ago. Nitro-Fueled adds difficulty levels and character customization. Playing on Easy in the Nitro-Fueled Adventure mode is good for little ones, or highly inexperienced players looking to see the whole story. Collecting the trophies is simple, but collecting the relics and CTR tokens not so much. To get through story mode with just the trophies takes around 3 hours give or take, and can be done in a single play session. Crystal grabs are not as fun.
If you just want to do some races, battle in arenas, or play offline co-op, then you’d go to the Local Arcade. There it has every play mode in the game, that you can practice a track, participate in cup races, or just blow other characters up in Battle Mode. Local Arcade has the most to do.
If you want to test your skills against random people or distant friends, you can head to Online. In Online, you can do Races or Battles. Sometimes Online can be a bit touchy, and I did have the game crash on me once while trying to get into an online Battle, but it works most of the time. In online, while it’s matchmaking, you have time to customize your racer and vote on a track.
As you do various activities, you collect Wumpa Coins to spend at the Pit Stop. At the Pit Stop, you can unlock new racers, karts, wheels, designs, etc. Everything you do gives out Wumpa Coins, though playing online is the way to rack up the most. Deals in the Pit Stop are timed, and push you to race as much as possible.
CTR recently had its first Grand Prix event, which added tracks, racers, and more unlockables. It’s a lot of fun and adds more challenges and excitement to an already chaotic game.
The tracks range from very simple or built for speed like Crash Cove, or very complex and twisty like Deep Sea Driving. Every track has a loving amount of detail and polish that’s easy to get lost in.
This game is a definite buy for fans of Crash and possibly even kart racers in general. It is just an absolute blast to play.
8.5 / 10
You must be logged in to post a comment.