Collection essentials #353: CTR: Crash Team Racing (PS1)

Mario Kart became a hugely popular series as soon as the very first game released on the SNES. It basically invented an entire subgenre of racing games with many imitators. And today’s game is one of the most successful and notable of such imitators. 


The basics of this game are very much like Mario Kart. The main feature in this type of racing game is items. In this particular case, Crash Team Racing has crates (as seen in every Crash game) that contain these items. The items can either give your character some kind of a power-up or try to mess with your opponents in some way. And similar to coins in the original Mario Kart, there are non-item crates that give Wumpa Fruit that can make the player a little faster, and with enough of them it’ll even upgrade the items you get.


Crash Team Racing does a pretty good job with adding modes that set it apart from Mario Kart. Most notable for sure is the single-player adventure mode which comes complete with occasional cutscenes. The player has to win various races, clear certain challenges, and defeat boss racers in their quest to save the world. And as is fitting for the series, some modes involve the player collecting items while going through the race. There’s plenty of unlockables too, giving players incentive to keep on playing and master the game. Like Mario Kart, there’s a good variety of characters who all play a little differently. The controls and track design are probably not quite up to Mario Kart standards in my opinion, but that’s no insult since that’s a high bar to reach. 


Since I loved Mario Kart as a kid, it’s no surprise that I was very endeared to Crash Team Racing when I first saw it. Again, since it was a while before I got my own PlayStation, it’s something I had to play at friends’ houses when I had the chance. It was one of the games I picked up when I eventually did have a PlayStation. I played through the single player, though I don’t have many specific memories of it. 


Is Crash Team Racing still worth playing? I’m not totally sure. It’s definitely still as enjoyable as ever, it’s just that I think you’re probably better off playing newer kart racers such as the newest Mario Kart game. Still, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better racing experience on the original PlayStation, and this game deserves essential status for sure.

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