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CTR and CNK

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a big fan of the PS1 version Crash Team Racing (CTR),I recently purchased this item to bring back past kart racing fun.This game has pretty cool new weapons,but they don't seem to have the same punch as CTR's weapons.Another thing I noticed is that multiplayer mode also falls short.I found that it would lag and the speed of the karts would be slower than in single player mode.Considering this is a racing game,I think speed would definitely play a major role in game experience.On the positive side I enjoyed how the race tracks in CNK let you go upside down,and how they have some of the same characters.In conclusion,unless youre a huge fan of Crash I think you should save your money and buy another game.I would recommend Burnout 3, its a must.

A Decent Mascot Kart Racer

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a huge fan of mascot kart racers in general, and Crash Team Racing in particular, I decided to pick up Crash Nitro Kart when I saw it on sale at Wal Mart a few months ago. Initially, I was impressed--Nitro Kart tries really hard to be a worthy successor to CTR, preserving the powerslide/boost system, and even tossing in a few new gimmicks. It has good looking graphics, and there are new characters, weapons, play modes, and tracks (though some of the tracks are modeled heavily after CTR tracks).

Unfortunately, it seems to have inherited little if any of it's predecessor's charm, personality, or playability. I have to agree with one of the previous reviewers that this just isn't cutting it. The tracks themselves, while reminiscent of CTR tracks, are simply overly complicated, lacking the careful and clever design of the ones they try to mimmick. Perhaps one of the biggest things that set CTR apart from Mario Kart 64 was that you had a level playing field--while, like all games, CTR did cheat, the AI racers didn't seem to have the catch-up speed, or seeming magical ability to avoid missiles, bowling bombs, and booby traps (for example, when you "booby trap" a turbo pad with a beeker, or TNT/nitro crate) that the AI racers in Mario Kart 64 had. This made the game much more competitive and fun with often amazingly down-to-the-wire finishes. Sadly, that seems to have gone out the window with this installment as some of the races, and bosses in particular seem downright impossible. Worse, if you thought the AI racers in Mario Kart 64 were bad for cheating, being given catch up speed, and the uncanny ability to be able to avoid your weapons and booby traps, you're going to go out of your mind here--the frustration factor is in nose bleed territory, and your blood pressure will be too as you seem to hit every hazard, and get nailed time after time by the AI racers' missiles and bowling bombs which you almost never get (since when can bowling bombs which roll in a straight line follow you around curves?!?). While I understand the need to up the ante over CTR for a greater, and fresher challenge, the lines between what is difficult enough to be challenging, and what is over complicated, and frustrating have become blurred here.

The weapons system has perhaps taken the biggest hit--there are more booby trap type weapons as opposed to directly offensive weapons--and that's a bad thing as the other racers seem to be able to avoid track hazards, and your booby traps with ease, making them all but useless. Often, I forgot to use my weapons all together because so many of the weapons are geared more towards booby trapping the track than being directly offensive. One of the things that made CTR so accessible, and fun was that the karts were responsive, and easy to drive. That's gone in this installment--the karts seem allot more sluggish, and difficult to control; particularly around tight corners and in curves. This ratchets up the frustration factor EVEN MORE (as if it needed to be ratcheted up any more) because with the tracks being so complicated, you depserately need the karts to be responsive, and they're simply not. Turbos don't seem as powerful, or as long lasting as in CTR, and you can't "ride" a turbo boost nearly as long as you could in CTR before you have to start another powerslide to maintain your speed. For a game that's so obviously modeled so heavily after CTR, you'd think the developers would have put allot of effort into getting these elements as similar as possible, but they're not even close. In short, CTR experience doesn't necessarily add up to CNK experience--just because you were good at CTR doesn't mean you will be good at this game. The kart physics are so sluggish, and unrefined, even veteran CTR players will find themselves having a terribly tough time with this game.

All character voices and sound effects have changed dramatically, and not for the better in this installment either--they sound generic and dumb; repeating the same lame, cheesey taunts endlessly. Worse, most of them don't sound even remotely close to their voices in previous Crash games. While in CTR, all the various racers were grouped by handling, acceleration, and top speed, the differences between them seem much less distinct here--also, there aren't as many racers available this time around, and only a single unlockable track, and it's immediately available in arcade mode.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a bad game. In fact, it's a reasonably fun game. But it's also a game that desperately needs to be judged on it's own merits. Yet that's the very thing you can't do because the game tries so hard to be so much like CTR. Nitro Kart is so reminiscent of CTR in so many ways that it's difficult to not make the comparison. But this all leads one to wonder--how can a game be so much like it's predecessor, and remain inferior? Well for starters, Nitro Kart was not developed by Naughty Dog. CTR was a game that was in direct competition with, and built to dethrone a reigning king (the then, hugely popular, and successful Mario Kart 64) and Naughty Dog knew that if they tried to make CTR a low budget, B-list value title, Mario Kart would leave it in the dust--so they put allot of effort into building a finely tuned masterpiece--and as fans will testify, succeeded. Nitro Kart on the other hand, is to it's credit a reasonably fun game--but it's also a game that needed allot of fine tuning it never got--and it never got it because it isn't being pushed to be everything it can be because of being in direct competition with a towering colossus. Instead, it's a mediocre follow-up that smacks of the cash cow being milked. In the end, the only real way that this game trumps it's predecessor is in graphics; though some may count internet multiplay as a bigger counterbalancing factor than others. At the end of the day though, I just can't recommend this game in good conscience. There is a reasonable amount of fun to be had here, but fans hoping for, or expecting CTR2 will get their feelings hurt.

Addictive Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am an adult, and I still love this game. The whimsical and crazy characters make this game appealing to children, but it is challenging enough for teens and adults to play. I actually played Crash Team Racing all the time with my older brother, and I seized the opportunity to buy Nitro Kart, and I must say I am very much impressed with the gameplay, graphics, and overall package. This game has a bunch of extras: new characters, unlockable items, new goodies to shoot and use against your opponents on the track. I would say this is probably one of the funnest games you could play by yourself or with another.

CTR fans may like it, but it's half a game!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game because one of my favorite Playstation games of all time was the original Crash Team Racing. I beat that game 100 percent and wished there was more to the game but it took me a long time to complete it all the way. This game was 30 percent done by the second day I had it and I'm not one of these people that sit in front of the TV and play a game constantly, I don't have that kind of time and just play when I can. The game is easily half the length of the original CTR and that is screwed up! Keep in mind that the original game was for the original PSX and was on the CD format of course, keep in mind also that this sequel is for the PS2 which is on the DVD format and therefore, should be at least the same length and have the same if not more content than its predecessor! I felt seriously gypped and plan on beating this in no time which means I'm not getting my moneys worth. Don't get me wrong the game is fun, and the graphics are on par with what a PS2 game should be, the title is just not as good as the original Naughty Dog game. In my personal opinion Crash went to crap when Naughty Dog quit making the games.

review

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: November 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have bought and played all the crash bandicut games. They all were amazing. I have beaten them all and was up for a new challenge. So i got crash nitro cart and it was hard to control at first but i got uset to it. Its a pretty cool game and the graphics are the best of the crash games.

Great!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: December 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the best racing games I have ever played!!!!!!!!!

Don't waste your money

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: January 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is such a waste, it is so boring. I only played two rounds. In the first round I thought maybe I had the game on the wrong settings. In the second round, I didn't even finish the round, because after that, I found out it was the game itself. I bought this game because, I was excited about racing kart games after playing Mario kart double dash. Now I'm just disappointed because Crash Nitro Kart such a poorly developed game. This game deserves zero stars.

Nitro Kart doesn't compare with CTR but......

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Now the original CTR was my favorite game of all time but this game is excellent too. In my opinion these graphics are much better than Mario Kart:Double Dash and the characters are much more creative. If you love the original CTR then I highly recommend this game! If you just like racing games, then you will also enjoy this game.

One of the best games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: June 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a fun game for people who like cartoon racing plus a little cartoon violence. You drive around in a car and can use missiles and through bombs.

not for me....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 11
Date: January 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i really didn't like the game.. i thought it was going to be more like a crash badicoot level game .. instead it was racing a go kart i guess i didn't think about that when i read the title. oops my fault.

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