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| A clash for the ages... on wheels! [Activision, Beenox ©, Image Source: GamesRadar.com] |
Although it comes as a surprise to no one, I’m a big fan of
Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Hell, half of my arm is covered in
tattoos and two of my biggest ones are of the orange marsupial and purple
dragon. When Activision and PlayStation announced the N. Sane Trilogy a few years ago I was over the moon excited (even
for the Skylanders Crash expansion
too cause I actually love that series). Go back to last year and the start of
2018 gave us rumblings of a Spyro remake too but with nothing confirmed I took
it all at face value. The Reignited
Trilogy was announced, back over the moon I went, even when it was delayed.
Then came The Game Awards 2018 and with the very on the nose orange fuzzy dice
sent to select journalists, it was no surprise to see Crash Team Racing receive the remake treatment too. It’s been out
for about two and a half months and while this review may seem very VERY late,
as anyone will tell you the game has gone through some significant changes from
launch and that’s why it bares reviewing the game at this stage right as its
third Grand Prix event is beginning.
First off we need to look at the base game and the first of
my two routes I’m referring to when I said “Activision does it again”. For
anyone that missed it, the aforementioned N.
Sane Trilogy and Reignited Trilogy
are ground up remakes of the classic PS1 titles from Crash Bandicoot and Spyro
the Dragon. CTR Nitro Fuelled is the
same thing only with more stuff. Whereas the original only had a handful of
racers and tracks, this remake brings all of those back but includes characters
and tracks from the pseudo sequel CTR
Nitro Kart on the PS2. So characters like Crunch Bandicoot (only introduced
in Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex on PS2) and the various Team Oxide
characters are playable in Nitro Fuelled… Provided you can save up the required
coins to buy them.
They’re recreated the CTR adventure mode too, hub worlds and
all. Each boss fight introduction is a full-fledged cut scene as opposed to the
TV interview style of the original game. The graphics are very visually
pleasing, the worlds are bright and colourful and the details on each kart and
character is gorgeous. I’d finally figured out the 4K resolution on our TV at
home while playing this game and the change was definitely noticeable! Although
tracks will whizz by when racing as max speeds, each has been given sufficient
investment and each has their own set of unique details and goings on, making
each feel like a real lived in environment. Tigers will be running around the rooftops
in Tiger Temple, flying cars go by in Android Alley and all of this still
visible when you get blown up by a bowling bomb.
Campaign mode is a lot more difficult then I remember it
being. I’m not going to sit here and compare the game to Dark Souls like every
other journalist out there does when any game gives even the slightest
challenge these days. It’s definitely not easy though (unless you play on easy)
and the game practically forces you to get good at its biggest driving
mechanic’ the drifting feature. In CTR, you’ll jump using one of the shoulder
buttons. When you do, a little bar will begin to fill. When that bar reaches a
certain threshold, you can get a boost by pressing the opposite shoulder button
which can be chained up to three times. Learning and mastering this mechanic is
the key when it comes to winning any races in CTR and especially so if you want
to tackle the online side of things.
Speaking of online, this is one of the biggest additions to
this remake. Being that I’m not the biggest online player, I don’t have many
issues with the online feature in CTR. Notice though I said “many” meaning I
still have some. Online matchmaking works on a P2P system instead of dedicated
servers. This means that when you want to start an online match, the players
involved are connected to one person’s system instead of a purpose built
server. So if that persons internet connection isn’t great, you’re gonna have a
bad time in that race if you even get to it. The player hosting can cancel out
and thus, the whole lobby leaves (usually within the last few seconds
annoyingly).
There isn’t any kind of system to match players based on
skill levels either. Say you’re a new player who fancied trying your hand at
online match making, you could either get really lucky and have a match of
players of a similar skill level, or get completely screwed and end up with 7
other racers who’ve already sank hundreds of hours into the game and leave your
in 8th place the entire race. The same can be true in reverse; you’ll
be a veteran and want to challenge yourself in an online field but find that
you’re going at such a good speed you end up lapping everyone. It needs some
kind of tier system implemented, you could use the trophies that you’re
rewarded with as those seems entirely useless otherwise (if I’m wrong and they
do have a purpose, please let me know).
My final gripe is more based on an online mode that players
of the game have been pining after since launch and that’s an item less style
race. When you start out, on most tracks, you’ll no doubt find a row of item
boxes which will be annihilated in seconds and the players luck enough to get
an item will use it straight away. This practice has been dubbed “Weapon Spam”
and can make or break any match. It’s especially annoying if you’re having a
good match and keep the lead or second/third as racers at the back will be more
likely to receive the dreaded blue orb. This item targets whoever is in first
place but hits each player along the way and, because a few people can get one
at a time, there can be multiple orbs on the track at a time (most I’ve had in
one instance was 3!). Now, you could make the argument that it wouldn’t be in
the spirit or feel of CTR to have no items on the track during a race, that
using the items to gain an advantage in a race is all part of the fun. But I’d
argue that the reason players, including myself are getting annoyed, it because
you could have been flying through the track using all your skills and
abilities to get to where you are, only to lose that because someone back in 8th
place got their hands on an orb and stopped you dead in your tracks leaving
second, third or even fourth to come up and take the win. The point here is
that online could only be improved by having an online race form that allowed
for no item races, not ruined.
To be honest, I do really enjoy this game. I’m one of the
aforementioned players that has sunk over 100 hours into the game thus far,
platinumed it and completed the story 101%. So I obviously like the game. But
where my reviews would usually end here, we not must go on to what Activision
has done since the game released. So let’s talk about the Grand Prix’s.
The Grand Prix
The first Grand Prix to come up was Nitro Tour. The premise
behind the grand prix was simple enough; monthly events that added one new
track and a ton of new items including characters, skins, karts and kart
accessories. These items could be earned by completing challenges and earning
nitro points or through the Pit Stop (the in-game shop where you’d spend Wumpa
coins, the in-game currency). Nitro Tour was pretty well received, it added a
fair few new characters including Tawna Bandicoot and the Nitro girls from
original CTR, each had their own legendary skin to buy or earn. If you managed to
make it into the top 5% of the online leader boards, you were awarded with the
Champion kart and a decal to celebrate you’re achievement. Honestly, the only
complaints I saw through the first grand prix (besides a few noticeable bugs
and glitches) was that the use of certain characters, karts etc. would give a
multiplier and only ended up having lobby’s full of the same characters, karts
and skins etc. Other than that some of the challenges felt very repetitive and
boring.
We then move onto the last grand prix that’s just wrapped
up; the Back N. Time Grand Prix. Mechanically it’s the same as Nitro Tour;
there were new characters added, a new track and new karts etc. The number of
new characters went down to 3 but they were well made characters and became the
choice of many top racers. The new track was well received and is considered
the best new track so far, despite the almost impossible shortcut jump right
near the start and the crates and super pads making the first minutes a
nightmare. But it was what came outside the racing that has many fans annoyed.
Again referring back to “Activision does it again”, as of the commencement of
the second Grand Prix they implemented micro transactions into the pit stop.
Now, had this just been put there and left to players discretion as to wither
they used it would have been okay, however the prices of bundles in the pit
stop went up horrendously (A kart, skin, decal and sticker pack went up to
around 11,000 coins but with a “discount” putting it at around 9,900). Not only
that but once this last grand prix finished, an option became available to use
Wumpa coins to fill up your nitro bar in order to get the prizes in each tier.
While this wouldn’t affect your place on the leader board, it does mean that
those who spend time and grinded out the nitro to earn those rewards feel
cheated as anyone can simply come along when it finished to buy them all. Put
simply it isn’t fair!
And a big argument that you’ll hear is that “If It doesn’t
affect you then why does it bother you?” which is a fair statement; I’m never
going to pay extra money for an item that can be earned through hard work and
determination. But that doesn’t mean that these things should be here as there
are likely younger players with access to parent’s bank accounts that could
spend willy-nilly without realizing. And as I mentioned, those with the
disposable income to buy everything only make those who have to work to get
everything feel worthless. Going into a lobby and seeing the other players have
items from higher tiers or expensive kart sets used to give a sense of “Wow,
that person must have spent a lot of time to earn those rewards”, whereas now I
just look and think “They’ve probably bought all of that” and the experience is
lessened.
I don’t want to harp too much on the Grand Prix’s or the
game as a whole because at face value, it’s a brilliant game! It’s a lovingly
remade classic that definitely deserves to be in people’s library of games, but
when you get into the deeper side of things is when the cracks begin to form. The
adventure mode and the local arcade features are practically faultless, the
online has a few issues but is functional for the most part, the Grand Prix’s
are fun and keep players coming back for a good amount of time. The predatory
nature of Activision has come to the forefront though since the game’s launch
and this needs to be addressed. The Grand Prix that’s just started is all to do
with Spyro so that’s definitely worth being excited for. Pick this game up when
you have the chance, just prepare to invest some hours into it but at least
they’ll be enjoyable hours.
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