GameCube

Crash Nitro Kart

Mit diesem Spiel stellt Crash eindeutig unter Beweis, dass er nicht nur den Jump&Run-Sektor beherrscht, sondern auch noch andere Qualitäten besitzt. Dass man sogar zu acht spielen darf, ist außerdem echt spitze!

If any kart-racing game has managed to rival the quality of the famed Mario Kart franchise, it would be Naughty Dog's Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation. Though it did little to change the kart-racing formula defined by Super Mario Kart, it set itself apart from other Mario Kart clones with some unique modes, excellent track designs, and solid, responsive gameplay. Now, Crash Bandicoot, the PlayStation's former quasi-mascot, gets back into the kart-racing business with Crash Nitro Kart, though this time he's hitting all the major consoles. Though the developer and publisher of Crash Nitro Kart are different from those responsible for Crash Team Racing, CNK plays more like a juiced-up remake of CTR than an out-and-out sequel. This may be a touch disappointing to hardcore fans of CTR, but anyone looking for a solid kart racer should be quite pleased.

With new generations of game consoles eventually come new versions of the older games. Just like the beautiful cycles of life in nature, older hits relive their previous lives with better graphics. Crash Nitro Kart takes this process to its PS one predecessor, Crash Team Racing, giving the older racer a spit shine and a couple new tricks. Other than that, there is nothing groundbreaking here and if you're a fan of the genre you know just what to expect since it's almost exactly the same as most of the rest.

Considering that Mario Kart is already out and about, it's would be impossible to recommend Crash Nitro Kart over Nintendo's own kart racer. However, some might be turned off by Mario Kart's relatively high difficulty, so something as easy to beat as CNK might be nice to play through if you've been frustrated by one too many turtle shells. There's only room for one kart racing title on the GameCube, and unfortunately for Crash Bandicoot, his game isn't it, even if you can get some enjoyment out of it.

In the end the fact that Crash Nitro Kart hit the GameCube only a week before Double Dash!! Killed its chances to be a hit. As long as you own a Cube I see no point of playing CNK when Mario & Co. is out there. Fact is CNK is a good game that suffers from the lack of a sense of speed, hell any speed for that matter! The fact that the racing is so slow kills any possible tension while ripping through tracks. And therefore kills all the fun in the game. Crash Nitro Kart could just as well be called Mario Kart For Dummies. Playing makes you miss the good ol’days when Naughty Dog was in charge of Crash. Oh well maybe Jak Kart will come along one day.