Crash Team Racing

 PlayStation
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Oct 19, 1999
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. GamePro
    100
    Control is also nearly-perfect... The transparent controls allow you to concentrate on racing and blasting your opponents, and so the races are faster, more fluid and more fun.
  2. Games Domain
    100
    The graphics are mindblowing, while the gameplay is perfect and easy to get to grips with. Along with the substantial variety of tracks and the fun of the multiplayer mode, CTR is an experience not to be missed.
  3. Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
    100
    The game that made kart racing cool. Nothing has ever matched its quality. [Mar 2002, p.34]
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  5. PSX Nation
    96
    Great balance and plenty of fun put this one on par with "Mario Kart" and if not for the average track design it would easily surpass.
  6. Electric Playground
    95
    Just like the previous Crash games, CTR is utterly polished and addictive to a fault... That's right, you heard me, CTR is a better game than Nintendo's "Mario Kart."
  7. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    94
    Heavily inspired by "Mario Kart," but still an amazing multiplayer racer. [Jan 2004, p.188]
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  8. Absolute Playstation
    92
    Combines all of the best elements from other kart racers, adds a few unique touches and throws out all of the crap. What gamers are left with is an exciting 2 to 4 player game and a very challenging 1 player mode.
  9. Gaming Maxx
    91
    The best cart racing game that can be found on the Playstation, and possibly the current best on any system.
  10. Gamezilla!
    91
    The deep and challenging gameplay will have you playing this game for weeks.
  11. Gaming Age
    91
    The tracks are awe inspiring in their beauty and complexity, the gameplay is tight, and it is just plain fun. This is a game that almost anyone can enjoy by themselves or with some friends.
  12. GMR Magazine
    90
    Countless mascot racers flooded store shelves during the PlayStation era, and Crash Team Racing was the only good one. Really. [Feb 2003, p.97]
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  13. TotalGames.net
    88
    Graphically appealing and full of great special effects and sound samples, this will enthuse any Crash fan. As a racing game though, it's just a little too slow to get your pulse racing.
  14. IGN
    85
    Once you get past the insanely capitalistic smile of Crash, the game is rock solid in playability and graphics. Hell! It's a four-player kart game that's on the PlayStation. Isn't that enough?
  15. GameSpot
    84
    It's a great Mario Kart clone, and it succeeds where the likes of Mega Man, Bomberman, Diddy Kong, the Chocobo, and even Mario himself have failed.
  16. Game Revolution
    83
    Though it doesn't add much to the tired genre, it manages to do everything well.
  17. Total Video Games
    80
    Crash Team Racing looks amazing. The sharp looking environments are clean and fully formed. With the exceptions of a few seam problems in the courses here and there, they are great looking.
  18. Hot Games
    80
    Amazingly enough the four-window split screen mode works incredibly well, with each portion of the screen running in high resolution and at super high speeds.
  19. Play Magazine
    80
    How they came up with a theme park run by a maniacal gear head hosting a tournament emceed by a pair of chickens I do not know [Nov p.87]
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  20. All Game Guide
    80
    The only real drawback to Crash's presentation is the Dual Shock setup. You can't reconfigure your controls, so prepare to use some finger gymnastics to get your valiant road warrior to pull off all his or her moves.
  21. Cheat Code Central Platinum
    80
    A good game, not a phenomenal game, just a plain and simple good game. Though, a little on the cute side, the challenge out weights such matters.

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best PS1 Game of 1999
3
#3 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1999
7
#7 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1999

User Reviews

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User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 616 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 544 out of 616
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 616
  3. Negative: 47 out of 616
  1. ripperroo1992
    Mar 11, 2011
    10
    Best kart racer ever!!!!!!! Ive been playin this game since i was 7 and it never gets old. The music is great and tracks are so fun. This gameBest kart racer ever!!!!!!! Ive been playin this game since i was 7 and it never gets old. The music is great and tracks are so fun. This game is so awesome i went out of my way to get platinum relics for all the tracks. I got all platinum but sewer speedway and n.gin labs are the hardest for platinum. I love this game so much i own for ps1, ps2, ps3, and psp. This so much more fast pace than mario kart. the adventure is much fun especially if you unlock the bosses. In my opinion the best ps1 racing game.… Full Review »
  2. Neo010390
    Apr 27, 2011
    9
    After all these years we thought Nintendo was the only company that produced decent kart games for their consoles, well finally theAfter all these years we thought Nintendo was the only company that produced decent kart games for their consoles, well finally the Playstation has its own clone, Crash Team Racing. Created and Developed by Naughty Dog, Crash Team Racing is a kart racing game where the player can choose to play as any of the characters in the Crash series (even the bad guys if you want, I always choose Crash because he's my favourite). There are five different modes to choose from: Adventure, Time Trial, Arcade, Verses and Battle. "Adventure" mode is the main story of the game. You start off in the arena where you can drive around and practice some skills such as hopping, drifting and power sliding. The main goal is to win trophies by coming in first place, when you have collected four the boss challenge opens up. Beat to boss to and you'll receive a key which will unlock the door to the next world, there you will find four more tracks to race. Overall there are 18 tracks, 5 worlds and 5 bosses. There are some unbelievable (Oxide Station in particular) race tracks and if that wasn't enough, you can use weapons on your opponents to help you to catch up if you are behind. In a way it's almost identical to the Wipeout games. As well as trophies, there are other race modes too such as Relic Race, CTR challenge and the Gem Cup Challenge. In "Time Trial" you can race through every single track in the game (this is a good way of getting some practice and memorizing the whole track in all of them), attempting to beat the computer players time. If you're fast enough N Tropy will challenge you, and if you beat his time you'll face Oxide. Trust me when I say this, no matter how many tries, how much speed, power, drifting, everything you give it, you will most likely not beat him. I've attempted them all myself and have only beaten him in a few races. In "Arcade" mode, you can scroll through a selection of tracks you wish to race. You can choose either Single Race or enter a Cup, where you race on four tracks in a row and score points. The better position you are, the more points you gain and if you have the most points after the four races, you win the Cup. The "Versus" mode is pretty much the same, with the exception that two or more players are involved. In "Battle" mode, you can have up to four players fighting and launching weapons at one another during combat in up to seven battle arenas. The type and length of the battle can be adjusted in the main menu beforehand. Graphically the game is very impressive, the colour and texture design of each vehicle are done brilliantly. The race tracks and environments are very well pixelated, and there is lot of variation background to see from a great distance. The characters are very well desinged , and i'm glad the developers didn't change them too much (unlike some Crash games) . As always, the music and sound effects are note perfect. Each soundtrack matches perfectly to each race track. One thing I really like is listening to the players taunts (especially Crash's who does some hilarious ones like "Wheeeeee" and of course his old time favourite "Whoa"), when trying to overtake someone. It's almost as if they're saying what you're thinking. The only criticisms I would say is that some of the tracks (Coco Park for example) are easy and boring and where in the other modes you can adjust the difficulty, Adventure mode doesn't have this option. It would have been nice if they added this feature, in case you felt it was too easy to complete. Despite this, I can honestly say this is the best Kart racing game I have ever played. It's way more superior to the Mario Kart games and if I ever get the chance, I will thank Naughty Dog dearly for making four great Crash games that will remain classics and will entertain millions of gamers as the years go by. Although it was sad to hear their departure from Crash, I absolutly loved what they did with Jak and Uncharted.… Full Review »
  3. Nightmarewrath
    Jul 29, 2012
    9
    One of the very few best kart racing games for the PS1 which crash team racing is a perfect example to this before Naughty dog no longer hadOne of the very few best kart racing games for the PS1 which crash team racing is a perfect example to this before Naughty dog no longer had the rights to produce another crash game and selling off to a different company.

    Story- Pretty obvious. The bad guy challenges you to whatever he decides in which case kart racing and you must defeat otherwise the bad guy will take over the planet and either destroy, or enslave the living around still awesome plot line for a kart racer.

    Graphics- Not too much to explain since this was part of Naughty dog's involvementt with the game so its basically still a good cartoonish design to look into.

    Gameplay- Don't think for a moment that this is basically Mario Kart since it has similarity just don't be hating enjoy the game. You choose your favorite characters from crash, cortex, tiny, N.Gin, etc while others can be unlocked through challenges involving CTR tokens in the story mode of the game. races are usually 3 laps which you can make your decision in singles, vs racing. while the boxes with ? contain weapons you can use to help you out to your advantage while CPU can do the same thing. Doing slides can really help you out since if you press a button at the right time during the slide you will recieve additional boosts which having more wumpa fruits can also increase slightly, as well as making your weapons stronger, and last for a period amount of time. Stages feel fun to play even after a couple times still enjoyable. Battle mode is where you and your friends duke out to see who's better in hitting the most players or achieving the most objectives in the amount of time. Time Trial is getting the faster time and achiving time relics depending on how fast you finish the race.

    Overall- Still an enjoyable game even today it is amazing how it will always be a classic to kart racing on the playstation 1 though i wished that they would still make these amazing games though but that won't happen any time soon =(

    Final Score- 9.5 for racing enjoyment    … Full Review »
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