Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Game review by Paul Semel, Common Sense Media
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 10+

All-ages arcade kart-racing game makes a solid comeback.

Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One 2019
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Parents say

age 8+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 9+

Based on 13 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this game.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a cartoony racing game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Players use missiles, bombs, and boxes of TNT to take out the competition, resulting in explosions, crashes, and, in some instances, characters being lit on fire. But all of this is done with a silly,cartoony look and feel. There's also some juvenile humor: A character picks his nose and eats it, and seagulls use some rocks as a bathroom. Otherwise, there's no sex, cursing, or references to drugs and alcohol, save for what you might hear if you play online, where communication isn't monitored.

Community Reviews

The REAL Common Sense
The REAL Common Sense Adult
June 24, 2020
age 6+

Easy to play, hard to master.

A little bit too hard for kids ages 6 and under but aside from that there's only one thing and that's microtransactions. Microtransactions are in this game and they are NOT micro. They can cost up to $11.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
Too much consumerism
nuenjins
nuenjins Adult
June 22, 2019
age 10+

Awkward controls and boost gimmick may ruin the game for you.

It's standard issue cart racing. weapons, cutesie characters and various tracks set in cartoon environments with hazards and speed boosts. Our problem with this game is HOW you boost and the uncomfortable control layout, and even with a second control layout option, neither works well. I'm a gamer and I found my hand cramping (and I play games where ALL the buttons, even the stick ones are used), In order to gain boost you have 2 buttons that are the same, it's a hop/ drift button, being both bumper buttons. You start the drift with one button and hold it down but DO NOT try to steer back at all until the hop is done as it is unforgiving, then each time your meter fills and you see black smoke , you hit the other one up to 3 times for boost. The boost happens 'during" the drift also instead of the standard of gaining it for straightaways making it exeptionally hard to steer when pulling this off. The gas can be the Right trigger or the bottom pad button but the whole process is very tedious and button mashy This is along with the fact that in many cases you need to stop doing one thing in order to press your attack button for items. The drifting/ boost mechanic does NOT flow well and makes it hard to steer at all and it's more of a hinderance to staying on the track than LITERALLY anything else in the game. We love Mario Kart, Blur and even Sonic All Stars and Sonic Team racing were decent. But THIS just feels unenjoyable with a tedious mechanic that simply breaks our ability have fun with this game, Younger ones may get especially frustrated with the finicky timing and button yoga you have to acheive unlike just about any other cart and racing games. I wasted 40 bucks. Better to go Sonic Team Racing in our opinion. Couldn't be more bummed how bad the controls are here, and it's paramount to winning any race at all to progress. Cuz if you can't boost consistantly and often, you may as well not even play it and that's the sad truth.
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

In CRASH TEAM RACING NITRO-FUELED, the titular marsupial, his friends, and his enemies engage in a series of go-kart races to determine who's the best racer. That champion will then have to race an alien named Nitrous Oxide, and if they lose that showdown, the Earth will be turned into a parking lot. If they win, perhaps they get bragging rights, but it's simply that they'll have saved everyone on the planet that's they're reward. Apart from the single player campaign, players can also engage in single races against other players and AI opponents.

Is It Any Good?

Though this is a remake of a twenty-year-old game, it still manages to be a lot of fun, and not just in a retro/nostalgic way. Like the original Crash Team Racing, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a cartoony, arcade-style go-kart racing game in which characters from the Crash Bandicoot series engage in what's essentially their version of Mario Kart. Not only do they drive circles around twisty tracks — some of which have branching pathways — but they also try to get an edge by using weapons against each other, triggering defenses to protect themselves, and using boosting pads build into the tracks for when they want to get extra speed to get ahead.

As for what this version has that the original did not, well, not only does it look and sound lot nicer thanks to upgraded visuals and audio, but it also now lets you race against people online. It also includes tracks and other items from the 2003 sequel, Crash Nitro Kart. But as fun as this all may be, it does have some minor issues. While you can switch the gas pedal from one of the front buttons to the right trigger, making this more like most racing games, you can't do the same with the brakes. It also doesn't help that the button you use to do a little hop is also used to power slide around corners, which makes it trickier to do the latter. Even with these minor quibbles, though, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled still has enough of the original's charm and challenge to delight fans of cartoony racing games, whether they're too young to remember the original, or too old.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about safe driving. Do Crash and his friends display proper driving safety in this game? Do you think they should be wearing helmets? Or not shooting missiles at eat other?

  • Why is it important to understand that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one? Is there a situation that you would put yourself in danger to save other people?

Game Details

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