Eight Revved Up Changes to CTR Nitro-Fueled

A small while back, new gameplay videos were revealed for Crash Team Racing (CTR): Nitro-Fueled. These videos finally showed some exciting HD gameplay for the kart racer in explosive (and sometimes motion-blurry) detail. Many breathed a sigh of relief as the core gameplay and track layouts all appeared accurately present. However, some minor details have changed.

Here are eight revved up changes that you may have missed, first time around.

1: Split Screen is Now Vertical

Split screen gameplay? In 2019?! It's almost unheard of in this day and age, yet very much welcome. With gameplay having lept to online platforms as the default, some good old couch co-op (or sofa... uh, seduction... no, scratch that) is just what the Doctor Neo Cortex ordered. With the original PlayStation version of CTR, this was played out on a horizontal screen. However, in Nitro-Fueled, this now looks to be vertical.

It makes sense, given modern TV aspect ratios. Back in the '90s, This was typically 4:3, or a square. These days, the widescreen format of 16:9 is the dominant appearance, so why not make use of the wider screen by separating the video on either side instead of on top of one another?

Oh no! Coco's angry again! Let's split!

2: Levels Now Have Icons

You know how it is. Everything has to be more visual, these days. Remember how programs used write out 'File','Save' and 'Transform', but now have 'circle with arrow', 'floppy disc' and 'mini Transformer GIF turning from a car to a humanoid' (let's face it, none of them make much sense)? Nitro-Fueled's response is to have icons to the left of its name. These are shown on the new start-up screens to every level, which in itself takes some fuel from 2003's Crash Nitro Kart (CNK). These new icons range from an ice block for Polar Pass, to a palm tree for Crash Cove. To be honest, they actually do look quite neat and will probably show up in the level selections.

Look! New level icons!

VITCORY

3: Characters Have Victory Dances

The original CTR featured a podium at the end of every story mode race and cup race, where the winner would do a victory dance by the side of those who came second and third. Nitro-Fueled features an in-kart victory dance for every racer, with Crash doing his infamous Crash dance, whereas Tiny shows his arm pits to everyone in celebration. Whilst it's uncertain if these will replace the podium, my guess is that they may do for quickness of getting to the next race.

4: Bosses Now Have Outro Scenes

Ripper Roo, did you have that boss key in your mouth the whole race? Yes, bosses now have outro scenes, with Ripper Roo revealing his key with his long and super strong tongue. He could probably do press-ups with it, even. It'll be fun seeing the losing animations of the other bosses. Will Komodo Joe burst into tears? Will Pinstripe pull out a tommy gun? I'm sure they'll be short but enjoyable!

These scenes also support my third point. It's entirely possible these scenes will replace the podium dances, which would also play when beating a boss in the original CTR. If so, that would be a shame, but I would understand it's to pace-up the in-between sections. If anything, I'd miss it at the end of a cup race most of all.

That tongue must have the strength of an ox.

5: Environments are Packed

Bow to our new Coco overlord

The tracks look beautiful. There's no getting away from it. Part of that is how Nitro-Fueled has built on the original CTR by adding so many additional bits of scenery. Parts of Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED's Hog Ride pops up in the form of road signs and Dingo's Diner, whilst N.Gin's mech appears in N.Gin Labs. Assets have been cleverly used from the N.Sane Trilogy to make the new tracks pop in ways I never thought they needed. Best of all, they don't feel busy, but just right. I know at some point I'll be casually driving around the tracks just to see the life going on in every level. Tiny Area looks to have benefitted from this best of all, thus far! What started as a bumpy mud track has become a full on monster truck arena complete with all the grit it was missing before. Of course, the knock-on effect here is that statues of characters seem to be on the radar, with Tiny rearing over Tiny Arena and Coco cheering above Coco Park. How did they gain the money to build multiple statues of themselves? Who built them? Are their egos that big? So many questions... so few answers!

The track start lines are also born anew with track-specific paraphernalia. It's impressive seeing the start-up line for Polar Pass, but also amusing to see a giant polar bear try to make its way across the top. It certainly beats the original's simple flag! Each starting line is full of life and fun bits to make them unique.

Each start line has something unique going on... check out that polar bear!

6: Boosts don't stack

A little bit of a downer, but it looks like boosts don't stack. To explain in more detail, the original CTR had a mechanic called power-sliding. By pressing and holding R1, your kart would start drifting around corners.After a few seconds, your kart's exhaust would turn black for just a moment. Pressing L1 during this stage would give you a boost. You'd be able to do this three times before having to start over. With each of those three boosts, they'd stack, so that they'd get a bit bigger and a bit better. CTR's boost system is designed so that consecutive boosts build up and give you more and more speed. At current, Nitro-Fueled's boosts look like a singular affair, with the force of each boost resetting every time one's used. That means power-sliding isn't nearly as effective as before. Hopefully, this will be ironed out before release. For now, here's hoping that slight disappointment is fixed!

EDIT: These boosts look much more promising as of April 2019. They certainly look like they have more force behind them, but whether they can stack into boost reserves for SAFFI Fire and such remains to be seen... What's SAFFI Fire? Well... it's a long story and one I'll probably go into at a later date. For now, just think of it as combo-boosting for bigger boosts and speed.

Now you'll be able to see your profile name!

7: Your Name is Listed at the End of a Race

FuzziusSmazzius wins! HPZr comes in second. JumpButton in third. You get the idea. It's a simple change, but a good one. No longer will you be listed as 'N.Tropy' or 'Penta Penguin' when you win (or lose), but as your profile name instead.

As an aside, I really hope Penta has a unique model and not one of the penguins from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Those penguin models are kind of creepy.

8: You Can Change your Vehicle to Nitro Kart Versions

I like going on about this, probably because I like Nitro Kart and its kart designs. Team Bandicoot, Evil (Cortex), Alien (Oxide) and Brainwashed (N.Trance) kart designs all return as optional extras! They look like they're swappable before each race, meaning you no longer have to stick with CTR's coloured kart if you don't want to. It's unknown if the karts have different stats, at this stage, but that would make a neat alternative to having each character locked to specific stats like in the original game. The idea of N.Tropy in Oxide's CNK kart? Yes please!

Of course, you can also unlock Oxide's CTR vehicle, specifically. That, in itself, is super exciting, as the idea of hovering over the track is a tantalising one. Here's hoping those boss bikes appear from Nitro Kart, also!

Crash races in Team Cortex's kart from Crash Nitro Kart, as well as every other kart type

Aaaaaaand there we have it - eight revved up changes to CTR: Nitro-Fueled. If there are any others you'd like to point out or any you're liking the look of, simply comment away! For more Crash-related articles, such as times Spyro has appeared in the franchise or the mysteries of Crash Advance IV, check out other British Bandicoot Crash blogs.