CTR Crunch Time

It was bound to happen eventually - Crunch Bandicoot has been unveiled for Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (CTR)! This week has been awash with various tid-bits from CTR, in fact, right down to the new cover art revealed by the official Crash Bandicoot Twitter feed, shown at the top of this post.

Burgundy anthropomorphic bandicoot, Crunch, raises his left arm in celebration as he sits in a grass green coloured go kart, his right arm clutched to his side and made of metal.

Crunch Bandicoot in all his glory!

Crunch, originally revealed back in 2001's Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, was initially a muscular bandicoot sent to thwart Crash with the use of elemental masks. After the story, Crunch was seen befriending the bandicoots in numerous titles, including 2003's CTR sequel, Crash Nitro Kart. It's for this reason that Crunch makes his return, now sporting a grass-green kart, along with main villain Oxide's cronies, Zam and Zem.

All three characters have been revealed as part of the special Nitros Oxide edition of Nitro-Fueled, unlocked from the start for those who purchase this variant. Players will still be able to unlock all three of the characters in the regular edition, including Nitros Oxide.

Crash Bandicoot stands confidently in a Star Trek outfit in front of his nemesis, Dr Neo Cortex who has an immense head marked with the letter N on it. Behind the pair are an eclectic mix of characters including a muscular, burgundy bandicoot called Crunch, a green skinned alien on all fours called Zam, a top heavy green skinned alien with purple eyebrows and a large jaw called Zem, a red plated metal version of Crunch, Crash's energetic sister complete with space goggles called Coco and elephant-nosed crabby alien with a long racing helmet head called Nitros Oxide.

The Nitros Oxide Edition comes with plenty of extras.

The announcement also comes with its own surprises for PlayStation owners - exlusive 'star' skins for Crash, Coco, Cortex and Oxide, all looking... a little ugly, if you ask me. This is following the trend of unusual skin swaps for the main trio of Crash, Coco and Cortex, although truthfully none are looking so favourable, not even Oxide's blue and green paint job. Still, there's time yet, so hopefully more meaningful skins will be added in the future. Classic Nitro Kart coloured Cortex, anyone?

With Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled set for release on 21st June 2019, I'm sure there will be even more character model reveals and track unveilings to come, including the recently shown Inferno Island and Tiger Temple, showing a more night-time landscape. I'm meanwhile eagerly awaiting the look of N.Trance - an eggman monstrosity from the original Nitro Kart.