CTTR tracks in Nitro-Fueled

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled may have taken tracks from Crash Nitro Kart, but what about Crash Tag Team Racing (CTTR)? CTTR was Radical Entertainment's first foray into the Crash Bandicoot universe back in 2005. Whilst initially built from a concept Traveler's Tales Oxford were working on for a Crash racing game, much like how Crash Nitro Kart (CNK) was in fact, it ended up being far from the kart racers that Crash Team Racing (CTR) and CNK were. In fact, it was more of a combat racer that was in vogue at the time, such as Jak X: Combat Racing. Even though it wasn't a kart racer exactly, it still had some intriguing tracks that could work in the CTR and CNK setting.

Let's be clear - even though the majority of CNK's tracks have been confirmed for Nitro-Fueled without their zero gravity sections, no CTTR tracks have been confirmed at all. I doubt any of them would make it in, either. However, some CTTR karts and skins have made their way into Nitro-Fueled. But it got me thinking, what tracks could work from CTTR in Nitro-Fueled and would be fun? Let's take a look!

1: Craters of Uranus

Who knew there was so much stuff on Uranus?

The funny thing about Craters of Uranus is that it's fully of twists and turns that suit CTTR's racing about as much as a tank suits a country road. The kart racing style of CTR and CNK, however, suits this track perfectly.

You're straight away treated to a sort-of fork in the road much akin to CTR's Polar Pass, except CTTR adds metal grating in the middle that renders the forks a bit useless. I say get rid of the grating to make it a try winding fork and you'll have a great start to what I think is a great level for Nitro-Fuelled. Twisting around sci-fi labs and driving through warp tunnels, Craters on Uranus has a great style where power-sliding would work fantastically.

2: Pyramid Pass

Lump and bumps and jumps everywhere

Yes, Papu's Pyramid is a track in Nitro-Fueled. However, it's not really an Egyptian pyramid, more... Incan, almost. Given the sandy desert feel, Pyramid Pass would therefore work well from an aesthetic point of view, being different enough from Papu's Pyramid and Out of Time.

Pyramid Pass is a good track for some tight turns followed by some straight stretches of road. Whilst these long stretches would normally make for a bland track in CTR or CNK, they're made more interesting by being relatively thin. This encourages the vehicles to all cluster up for some chaotic action that I think would work well in Nitro-Fueled.

Whizzing off the start line is a rope-bridge, which is static in CTTR, but I can imagine it would be brought to life if it rocked from side to side as karts crossed it. There's also a neat, curved descent through a tomb-like area before riding up a pyramid and launching off of it. With Nitro-Fuelled's hang-time turbo boost mechanics, this would work effectively and make for a much more enjoyable experience than CTTR's variant (where you just land ineffectively and nothing comes of the big jumps).

I find it interesting that there are also some hilly desert sections that are reminiscent of CTR's Tiny Arena, especially given that they don't add to the gameplay in CTTR in any way. In CTR or CNK, however, these would be prime areas to jump off for a boost upon landing. For those reasons, Pyramid Pass would make a fantastic track for Nitro-Fuelled.

3: Labrea Car Pits

Volcanoes give you power. Fact.

There are some fun track hazards throughout Labrea Car Pits that would work much better in Nitro-Fueled than CTTR. After all, the track takes place around a volcano, meaning you can power-slide around the falling lava rocks and hot spring water as they scatter the track, unlike CTTR's method of... bulldozing through it and hoping you stay in the middle.

There's also a neat jump over the centre of the volcano and through steam which makes for some exciting action. As mentioned earlier, jumps in CTTR are flat because you can't control your kart and you gain nothing from it upon landing... whereas CTR and CNK makes jumps exciting with hang-time turbos and in-flight weapon firing.

4: Once Upon a Tire

There's nothing tiresome about Once Upon a Tire.

This track starts off simply enough, what with a wide stretch of road reminiscent of CTR's Coco Park, but soon shows its true colours once it hits the castle. The castle interior is not only aesthetically beautiful, what with the red carpets and stained glass windows, but is also well thought out with how it uses the castle; draw-bridge ramps, curving tower ascentions and castle crenellations prove for some fantastic racing sections... all unfortunately a little wasted within CTTR. However, with Nitro-Fueled's tighter kart handling, it would make the track immediately more fun.

There are some great additions to the track, too, such as a brief castle dungeon, a fork in the road and a jump above a swan lake. The whole track has a fantasy princess feel to it, making it immediately different from something like CTR's Cortex Castle or, frankly, anything else in CTR or CNK.

5: Pirates of the Carburetor

This is a wonderfully twisty track that lends itself beautifully to CTR or CNK's style. Right from the starting line are tight turns across a pirate ship with plenty to see and plenty to avoid. Neither CTR or CNK have that kind of aestheic, with the closest comparison of those kind of turns being CTR's Papu's Pyramid or CNK's Clockwork Wumpa.

Racing on dock-like sections and through other ships to shore-line, Pirates of the Carburetor has plenty going on before delving into treasure caves of wider roads simpler island-like sections. In fact, the track gets easier as it goes on, which is quite a unique spin from its chaotic start. I think this all would serve to work well in Nitro-Fuelled, however, with karts battling it out immediately from the start before a mad dash occurs at the end. Good stuff, aaaaaarrrrrrrrr.

And there we have it! Five tracks that would work well from CTTR in Nitro-Fuelled. I would have loved to include my own CTTR favourites such as Evilocity, Deep Sea Driving or Tire and Ice, but then I realised they would not only make for poor CTR tracks, but some were also superseded by others that already existed.

Do you have think any tracks would work well in CTTR? Let me know and leave a comment, below. Until then, I'm off to play some more CTR!