‘Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled’ Developer Discusses Bringing Back a Classic

One of the most pleasant surprises we experienced during the Game Awards Thursday night was the announcement of Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, which will revitalize the original PlayStation game that initially came out 1999. That means it'll be pulling up into our consoles just in time for its 20th anniversary.

And this is no mere port either. Beenox, who also brought us the amazing Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time games, is handling development and putting the game through an incredible visual overhaul, bringing it to life in the best way possible.

Shortly following the game's announcement, Beenox creative director Thomas Wilson took to PlayStation Blog to answer a few questions about the port, including how important it is to keep loyal to the original game's code. You can see the details below.

Our studio gets the proposition, "How would you guys feel about remastering CTR?". I remember pausing for a second. And then I blurted out: "You're kidding, right?" I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. That tingling feeling of joy and excitement spreading through your whole body. Throughout the discussions, I remember telling myself: "Please, please, oh please, let this project become real." And here we are! The game we were so eager to reveal to the world has been announced. No turning back now! We're going full throttle towards June 21st and we're so excited to show you what we have in store!

Like myself, we have huge fans of the franchise on the development team. We know how dear the original Crash Team Racing is to so many people, so we're spending a tremendous amount of time making sure it's the same great racing experience that fans remember with a level of polish that could only be achieved by today's standards. Our first design pillar in approaching this game was strikingly obvious: Authenticity. Whatever improvements or bells and whistles we were going to add, we needed to be authentic to the inspiration of the original experience.

The technology leap of the past 19 years allows us to push the graphical fidelity to a whole new level. As much as CTR is about racing, it is first and foremost about character. We established very early on that we wanted CTR Nitro-Fueled to be brimming with personality both from an environmental and character stand point. Fans will see this attention to detail shine through in every part of the game from the camera work, to the characters' quirky animations, to the lush environments you're racing in. The game is called 'Nitro-Fueled' for a reason. As die-hard fans of the game, we felt compelled to modernize the experience and infuse it with features that are expected of any great kart racing game. Playing split screen is a lot of fun, but racing online is awesome! In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, you will have the opportunity to show your skills to anyone around the world and that's a first for CTR. Plus, there's even more that we're adding to the experience that hasn't been shown yet, but we can't wait to reveal soon!

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled hits the road June 21 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Be sure to check out the revved-up trailer above!