'Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled' Looks Like A Friendship Ruiner In New Gameplay

Developer Beenox and publisher Activision have revealed a brand-new gameplay trailer of Crash Team [...]

By Tyler Fischer

Developer Beenox and publisher Activision have revealed a brand-new gameplay trailer of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, the upcoming remake of 1999's Crash Team Racing for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

And as you can see, Crash Team Racing looks as much of a friendship-ruiner as it ever has, though oddly not super nostalgic, at least for me. However, that may just be because with the graphical overhaul it hardly looks the original PS1 game.

Speaking of graphical overhaul, director on the project Stephane Gravel, revealed how he and his approached remaking the PS1 classic.

"It begins by replaying the original game a lot," said Gravel on the PlayStation Blog. "We played a lot of Crash Team Racing. Taking notes, finding opportunities where we can improve on that game, where possible. Mostly – towards the fact that it's been 20 years – things have evolved a lot. What can we do to modernize that game up to today's standards. Of course, visual fidelity was the most obvious choice, but there was also the online racing. 20 years ago, online racing wasn't part of the standards, but now when you buy a game you pretty much expect to be able to race against your friends online."

Gravel also revealed that for much of the team, remaking the game has been as nostalgic as it will probably be for many to play it later this year.

"It was different depending on who you were on the team," said Grarvel when asked what's was like to return to the game design and aesthetic of the late 90s. "For some of us it was nostalgic. I started in the game industry in 1998, and [Crash Team Racing] came out in 1999. We were playing [Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled] during lunchtime and having a lot of fun competing against each other. It reminded me of the good time I had when I started working in the industry. For some of our team, they pretty much never saw an original PlayStation game. They are younger than I am, so they finally get to see what Crash Team Racing was. That game still has a huge cult following 20 years after coming out. When you see the original graphics of the PlayStation, some of [the younger developers] were like "Whoa, you played games like that?" Actually, that game was great-looking at that time. Depending on how old you are, you have a different level of reception, if you will."

Gravel notes that he understand a lot of the game's hardcore fans are worried about the remake straying too far away from the original, to which the director says not to worry, before noting that the game is also very close to their heats and so they are dedicated to making it as faithful as possible to the original.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is poised to release on June 21 via the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It will cost $39.99 USD.

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