Son-icka

Quick Query: What Platform? I’m playing this on PS4 Pro and have not run into any of these troubles thus far (apart from obvious grievances with having to grind at the shop as I don’t have online). Just wondering if it’s console specific or something I should be wary of because nothing I’ve played would have me Class it Broken... yet. I will say in addition to my playthough of the bosses above - these are definitely easier than I remember (playing medium - in nitro fuelled mode). I had previously heard that they were all so difficult that if you ever got ahead the game has them overtake you by default after a while. Well, Komodo, Pinstripe and even bloody Oxide bit my dust for three full laps!! Only Ripper gave me trouble, and I think that’s just because I was getting used to the game (and Coco instead of my usual choices of Polar or Crash). But yeah, from what I have played so far I’d Class this game on equal footing with TSR... but for completely different reasons. Both feel polished and unpolished in different areas, both have varying degrees of charm, but both are just plain freaking fun. TSR has the USP of the surprisingly fun team gameplay, a smooth 60FPS tracks to glide around, and controls are silky smooth with a damn freaking amazing soundtrack. Meanwhile CTR has an unashamedly gorgeous visual quality with a tough as nails yet rewarding motorcross style karting experience. Gameplay might initially feel really rough round the edges, but when it clicks and you get how to play, it really CLICKS and you FLY round the courses (plus the sheer content on offer, my god!!). SIDE NOTE: Beenox, I consider myself very fluent and fast with subtitles considering the amount of foreign language films and anime I have seen in my time... but those end credit epilogue sections went by WAAAAY too quick for me to digest. The amount of text was too much for some characters, and 5 seconds per transition is not long enough. Not to mention I want to enjoy watching the characters prance and dance around.

Have they ‘fixed’ the bosses now then? Because I’ve heard multiple issues with them being broken and tough to beat, or is it just a design hangover from the PS1 era. It’s just on medium I’ve had no issues so far. Ripper took me a 3 attempts, Papu once, and then Komodo... well I was ahead of him the ENTIRE time - and I seriously worried about playing him on such as tight course. Pinstripe was always a b***** even on PS1 so I’m expecting that to be difficult.

Yeah, this game. THIS GAME. About 4 races in and I don’t really have any huge quibbles so far, it feels as natural as when I played CTR PS1 yesterday. However I will say this (please patch this Beenox) I beat Ripper Roo on my second attempt (hey, when I was a kid he took me donkeys) - but the automatic select is “retry” when I won... which I pressed by mistake. No biggie right? As I can quit the race like in TSR and still reap the benefits as I passed. No. It’s erases your win and takes you back to the map without the key reward. So Pro Tip - don’t skip menus haphazardly.

...what??! Then how are the Nitro Tracks in the game? Just as separate races in single player? Damn. I feel like I can’t really complain about this... but I can’t explain how really disappointing that has now made me feel. I honestly just expected adventure mode to extend on or for them to include whatever it was in CNK as a second adventure. So there’s really, honestly nothing?? =O I don’t understand this, why would they cut that experience out for those tracks considering all the other bells, whistles, upgrades, and not to mention new content in the Grand Prix modes planned. It’s such a shame. I hope maybe we’ll get a free update to fix this in somehow in the future, I can’t be alone in wanting it.

I have a question for those in the know as none of the reviews seem to talk about it. So how have they integrated the Nitro Kart tracks into adventure mode? Did they just copy the layouts done in NK’s original game or did Beenox pull of some magic and just add new hubs or add the tracks as portals onto the existing ones? Adventure was always my favourite part of CTR with its variety of missions and sense of single player structure. So I’ve been really excited to see how they extended this somehow now all the new NK track content is in here that I’ve not played before.

I’ve wondered this. The slide boosting feels natural enough on R1 & L1 in the original game, and really it needs the hard trigger to pull off successful. That’s gunna be much harder to do if you’ve got your fingers over R2 to accelerate as well. I’m intrigued about what the alternative is, but I think sticking with ‘X’ for accelerating in this game is probably the best way to play.

Brilliant, Just like in the original game. Nice.

Damn. No game arrival. Well, I’m never preordering from Argos again. No delivery on release despite being told it’s on its way. Should have known. The only saving grace is I bought the game for free due to a clerical rewards points error. But still, was really looking forward to playing this TODAY. Ah well.

It also Scored 0.3 below TSR on their scale. Tricky to tell how accurate that is without playing CTR until later myself. However I do agree with their review of TSR and would have scored the same. But I did expect the review score for CTR to be the same if not a tad higher. Also, yes yes... I know Twinsanity and A Hero’s Tail we’re fairly decent. There’s a reason I said Average - Poor after the main trilogy in my OP. =P

Why? Much like with Spyro any game post the original developers departure are mediocre - terrible. Why do you think that only the original trilogies (plus CTR) are getting remade? I can’t see anything else past those game getting the same treatment. If anything this should be priming the development team to follow up with new titles now they have the basics down. Besides, ‘official naughty dog canon’ ...I did say that it’s just my personal feelings, so essentially it’s what I accept. Beenox can do as they like when adding characters in.

The game that began Crash’s Downfall. Still, it was never going to be the same after Naughty Dog left the franchise after CTR. I think unless you know CTR from playing it 20 years ago, or are very familiar with the series in general, then yes I would totally recommend playing N-Sane Trilogy First. It’s Crash bandicoot platforming of the 90’s at its finest and this title very much lends itself to the familiarity of those games (much on the same way that Mario or Sonic does with their series). What’s always set CTR apart from other generic Mario kart clones is the tight controls and and the 2 axis boosting mechanic; it just takes what Mario Kart 64 did to a much more exciting level when power sliding. Not only does a player have additional degrees of control when drift boosting, but you can work out better routes to turbo around a track based on your jump boosting from the right height. It only occurred to me recently how much CTR is more akin to a motorcross stunt game, especially when you consider that there are so many bumps and jumps in each course. To be honest though, I’m not really familiar with a third of the characters in this roster for this remake. It appears Beenox dug deeper than just CTR and CNK when it came to this game. For me personally, Crash’s world is 1, 2, 3 and CTR. Anything beyond this I don’t really consider a part of the official ‘Naughty Dog’ canon, but they’re nice inclusions all the same.

Can’t wait for this to arrive tomorrow. I’ve been playing some original CTR in preparation for some comparisons as well. This was a game I played religiously when I was smaller so there are some weighty expectations from me for this to deliver. I think from what I’ve so far seen the only real quibbles would be that the music is not really any better than in the original game (which, let’s be honest wasn’t amazing to begin with) and also Uka Uka... my man, what did they do to your voice????!! In terms of sheer content it certainly appears to have Team Sonic Racing beat to a pulp which is a real shame for that game. TSR has a lot going for it in other areas that best out Crash Team Racing, it’s just a shame that SEGA only want to push the Music as a standout feature (it is THAT good - but gameplay is what should be shown to shine). That, and lack of additional support and extra content that is deserved for the franchise.

Jeez. I was actually being flippant in my original post. Bloody hell. I guess I deserved that sort of comeback for ignorance over this decision. Most of the responses you all posted in reply don’t mean a lot to me (because although I follow the releases I haven’t played Pokemon properly since Gen 3 - and that one I didn’t complete) so I don’t really “get” what some of you are saying here haha! I’m Sorry! But, if I’m speaking honestly... Is this actually really that big a deal? In my logic it appears to me thusly: Every subsequent Pokemon release has most Pokemon (if not all) available to capture from the start or later on in the game. Every Pokemon title supports all Pokemon weather you can capture it in game or not which is supported by transferring them across from your old games. Sword and Shield will still likely feature a good 500 Pokemon which will include The newbies to the region and a selection of Pokemon from the older titles to capture. So... the actual issue here is you might not be able to play as your Pokemon of choice or transfer it across if said Pokemon is not supported? Is that right? I mean, speaking (very clearly) as an outsider here. Logistically how could Game Freak continue to support so many all the time. Surely this would have happened eventually? ...Right? But sure, it really sucks if your fav isn’t available to play in this game or you can’t transfer your Level 100 pal from a previous title buuut... oh I dunno. I actually don’t know....This franchise has obviously evolved beyond what I remember it was. That’s not a criticism by the way. You are all CLEARLY passionate about this problem gamefreak have created. I personally just played to collect them all over again each time, the trading stuff never really bothered me nor did porting my older ‘mon. And the prospect of trying to capture 900 Pokemon is too overwhelming to consider - that is really the only reason I find... well reason. It obviously still sucks for many of you though.

Wow, 24k dislikes to 12k likes. What a bunch of self entitled goofs some people are. Got to feel for gamefreak. In my opinion I think it is Totally the right call they’ve made. Exclusive Pokemon only (and favourites returning) is the best move. It means we can get used to the newer Pokemon in this region and game than rely on the past. Lets be honest here, eventually they’ll probably all be available to use in the future through post game updates. But how can you expect a team to ready for launch this soon with over 800 of these bloody critters. That’s just insane. It’s also incredibly off-putting to me. I haven’t played a mainline series title in a while and am thinking of returning with this entry. That they are streamlining the ‘Mon and having Galar only is a huge relief and big appeal.

Still love Tawnas design. But yeah... Trophy girls look a bit... well, the eyes aren’t big enough. And I mean THE EYES. The original anime inspired style and facial designs is part of what made them appealing in the first place. I completely understand toning down the other... *ahem*...’assets’, but they’ve also lost a little bit more of their identities in this update. It feels as though you could swap the hair styles between the character models and you wouldn’t know the difference between them.