Crash Team Racing is a highly acclaimed kart racer for the PlayStation, developed by Naughty Dog, that successfully challenged the genre’s titans. The story centres on the efforts of Crash Bandicoot, Dr. Neo Cortex, and other iconic series characters who must race against the egomaniacal alien, Nitros Oxide. Oxide, the self-proclaimed fastest racer in the galaxy, threatens to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot if he defeats the planet’s best driver in a one-on-one race. The gameplay features classic kart-racing mechanics, utilizing item-holding crates, but is distinguished by its deep, skill-based power-sliding (drift) turbo boost system, allowing players to chain multiple boosts for significant speed advantages. This, along with diverse track design and a robust single-player Adventure mode, made the game engaging. Upon reception, CTR was met with critical acclaim, often praised as one of the best kart racers on the PlayStation and a worthy competitor—and in some critics’ eyes, superior—to other genre leaders due to its technical polish and high-skill gameplay mechanics.
