Crash Tag Team Racing

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Friday 2 July, 2010

Released: 2005
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Publisher: Sierra
Genre: 3D Platformer, Racing
Platform: PS2

Crash Bandicoot seemed to be on an all-too-familiar descent from prominence following the departure of its creator Naughty Dog, with the so-so Nitro Kart and lacklustre platformer TwinSanity failing to recapture the one-time media darling’s iconic status. Thus taking into account lukewarm expectations, Tag Team Racing is a pleasant surprise, bucking this troublesome trend and offering up a multi-facetted playing experience. Despite the title, there’s almost as much 3D platforming as racing within – it’s essentially an amalgamation of Crash’s two favoured genres. Given the two very different pursuits don’t seem an immediate fit and a general consensus that the marsupial’s best days are behind him, it’s also a surprise the game turned out so cohesively. Replicating the familiar cartoon karting setup, CTTR offers an impressive array of race variants; a prominent 3D platforming element and a healthy selection of mini-games too. In essence, the end product is something akin to a sandbox title for younger players.

A large theme park acts as a centre point that links all of the themed platforming locations (prehistoric; an icy tundra and a pirate ship among them), which in turn offer gateways to a stack of races. The theme park allows the player to amble around and interact with a large number of tourists; receive explorative or collection-based challenges from Crash’s allies (as well as his arch-rival Neo Cortex and his own cohorts), and by extension buy and upgrade their vehicles for the races. Being an amusement park it also has parlour games which similarly yield rewards for strong showings, and include a duck-shoot and a bowling mini-game with increasingly crazy lane design, and both are good for a laugh.

After years of eye-wateringly tough moments, Tag Team Racing marks a positive (if belated) readjustment in the series branding, as the gulf between Crash’s mainstream-friendly image and the reality of its oft-severe difficulty has finally been reconsidered. This game is not the choice of the hardcore gamer, but that isn’t a criticism – the gentler difficulty and the spirit of the game now seem more ideally suited to less experienced gamers and the result is one of the better Crash Bandicoot games of recent times, with the relaxing of the challenge not coming at any cost in terms of design quality.

Humour in such titles can prove hit and miss to say the least, but there’s an infectious silliness that permeates CTTR and it has some genuinely funny moments. Repeatedly interacting with characters who’ve assigned you a challenge doesn’t simply lead to the repetition of dialogue – instead, they get more and more irritate with Crash (as do the sarcastic ‘hints’) before losing it and having a rant at him. It’s also among a very select group of games to reward you for dying; there are more than thirty ‘die-o-rama’ scenes, each greeted with a fun cut-scene reminiscent of a Wile E. Coyote sketch. As well as being eaten by sharks or blown up by dynamite, there are some more unorthodox for the bandicoot to snuff it, such as being flattened by falling tourists and pianos; being eaten by a yeti and my personal favourite, Crash angering one of the chicken commentators, resulting in him being unceremoniously punched flat into the ground.

CTTR is helped by some good, enduring personalities and some occasionally sparkling one-liners. Among the best are new addition Pasadena, a ditzy possum, and the eternally neurotic villain N-Gin, whose ‘issues’ have intensified to the point of pleading with Crash to make him more beautiful, amusingly leading to the unlocking of a ballerina outfit for the lumbering oddity. As ever though, its pantomime bad guy Neo Cortex who steals the show, and having been ramped up to all-new heights of campness, he comes out with some fantastic lines, such as “My head's too big! I mean, look at me. I stick out like a chocolate bar in a swimming pool!”. It’s not Shakespeare, but there are reams of fun dialogue.

Though in truth neither the racing nor the platforming sections are the series at its absolute best, they show a collective ambition that’s far greater than CTTR’s more recent predecessors. The race tracks are perhaps a little safe, with the majority requiring little in the way of braking or dexterous steering. The racing itself is more engaging however, thanks chiefly to a cool innovation known as ‘clashing’, which allows the player to temporarily merge with another competitor, with one driving and the other manning a mounted weapon. Each track plays host to a range of events that allow the player to familiarise themselves with the layouts and the occasional short-cut. You’ve got the usual single race and time trial linchpins, and then some more unusual stuff such as a surprisingly effective on-rails, shoot-the-target game and a frantically enjoyable elimination mode where the player mans a gun and aims to blow up as many of the other racers as possible by the end of one lap.

The platforming sees Crash collecting coins and power crystals from the various themed areas of the amusement park. Along the way, you’ll find merchants from which you can buy outfits for the various characters or additional crystals, as well as various challenges that yield said crystals. Finding hidden or hard-to-reach items has its uses also as they can then be given to the various characters in the park entrance to improve their karts. Whilst few in number, the themed platform levels are both varied in appearance and pleasantly elaborate in scope, and nicely suited to leisurely exploration as there isn’t a limit on the number of lives. This is perhaps just as well, as Crash has a nasty habit of doing short double jumps seemingly at random when you’re trying to jump high to clear big gaps.

It’s as distinctively chunky and colourful as you’d expect, with the racing bits proving bright and attractive in the familiar cartoon style. The platforming parts perhaps look a touch dated when paired against similar games of the time and aren’t as smooth as they could have been, but it’s not a serious detriment.

Tag Team Racing is easy to complete but that isn’t to say there isn’t a fair bit of entertainment for those willing to invest. The fact that you can pick and choose the events you wish to gain crystals from allows for a fair bit of leeway, so you’ll rarely get stuck as there are literally scores of challenges you can bypass or ignore altogether if you so choose. It’s a decent game to dip into and there’s a lot of mileage and content if you seek 100% completion. Bear in mind it’s no Mario Kart; it doesn’t offer the same quality of design, challenge or, perhaps most damagingly, a particularly notable multiplayer mode. Still, kids will like it and credit must go to Radical Entertainment for creating something more ambitious (and dare I say, better) than many would have expected.

 

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