Reviewed: December 15, 2005
Reviewed by: Megan Dyer

Publisher
Vivendi Universal Games

Developer
Radical Entertainment

Released: October 21, 2005
Genre: Racing Action
Players: 1-8
ESRB: Everyone

7
6
6
9
6.8

Supported Features:

It’s pretty open ended and directionless - more like a hub world for the racing than a full game in its own right. There is no penalty for dying here, and there are no enemies of any real consequence outside of comic relief, such as the ninja penguins that occasionally attempt to knock your collected coins away from you. This is good, not only because most people will want to hit the race tracks as soon as possible, but also because the platforming controls are absolutely awful.

There are several instances of fixed camera angles that hinder play, and the freeform camera is even worse. I suppose if you had to just stare up at the blank sky or at an odd angle that allows you to look at Crash’s head from the eyes up these camera angles would come in handy, but considering that that is pretty unlikely, the camera controls are really annoying. Couple that with the fact that Crash’s controls are loose, jerky, and generally difficult, and it’s easy to see how the whole platforming area can be pretty frustrating.

The other main part of the game is, of course, the racing. Several modes are available, including a battle mode where your selected character will team up with another, and together drive around in an arena attempting to blow the other characters up as many times as you can before someone else hit’s the ten kills mark. Crashinator mode places targets on the track that must be crashed into as many times as possible within the time limit. Rolling Thunder, or as I like to call it, the Stress Reliever, allows players to wantonly shoot opponents with reckless abandon as they race around one lap of the race track. Run and Gun consists of shooting floating targets with a mini-gun as you drive by them.

Between all these alternate modes and the classic racing mode itself, this half of the game is actually quite a bit of fun, unlike the platforming part. Cars are bigger than in many other kart racing games, and they don’t corner as nimbly. The tracks are designed to accommodate this, though, so it can actually be fun to get the hang of driving.

One of the most unique things about Crash Tag Team Racing is the ability to “clash,” or meld with your competition in most modes of play to create an uber-vehicle complete with weapon turrets. Unlike the usual power ups scattered all over the track, the turrets come with a supply of ammunition and can be fired until the ammo runs out. Even more interestingly, you can’t drive and shoot at the same time, since two separate characters are in the car together. By switching between driving and gunning, you can navigate the best routes and still watch your back effectively.

Also, if you don’t like one or the other, the game’s AI controls are actually pretty good, so it’s just as easy to leave half of the work to your digital partner instead. As you might imagine, in two-player mode these “super cars” are a lot of fun.

Crash Tag Team Racing also has quite a robust multiplayer option which can go up to eight players with a network adapter. Although I only got to test-drive the game with two players, it’s obvious that the more people there are, the more enjoyable this game gets. Like any kart racer, it’s not about serious gaming - it’s about having fun and wreaking havoc with (and on) your friends and family.

It’s also worth mentioning that there are a large number of mini-games that can be unlocked over the course of play. Most of the games have little or nothing to do with either the driving or platforming aspects of Crash Tag Team Racing. They range from shooting galleries to a truly weird bowling lane challenge, and most are fairly fun. Like everything else, these can be found scattered around the platforming areas of the game.

Character designs are a matter of taste. If you like the designs from past Crash games, then you’re in luck: most of the playable characters in Crash Tag Team Racing are plucked from the rogues’ galleries and hero rosters of past games in the series. They look… well, like Crash game characters are supposed to look. They don’t have a lot of detail, but they’re oozing with personality. If you like them, you do; if you don’t, you don’t.

The platforming areas are at least pretty well put together. There is a decent amount of detail in these areas, and none of it is too much of a challenge to get too. It’s the racing arenas that are so-so, which is not a good thing considering the bulk of the game is the racing part. While some of the jumps over tracks are pretty cool (at one point on a raceway, cars flip and spin in the air to the rest of the track over a cliff, which is pretty neat), there were a few arenas that I unlocked that just didn’t look all that different than the other raceways that I already had available to me. So don’t expect anything too exciting to look at in Crash Tag Team. I was a bit underwhelmed, honestly.

N-Gin (pronounced “engine”) in particular stands out to me. A stout, hunched over character with Igor style voice, this former villain is actually quite funny. With the already funny “Yesss, Massster” voice he has, he says some things that really had me cracking up. When Crash whirls into him or jumps on him in the midway (during the platforming part of the game), he’ll yell out such nonsense as “Oh, my eyeball! I loved that eyeball!” or, “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? How can I ever thank you?” Neo Cortex, the whiny, self absorbed villain, is also voiced well and has some pretty good lines too.

Still, some of the other characters are kind of annoying in their attempts to be quirky and funny. Pasadena the opossum has a hickish southerner accent that gets to be a bit grating after some time, especially since she seems to constantly be hitting on Crash. Von Clutch, the bizarre and vaguely Nazi-esque soldier character, has a thoroughly difficult accent to understand. I know he’s supposed to be some poorly put together German stereotype, but when the faux accent is so over the top that it’s nearly impossible to understand, that’s when you cross the line into the realm of being unfunny and annoying.

Sound effects, like the music, are just kind of there in all their cartoony glory. Nothing stands out as great, but they serve their purpose at the very least.

In the strictly PS2 version, there are over thirty Die-O-Ramas to find throughout the level. Die-O-Ramas are unlockable scenes of Crash “dying” in bizarre and cartoony ways. Now, before all of you parents out there start to reconsider Crash Tag Team Racing for the kids, rest assured that these cut scenes are no more violent than the unfortunate events that happen to poor Wile E. Coyote in his never ending quest to catch the Road Runner in Loony Toon cartoons.

Some of these Die-O-Ramas are really quite humorous. One of them consists of a monkey with dynamite strapped to its back randomly dropping down onto Crash. Crash frantically attempts to throw the monkey off of his back, but the kamikaze monkey seems utterly determined to take Crash down with him for no apparent reason. Who wouldn’t find that funny? Besides, remember that this is an E10+ rating, so it’s not gory or unnecessarily violent.

Many of the mini-games are quite fun as well. My favorite is the duck shooting game that reminds me of the good old days of Duck Hunt. The only complaint I might have personally about the mini-games, is that some of them are a tad too easy. Then again, it’s important to remember that Crash Tag Team Racing is a kid’s game by and large, so the lack of difficulty really does suit the game in reality.

Even if the abundant mini-games and unlockables get old, the fact that Crash Tag Team Racing is a racing game by and large means that it should be fun to throw in and race around with a friend for a long time to come. There are also other the modes of play on the raceway that don’t consist of the traditional “whoever crosses the line first, wins” racing. All in all, Crash Tag Team Racing offers a lot to its players.