Back in 1996 the rabbit like marsupial that we know as Crash Bandicoot literally crashed on to the gaming market and now; eight years on and eight years older Crash and his friends return, this time with super charged Go Karts in the shape of Crash Nitro Kart.
The game originally hit most games consoles last year but now the games developers Vicarious Visions have brought this essentially miniaturized version of CNK to the N-Gage.
Crash and his friends are relaxing at the bandicoot house, when all of a sudden a light appears out of nowhere and engulfs the room. A mysterious force then lifts the house away into the sky. Meanwhile at Cortex’s castle; the evil cortex is planning how to destroy Crash and his ‘pesky’ bandicoot friends so he can conquer the world, when all of a sudden a similar light appears and tears the castle from the ground and sends it flying into the sky. Crash and Cortex then learn that the more evil Emperor Velo ‘ruler of the galaxy’ had summoned them there to race for the glory of earth in his galactic circus. Winning the race would not only earn them their freedom but would also save the earth from the destructive powers of the Emperor Velo.
After this elaborate story at the beginning there is little more about it; other than small elements that pop-up occasionally throughout the game, leaving the main focus on the Kart Racing which is essentially where it should be.
Although CNK takes a lot of the fundamental elements of Kart racing from the legendary Super Mario Kart; it doesn’t matter too much because it executes them very well.
Essentially the game is as you would expect from any Kart racing game. The camera angle is positioned behind the racer and you compete against a host of computer controlled racers in a series of lap-based heats, where it is essential to win the race in order to progress to the next course. The track is littered with speed boosting pads and power-ups which can be used to and against your advantage.
The game has some lovely 3D tracks which have some remarkably detailed textures and contours but unfortunately (you know it had to have that word some where in here) these features often make the game a little confusing and unclear so it doesn’t help that the game has a very tight perspective which makes it very hard to see how hard you will have to turn on the corners, so too often than not you’ll be facing the wrong way and have no idea of where you actually are.
The controls are relatively simple and are surprisingly very easy to use considering the close knit buttons of the N-Gage console. Obviously you need to use the directional pad to…uuurrrrr control your directions, the ‘5’ key is your acceleration, the ‘2’ key is your jump, the ‘6’ key is the brake although you will rarely need it and finally the ‘4’ key is the fire key which is great to slow down players and improve your chances of winning the race.
Thankfully as with the console versions of the game it still retains those great colourful graphics. The tracks are true 3D and include some very well crafted contours. The player animations are also well crafted even though they do chop up on occasions, however I don’t think this hinders the game what so ever and the chances are that you’ll be too busy working out where you are going to even notice it.
The sound for Crash Nitro Kart is very well suited adding a lot to the loony and vibrant feel of the game. The soundtrack has a typical cartoon/carnival feel and doesn’t loop over and over; it even uses a different piece of music for each level as well as a different piece for each different memory screen. There is also some nice FX such as the sound of the Karts engine and the sound of screeching tyres as you spin out on the corners. All in all the sound is very impressive and finishes the game off well.
If you happen to get bored playing against the computer Crash Nitro Kart luckily has the Bluetooth Multiplayer feature which impressively has the ability to allow multiplayer action for up to four players. As well as this it also feature the N-Gage arena support which unfortunately only allows you to shadow race which seems a little pointless because surely the point of a racing game is to cut up your opponents on corners and win using underhand methods, well it is in this game.
Crash Nitro Kart is one of those games that looks and feels as if it is designed for a target audience of about 8 years old, but in retrospect it is a highly addictive and fun game for all. Whether or not you are in to racing games; this one is definitely one for your collection and certainly a great addition to the N-Gage catalog. I still haven’t taking my helmet and racing gloves off yet….
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