I still remember a time when PlayStation owners were almost out of luck when it came to kart racers. Oh, sure, there were some out there, but nothing up to par with what Nintendo 64 fans had -- Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64 series for the N64 come to mind immediately.

But, that all changed in 1999 when Sony released Naughty Dog's Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation 1. I was reminded of how good this game was when I turned it on the other day after trying to force myself to like Crash Nitro Kart for the GameCube again. Indeed, Crash Nitro Kart was intended as an improvement over Crash Team Racing, but the thing just falls flat. Sadly, the old Crash Team Racing game just flogs the right hell out of Crash Nitro Kart in almost every way.

For those not familiar with Crash Team Racing, it takes "good guys" and "bad guys" from the Crash Bandicoot series and sticks them on go karts. The result is an entertaining and endlessly-amusing game as the graphics are eye-popping (for a PlayStation, at least), the races are competitive and the tracks are extremely well-designed.

The highlight of this game -- as with any kart racer -- is the multiplayer mode. Up to four people can play this with the appropriate controller adapters, but I really can't comment on how the game behaves with more than two players. In two-player mode, each player is offered a split-screen view, and there is no slowdown at all. That's right, you can zip along without fear of the framerate taking a dive when a lot of action is on one -- or both -- halves of the screen.

That's important to point out because this game is fast. The game is so fast at first, honestly, that you barely feel like you're in control of your kart until you get the hang of it. Naughty Dog is to be commended for really optimizing the game so that it flies along without taxing the PlayStation's hardware too much.

What is missing in the two-player mode, sadly, is a lot of detail on the screens. In one-player mode, there's quite a big deal made about background scenery and such, but it's harder to cram all of that in during the two-player contests. Not to worry, though. You won't miss the details as the races are so intense.

By intense, I mean my wife and I have damn near gotten in fist fights over the past few years while playing this game. Why? Well, first of all, the power-ups can be nasty. The nastiest one is a mask that, when activated, offers a speed boost, invulnerability and the ability to knock other players out of the way. Another one is the place-killer -- one that can turn the tables in a race quickly as one person at the back of the pack can release it and cause everyone else to wreck. Combine those two attacks with the fact that the computer "cheats" a bit by denying good powerups to players in the lead, and you get a lot of situations in which sure wins turn into losses in a hurry. That can be frustrating, but it keeps things interesting.

In multiplayer (or, single player) modes, the participants can choose to race in one of four cups or on individual tracks. Players can also choose to compete in a battle mode which, well, sucks (collect pickups and shoot them at your enemy kind of stuff). In the cup races, the players try to gain the most points by placing in four races. As I've said, the multiplayer modes in this game are the most fun.

However, there's an adventure mode that's entertaining for single players, too. In that mode, the goal is to clear various areas by entering races and, eventually, beating the bosses in each area. One frustrating thing about adventure mode, however, is that some tracks require you to either pick up items during races or to wander around picking up various things within a specified amount of time. The problem is, some items are almost impossible to get while still beating the clock or staying ahead in a race. Those tracks just cause a lot of headaches -- not the kind of thing one wants when putting in a "pick up and play" game like Crash Team Racing.

Three very important elements in a kart racer are control, speed and track design. I've already mentioned how fast this game is, but I should add that the player has wonderful control over his kart, especially with the dual shock controller. It's easy to slide around corners, jump off of ramps, dodge harmful power-ups left by other players, run over crates for your own power-ups and etc. The illusion of speed comes across very well here, but the game wouldn't be fun if you couldn't control your cart easily.

The track design, too, is great. You've got about 18 tracks here, and they follow various themes. For example, one has the players racing through a castle, while another has one zipping through a very confined dirt track. Icy areas are common and impact karts in the expected ways, while mud plagues players on other levels. Most of the tracks have shortcuts to find, and most of them can be discovered with a little work. There are plenty of ramps and opportunities for the players to fly through the air. The graphics are very good for a PS1 game. Tracks are full of little features, such as wandering seals that can collide with your kart, rolling boulders and the like. You'd think scenery wouldn't matter when flying through courses, but there are a lot of things worth seeing here. My particular favorite course is one which looks like it takes place in outer space, complete with jumps that throw karts out in the middle of nowhere, but allow the player to steer unto the next section of track. Neat stuff, particularly at high speeds.

As for the sound, it's crucial here. See, this game flies along quickly (as I've said about a dozen times), so it's important to know when powerups are being thrown at you (missiles being fired, bombs being rolled and etc.) as well as when other players are close. The engines buzz away here, and the players tend to yell at each other as they fly around the track. The sounds are also used to create atmosphere -- doors slide open to reveal secret sections of track and the like.

Now, if there's a major flaw in this game, it's the difficulty level. The difficulty ranges from "easy" to "hard," but it's pretty easy to beat the computer-controlled drivers on any level (with the exception of bosses in adventure mode). That really puts a damper on the single-player aspects of the game, but doesn't hurt the multiplayer modes. When my wife and I go head-to-head in cup races, we tend to blow by the computer-controlled players and concentrating on fighting each other. Still, this game should really be more difficult.

As for karts, there are eight to choose from, initially, and others can be unlocked through the adventure mode. The karts are well-designed, too, in that they have different properties that are very evident during races. Some accelerate well and corner decently. Others have high top speeds but don't handle very well. Some are balanced, and some are downright slow but corner extremely well. Yes, which kart you choose can have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

In the end, this is the best kart racer you'll find for the PlayStation and is one of the best games in that genre for any console. Kart racers just don't get much better than Crash Team Racing.


Recommended: Yes