Crash Tag Team Racing
Some unique parts keep this game from falling forever into mediocrity.
Tags: Crash Tag Team Racing Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on Dec 19th, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Crash Tag Team Racing (title page) | 1 - 8 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
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Crash Bandicoot, the lovable scamp and king of platforming during the early years of the original PlayStation, tries to cash in on the fortune that has brought Mario from the castle to the race track. You’ll most likely remember that the racing scene isn’t anything new to the ‘coot, as this territory has been somewhat borishly navigated before in the PlayStation title Crash Bash. The original Crash Team Racing, however, was widely accepted as a fun foray for the franchise into the world of racing. So is Tag Team a Bash? You’ll have to read on…
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The premise for the game isn’t very solid as Crash arrives at a wicked-huge amusement park run by Von Clutch. This robotic entreprenuer is in quite the pickle, however, as all of his power crystals seem to be missing. So obviously it’s up to Crash to get them back, as he races through various tracks throughout the park. What’s odd, and mildly refreshing, about this approach is that Crash is controllable while in the park and the player is charged with manually controlling Crash and taking him to each race, creating a sort of platforming/racing hybrid. It really helps break up the pacing of the game, keeping things from being too monotonous with the racing and too annoying with the having to run and jump everywhere. It’s really a godsend because each activity on their own aren’t all too great, but together form a playable title.
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The racing on its own isn’t anything to rival Mario Kart or the recently released, and surprisingly good, Jak X Combat Racing. The racing itself isn’t all too challenging or fast, at most times, trading the speed for the combat. Blowing away enemies is essential to the racing in Crash Tag Team Racing and largely accomplished by “clashing” with other racers. The act of clashing is as easy as pressing a button and slamming into an opponent, which will cause the two cars to meld together into one big steam-rolling war machine. It’s kind of cool to see all the different combinations that you can accomplish here, as well. While in this combined state, you pretty much own the entire track as you blast down any and all that come into view, causing the game to be easy across the board, even for younger players.
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On the other side of the coin, platforming has its own quirks and fun as well. The amusement park you can trek around in is fairly big, with lots of nooks and crannies for you to discover hidden items in. Also, it wouldn’t be platforming without coins, so you’ll find plenty of them laying around, easily snatched up and traded in for power crystal pieces. What’s quirky about it is just how much of it you’re doing. Considering this is presented primarily as a racing game (I mean, read the title of the game), you do spend an awful lot of time outside of the track.
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The game’s graphics don’t do anything to wow you, but they’re serviceable enough as to not detract from the game. Tracks are inspired from previous areas in Crash games and the racers all look and sound their part. The amusement park where you’ll spend all of your time outside of your vehicle is varied and expansive, allowing for platforming junkies to get a good fix. The act of clashing is pretty nifty the first few times you see it, watching how each part of each vehicle melds into the other and such.
Crash Tag Team Racing manages to keep from being a rehash by implementing some fun platforming along with the generally okay racing, allowing for some diversity in the game. It’s nothing you’re going to write home about, but as a nice budget game to pick up this holiday season for the child(s) in your life, Crash Tag Team Racing is a good title that’ll keep them occupied for a good while.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Platforming helps break up the monotonous racing + Clashing is a cool idea that could be fleshed out more in the future + There are penguins...ninja penguins |
6.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Game is fairly easy across all fronts - Clashing is too unbalanced - Not a whole lot to the game other than the racing and platforming |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Rental, at most. | |
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Tags: Crash Tag Team Racing
Posted by David Hinkle on Dec 19th, 2005 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
