Was Crash Nitro Kart Really That BAD?

[@untitledjunk03]

Fun Fact: This was the first Crash game to feature pre-rendered cutscenes!

[@Shinigami_Striker]

FMV (full-motion video) is convenient for CRASH NITRO KART on the PS2 hardware. Crash Twinsanity and Tag Team Racing have this later on on PS2 and PSP respectively. 📺 📺 📺

[@juhadexcelsior]

It looks great honestly

[@ssppeeaarr]

for a post naughty dog crash game... its still good!! besides for casuals they aint gonna know the diff with the og crash racing on ps1. the boost mechanic is fun. glad they was kept over on this version. even the gba port of this game is decent. the tunes are great as well. 😁

[@Hinokassaudifan1]

I liked it. But good lord how did younger me beat the bosses WITHOUT the drift is beyond me.

[@amysel]

Same, they don't really mention it much and I barely knew english as a kid

[@deoxysandmew2162]

Tell me about it... I did the same thing with CTR and I have no idea how? Just patience and luck of the items I guess...

[@Raver-1601]

Coz we just grind that shit for hours nonstop without any tire lol. Now the boss overtakes us halfway through the track in the first lap, we either gave up or immediately restart

[@BloxXor]

I guess bosses get easier when you lose multiple times? Many games do that.

[@jonbeecee]

Definitely AI rubber banding

[@gmanz5]

The main menu theme is arguably the best thing about this game. That’s not a detriment to the game. The main theme just goes THAT HARD!!

[@Joshua_Quinzel_Isley]

They should use that as the default for a possible future CTR 2 someday.

[@saltycomet]

💯

[@alchemy5750]

The story of CNK was literally exactly the same as Space Jam: characters of an estabilished, beloved franchise gets kidnapped by a fat, green pointy-eared alien, who threatens to use them in a deadly competition as a part of his theme park. Hell, Emperor Velo and Swackhammer had almost exactly the same design, and his goons kinda looked like the Evil Twins from Twinsanity. CNK is Race Jam without Michael Jordan and you can't change my mind.

[@Reflexyet]

But it was made way before space jam

[@jjguinard]

@@Reflexyet It was released 7yrs after space jam

[@joetokyo1158]

I want someone to mod jordan into the cnk now

[@jrt2792]

​@@joetokyo1158frfr, I'm not only person who would want that.😅😅

[@joetokyo1158]

This game made me feel sympathetic to a villain/s for the first time. The bosses just wanted to protect their planets from a bigger villain.

[@erika3174]

Loved this game. The cutscenes are the best in the series imo.

[@poly_g6068]

"Not as good as Team Racing" absolutely does not disqualify CNK from being a good game. That criticism was used a lot over the years and it was taken to mean more than it actually does. Definitely still a good game.

[@sebastiankulche]

Yep, i agree, the only problem was that being a much more modern game, people expected something MUCH better. I still love CNK and is my favourite post ND game though.

[@tonyp9313]

Haven't played crash Team racing the original one, but this game is garbage. I shouldn't be forced to get Relics & CNK Tokens just to unlock a character. I shouldn't have to play & then play again to unlock the ghost to get N trophy. I shouldn't have to do 50 consecutive boosts to unlock 2 of the characters.

[@ababbaabababb6428]

this game is ass stop cappin’

[@poly_g6068]

@@ababbaabababb6428 Imma cap you right fast

[@NoXVIII]

@@ababbaabababb6428 Nah it's a great game

[@_puduposting]

I remember playing as a kid and said "Pura and Polar are unlockables? This game sucks..." Then I play it each weekend and holidays until I unlocked Polar and Dingodile

[@anonymouscontributor1520]

*Fun Fact:* If you got a new copy of this game in its original case, it also included a free CD consisting of the game’s soundtrack. Sure it only contained 9 songs instead of all of them, but it was still cool to be able to listen the game’s soundtrack without needing to start up the game! Nowadays, you can just listen to the entire soundtrack on KZbin; but KZbin didn’t exist yet when this game came out, so having a physical copy of the soundtrack was the best way to enjoy the music!!

[@just_jertie]

I genuinely had that CD on repeat. I loved it.

[@MannyBoy96]

This was a great review of the game, I loved all the jokes as well. My favorite joke/reference was one I'm not even sure was done on purpose, but I loved that you named your two save files "Lew" and "Lewtwo" respectively.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

Ikr lol

[@wiktorshowtime8242]

Ikr lol

[@mustafaLY2631]

Ikr lol

[@rac1equalsbestgame853]

IMO the only big problem with CNK, and sadly it is a HUGE one, is the stiff and heavy controls. The graphics are not quite to snuff for PS2, but graphics are not a big deal for me. Fix the controls and it becomes almost as good as CTR and the soundtrack is FANTASTIC like the vast mayority of Crash games.

[@adventuresteamstudios242]

To sum up my true feelings about CNK Pro: The Music, Tracks, Cutscenes, Kart and Character designs, Anti Gravity Cons: Controls, Physics, Lack of Tracks, 100% completion requirements to unlock a single character, Zem being a Wario clone with no charm, Teammate CPU being either dumb or unsupportive, Rocket Missile, Speed, and Power Shield being heavily nerfed, Clip ins and glitches

[@crabbuckets7506]

You genuinely made me laugh with the anti gravity Mario Kart 8 joke.

[@Duskool]

Oh, wait, was Cortex's clown skin in NF based solely on that Norm line?

[@gmanz5]

CNK would have been one of the best kart racers ever had CTR just not existed. If you just gave CNK CTR’s mechanics and physics suddenly this game is elite

[@gamemandre28]

Facts 💯

[@rayoffishes1224]

queek

[@gustavrsh]

Agreed. CTR physics are simply perfect.

[@Reflexyet]

Nah ctr driving is too goofy

[@WonderMePartyStrip]

Driving in CNK is way better than CTR.

[@dislikebomb6680]

My main gripe with this game is, it was advertised as a game where you could play as virtually any character in the Crash universe. Yet, most of the ones from CTR are missing and you can't play as the new characters aside from Velo

[@Stivy_xx]

Si se puede yo los tengo lo juego en ps3🔥

[@JoeContext]

Still surprised there weren't mind control/Team Trance skins for Pura, Polar and Dingodile in Nitro Fueled

[@mattb6522]

I like this game. I played it ages ago on the GameCube and it was fun! Although, I will agree that the controls just aren't as tight as CTR, so it takes some adjustment for things like drifting. Other than that, it is a solid kart racer. The music was really excellent, too! I always found it strange that you couldn't play as a boss once you beat them in the console version like you could in the GBA version. You could also unlock Spyro in the GBA version, but not the console release. I agree that the requirement for unlocking Velo is really absurd. Honestly, I didn't even know he was even playable back then as I only did 100% for Team Bandicoot. All in all, not as good as CTR (few kart racers are), but definitely _not_ a bad game!

[@GreenDinoRanger]

Now I regret never playing through CNK as Team Cortex and experiencing Big Norm's savage comeback.

[@VolcanoTheBat]

Fantastic review! Always puts a smile on my face to see this game receiving love, especially in recent times. Absolutely agree that the final velo ghost challenge should’ve unlocked something over nothing, like all the bosses could’ve been unlocked after going through completing the velo time trial for each world. Or even unlocking real velo after beating the time trials, while getting 100% for both stories unlocks the bosses. Idk but I remember kid me being so saddened that they not only didn’t have the bosses, but they did in the GBA version. I feel there could’ve been a team n trance and team oxide story mode, showing a more behind-the-scenes of the stories formula, where we’d see from their perspective when and where velo would bring them to the coliseum, and how oxide was introduced to zem and zam, meanwhile how n trance could’ve been pressured or gladdened to help velo put a member from team cortex and bandicoot under mind control. Perhaps this could’ve been where we could’ve seen n tropy, fake crash, and pura implemented to the story. Not sure if this or team oxide/ntrance stories were what was planned originally but even in nitro fueled, I feel this could’ve been a mad pack of DLC if nitro kart’s story was implemented to the remake… Keep up the awesome content man, I love hearing your thoughts from your perspective and look forward to more! 😀👍

[@nergalshagrath6667]

I remember playing this game when I was a kid but I was much of tag team racing and team racing fan to be honest I never expect the beautiful track designs of the game with bad controls. On team racing the controls where perfect I was always comfortable with it but on tag team racing it was hard to make good turns and drifts is like you drive a tank with those steering mechanics but the ideas where absolutely new for the tracks, new villains and also brand new soundtrack. Nitro kart was simply fun a game to enjoy

[@Memenative]

Such a great game, (although I could be bias because of nostalgia) I still remember the exact moment my aunt bought me a copy of the game when I was 5 years old to play on the PS2. So many great memories.

[@chromasus9983]

The GBA version is actually very good. You also unlock all the boss characters just by beating them, and all of them pilot those big hovercraft that Velo has in the console port. It's good stuff. Also it has Spyro in it!

[@stevesteve0521]

I believe it’s better than the home console versions and it also controls slightly better

[@WonderMePartyStrip]

Wut, I never played that version. I played the Xbox version many times and 100%.

[@just_jertie]

The GBA one was dope. My favorite thing was any possible result in time trials, right down to every millisecond, had a specifc "web code" that you could input on the developer's website. You could essentially record your times there. It had a legit worldwide active leaderboard of the fastest times for a while.

[@DullVivid]

Wanted to give it another go after playing so much Nitro Fueled, clipped right through the track after that big jump in Clockwork Wumpa.

[@marcoalves9029]

"Electron Avenue is Electron Avenue" well said. Electron Avenue is a great track

[@AbdulTheArabicGuy]

I'll never get tired of reliving the first time I booted up this game and that stupidly good intro played out. It just pumps you up to get into the action right away. This game ultimately did a lot of things right except for the controls. If those were addressed (which they were with NF 16 years later lol), it would've been such a better game. As a youngster, I wasn't bothered by it, and just fun.

[@crashfan9997]

Unfortunately I never really liked this game because after playing CTR, this felt so slow and like a dull version of CTR, even as a kid. It's like what Wrath of Cortex is to Warped imo.

[@velostation6309]

The boost counter does exist in CTR, but you have to input a code to activate it.

[@KoopaXross]

The boost counter is in CTR as well. You have to input a cheat code to put it on. At least that gives u an on/off option.

[@MattTheHuman9]

One thing I like about this game is that it feels like a true continuation of the vibe of the PS1 Crash games. The art style, characters, story even though it's nothing crazy just feel right and I guess is the Crash game that feels closest to the originals, plus Velo's one of the coolest villains in the series. Also the tracks are just as good or even better than some of the CTR counterparts and I think Nitro Fueled proves that, a shame that it didn't have as many tracks as CTR.

[@Mister_Oddity]

This game is ok aside from some glitches and clunkiness which does bug me but i find it fun with race tracks, the OP boost, the songs, and the cutscenes. (it's still much better than Tag Team tbh)

[@siloPIRATE]

You know what prevented me beating Velo a second time with Team Bandicoot (the team I chose for my first play through)? A CNK token being too far from a ramp on Electron Avenue. That’s it

[@staren1991]

I recall thinking how slow the game felt... went from CTR where you almost flew through the courses, then you start up CNK and it's like you're crawling (especially the gravizones)

[@Rath_Man]

Good video, I agree wholeheartedly that it's a decent game that could've used some better controls. About the Velo time trials, I heard that doing all of them is an alternative way to unlock Velo, but unfortunately I can't confirm that since I did it the regular way first and I'm definitely not going to go through those time trials again. btw I love that you named your second savefile Lewtwo :)

[@Userdavid-pz4qm]

Dude, you missed out. 1999 was an awesome year to be a gamer.

[@style.exe.]

Gotta agree the soundtrack to this game goes crazy especially that main menu theme, I remember doing the gems just because i wanted to use dingo and polar really badly, my favorite two to use and seeing battle mode brought back memories (forgot you had to 100% the game again for velo lmao) that wasnt the best memory but overall I loved this game, even seeing the character icons is nostalgic, great review of the game as always 😁

[@anonluxor470]

You forgot to mention that if your partner makes it's the finish line you still win the race and N trance is from the game boy advance game crash N trance. Besides that awesome video 💯💙👍

[@puttu_racing]

I actually really like this game and it's my favorite PS2 Crash game but sadly my copy doesn't work. Update: I got a working copy from my local game store

[@Dante_Sparda_DMC]

Use PCSX2

[@puttu_racing]

@@Dante_Sparda_DMC I don't have a PC.

[@Dante_Sparda_DMC]

@@puttu_racing then install AetherSX2, I just watched a new video of someone playing every Crash game with it on their Switch but you can use it on mobile too

[@puttu_racing]

@@Dante_Sparda_DMC Ok, that sounds good. Thanks.

[@Dante_Sparda_DMC]

No problem

[@BLBridged]

We used to play this all the time with our cousin. Then at some point we switched back to CTR and then my cousin who was very little at the time thought that CNK was actually the older game. We've been playing CTR regularly since then until nitro fuled came out. We played that for a couple of month, then went back to the og ctr. CNK feels very clunky compared to ctr which surprised me since I never really noticed it as a kid

[@BoredMan0]

Finally video about CNK There some stuff you maybe forgot about 1. the reason why unlocking velo hard because he has full stats if am not wrong 7/7 I’m ever thing 2. In trailer of the game it should have 17 tracks instead 13 still wondering why not 17 tracks

[@Joshua_Quinzel_Isley]

This kart-racer I played for many years before I spent all my time with Nitro-Fueled. Many of the ideas and features from this game should be implemented in a CTR 2 in the future.

[@wbs2813]

I like this game but prefer CTR(both original and the nitro-fueled remake)

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

I will give this game one thing... Velo's race dialogue, couple with Steve Blum's delivery, is so savage that it's freaking awesome! "Does your mother tie your shoes as well?"

[@gmrgamingrm]

I grew up playing CNK on the PS2 but being born in 2002 meant it took me a few years after its release to get it. It was my first Crash game so when I first discovered that Crash was a platformer it felt weird because up until that point I only knew him for CNK and CTTR. I was so excited when it was announced that CTR:NF was getting CNK content. Having all of the CNK content with the amazing controls of CTR was just the best! Personally, I think the anti-gravity could have been worked into CTR:NF and I would have preferred that over removing those sections but I'm just grateful that it is in the game at all.

[@Cattobatto98]

I loved CNK, It was the first Crash Bandicoot game I ever played. Back then I didn't understand how to 100% the game so I never did the relic races or time trails. Great video.

[@daredevilmurdock7490]

One of the things you forgot to mention about the bubble shield is that it doesnt protect you from N. Tropy's clock. Which is such bullshit not sure if it's a glitch or intentional but on ps2 it doesn't protect you

[@Craigmt12]

A decent Crash game. Love the sound track, especially the title theme which is possibly one of the best of the franchise post Naughty Dog. Wish CTRNF had featured the main theme somewhere in the game. The anti gravity tracks were amazing too. Shame Beenox opted not to include this in CTRNF. Only negative for me is the lack of decent new characters. Perhaps they would have been more meaningful if you could have unlocked them as playable racers and if they had appeared in future games.

[@FalconFighterPilot1013]

I remember raging so hard when racing Velo that I took the disc out, stepped on it until it broke and threw it away

[@MarcoPerror]

It was very good imo, but after defeating velo's ghosts, it was pretty boring since there were few tracks to race, and the AI was very easy, even in hard mode. I even so fell in love that much with CNK that when CTR NF came out, I bought a console to play it (I usually play on PC, so I didn't have any other choice).

[@hiddencateye6878]

i dont care what people say about this game this was my first crash game AND my first game ever so this game has a special place in my heart even though i was born 6 years after it was released. also 2 years ago i played this game and somehow i nearly finished it without r1/2 and l1/2 triggers.

[@selder_7]

It’s just inferior to CTR, but then again so was every other kart racer so that’s not that damning

[@longhairedyahoo]

Man I loved this game as a kid Aslo as a kid I beat the king but tried again as an adult and still don't understand how I beat that guy

[@boogaboom]

You forgot to mention that the Xbox version of the game, which seems to be the one you're playing, outputs sweet 720P if you play over component cable (though I think European Xbox can only do this via softmod and switching the bios to NTSC)

[@geegoflex6762]

Back in your day the Xbox had the best graphics of any console so.Ps My dad got that for his wedding!! Epic wedding gift

[@abhirao2001]

Nice video! I remember playing a bit of CNK on Gamecube and liking it. Glad that CTR Nitro Fueled brought back content from CNK as well.

[@TheLazarusOperation]

Wow. This whole time I thought Gnash was a skylanders character that somehow got into NF. Neat

[@leeeroyjenkins555]

F Zero on the N64 would agree too on anti gravity lmao!

[@edgymoon5298]

Man I remember this game as a kid , was so hard for me but fun

[@GlucoseYummy]

Another banger video, really loving these reviews/video essays

[@pigeonspagett7897]

Honestly, it's failures re 100% worth how nice it looks. I love the vibe!

[@jammychoo]

Im sorry but I died at "Fenonema" Edit: Should be Fenomena

[@theekomodojoe]

The controls in CTR were perfect. So tight and responsive. If you made a mistake it was your fault alone. CNK were miles off with the controls. Topping it all off they made Oxide a playable character from the start. That left a bitter taste in my mouth towards the game. The ultimate character you couldn't unlock in CTR wasn't even deemed important enough to unlock in CNK.

[@rizuuu]

I remember it took a month in my long holiday from middle school to fully get 100% progress including unlocked N. Trophy. It was fun but really tricky to play, I almost give up when I was trying to beat N. Tropy's lap time in Thunder Struck track. It was so hard since the track rly hard for consecutive boosts.

[@RileyKay-lh3qr]

Wumpalewis I Loved The Way You Were Talking About Boss Items And Velo And The Bosses! 😊

[@crashtefano]

I don't think Crash Nitro Kart is a bad game, in fact I think it's nice, but the disappointment still burns. I expected CNK to be CTR enhanced by a much more advanced hardware and it didn't live up to the legend at all. Velo is a better villain than Oxide, but everything else just belongs in the shadow of the original CTR

[@dnissrs5892]

I finished Velo ghosts a whopping 9 years after 1st time trying. It's not like I couldn't do it. I just didn't give a damn. You wouldn't get ANY bonus cutscene, character, anything. As for the game. I loved it as a kid and I still love to this day. Only downside being, again, the controls. They feel extremely stiff and not very responsive. Even boosting on the start is difficult and stiffy.

[@wideMac7]

I never knew this game actually received any hate. I probably should go back and play the original CTR, it's the only console crash racing game I haven't played. Also yes this game's soundtrack bopped way harder than it should have, I think most of the originals are better than the CTRNF compositions, though that game's version of electron avenue is my jam. Final edit, no you don't get anything for beating all of the Velo ghosts, I'd know cuz I'm a maniac and did it.

[@TyrannoNoddy]

With the music, it didn't really do much for me, mostly because of the sound mixing? Like I agree there's good soundtracks but I feel like it gets drowned out by everything else. Also yeah, the clunky controls are really what's holding the game back IMO, it's telling that Nitro Fueled did reincorporate some aspects of these games (honestly I even wish they kept the anti-gravity sections, IDK if that's a hot take but I really don't think people would've minded that much).

[@Paws42]

Not sure if others have addressed it, but there is actually a boost counter in CTR, but you have to input a cheat code to enable it

[@BradNakken]

And CTR's boost counter is actually enabled by default in the Japanese version.

[@lagia4774]

I think you can unlock Velo also by beating his Time Trials on every track. They were pretty difficult but i managed to beat them (i played cnk A LOT when i was younger)

[@WOE-ComposingGod]

I managed to beat Velo ghost in all Tracks except Clockwork Wumpa for obvious reasons (those gears have ruined my run 200 times)

[@FatalBoxers2023]

My neighbor from my childhood asked if i wanted to play this game and boy i was hooked when the music started, cant go wrong with the soundtrack in this game

[@nest6429]

Good review and I really love this game, they even remade the game in nitro fueled.

[@Alphanumeric69]

I just don't like how you couldn't unlock the bosses. I wanted to race as Nash so badly

[@spidre734]

by the way, the battle mode sprites are actually still in the roulette in races despite being unavailable, I never knew what the blinking eye one was until now

[@SecondHandZak]

9:08 Thats My Boy Right There

[@siloPIRATE]

This was the first full Crash Bandicoot jarring game I played. Loved it. Played it before playing the full version of Crash Team Racing. The demo to CTR introduced me to crash Bandicoot though

[@somerandomguyintheinternet]

I really loved playing this game, been playing it before crash team racing nf was a thing and when it got announced some time later i just went: OH OH OKAY CNK IS COMING BACK I SEE!

[@Elfman126]

This is still my favourite Crash Game along with Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced for GBA, they where my childhood and I still play them now. I mean, I was playing Time Trials with Velo on Tuesday.

[@RTheStoryteller7]

Compared to CTR, it is a huge disappointment to the point of calling it bad. But when you're not bothered or didn't know CTR exist? this is a fun game to play

[@thebroskis6364]

To beat Tropys trials, you need to use Velo He can destroy him

[@eyaddarwish4319]

Nice vids keep it up and it was also my first racing game

[@christosgiannopoulos828]

That was the first videogame I ever got and played, and it's got a special place in my heart

[@hctr2241]

I loved this game so much when I was a kid and I would like to play the story mode in CTR Nitro Fueled And yeah something I hated about the game is that bosses are non playable characters, I wanted to drive with those hovercrafts so much and I'm happy we can do it now in CTR Nitro Fueled

[@mattybob12310]

As a Family we sunk so many afternoons into CTR, and we were so excited when we finally got a PS2 and CNK, but, it just felt a bit, slow, compared to CTR, like physically slower and we really didn't enjoy it, was unfortunately the last Crash game we got.

[@Flonne3577]

I put tons of hours in this game and I love it, but ever since nitro fueled came out I haven't played it since then

[@thanatosdriver1938]

I remember playing this game and finishing the races felt like hell after world 1 especially since I didn’t see the value in drifting

[@TheWelshGuyTWG]

Great video Lewis keep up with the good work:)

[@sebanimega4189]

Notification squad moment Love CNK personally, more than CTR since I never played that one as a kid.

[@Omega_1998_]

What I really h8 about this game is how the CNK tokens R difficult to get along with the shortcuts being just as difficult to try and get right thru. I had no thought whatsoever I was supposed to somewhat spam the drift button and make turbos. If I may add, the bosses were not playable just like CTR, well except Velo but he is not the Velo with the hovercraft.

[@larrytod9790]

I like CNK in fact I played this game more then CTR

[@ShadowOfCicero]

Funny thing was... the finer points of power sliding were not well explained in CTR. Nitro Kart ended up being my tutorial.

[@Trinteium]

Lewis, a video idea, do a Tier List of anything about Crash again.

[@doctorneocortex1996]

One of my favourite games as a child, and still is :) I’d argue in some ways it’s even better than CTR, especially with writing and characters and so much more personality!! It doesn’t come above Crash Tag Team Racing as that is my number one, but definitely makes a close second.❤

[@whichwasher2007]

i was fortunate as a kid to have both games - and still do, but even then i thought crash nitro cart was more of a HD version of CTR. though i found the controls were stlll the same as CTR.

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

Getting an xbox was a good shout, but i couldn't sell my ps1, and ended up getting a cracked playstation off my cousin to play region locked games anyway, good times! xD

[@vinniedavy6575]

Mine came with a cd copy of the sound track! I miss that. I think an old Spyro game did it too. That would not happen today.

[@gamemandre28]

I love both this & CTR equally. 💚

[@EvilGeniusRANIK]

Still play this from time to time on my PS3 (Backwards Compatible). But Nitro Fueled is absolutely where it's at for life.

[@miltonbuu]

Drift in long curves 3x with boost and fly straight or quickly jump and drift the other direction. Kinda tricky but fun once you mastered