This may been one of my most nostalgic games ever, and contrary to many one, i started with Nitro Kart before CTR (or at least i think, but definitely played more CNK in the past), so that could give this review at least an interesting twist? Well kind off, because i was like some that tried to defend this game a lot, calling it not only one of the best Crash games but also the best out of the post ND era, and while a part of me still thinks that (yeah, mention the remakes, Crash 4 or whatever, but the remake are still remakes and Crash 4 is just fundamentally not fun to play, i would talk about it another day maybe) my other half self still can understand the huge criticism of the past and still recieves to this day, i mean, we are talking about a Crash game being released in the early 2000s, in that time Crash was still in the mouth of most players, maybe WOC dissappointed everyone and everything but people still have a good heart for Crash nonthenless (ok i admit that reference was unnecesary), a spark of hope, the series wasnt still doomed. So a sequel to CTR! What could be wrong?
Unfortunately even if CNK was somehow as good as CTR would had its destiny doomed, i mean, CNK as well as WOC werent just sequels that needed to be at the same level as their PS1 counterparts, but also give a JUMP forward, something revolutionary, something really impressive that couldnt had be done on the PS1, we are talking about a generational leap, which neither of these PS2 Crash games feel they had besides visuals (and WOC dont even had that). Thats why i can see why CNK was so dissappointing when it came out, besides other flaws that in retrospective are more noticeable that i would tell later, but what at least i can forgive the game is that despite all of that, is a game that somehow feel like they TRIED its best. Vicarious Visions did really had a huge respect to Naughty Dog, maybe to a fault though, as if Crash were always with VV, Crash would had been a franchise with zero innovation probably (though it would still be preferable than having the likes of Boom Bang or Twinsanity).
Nitro Kart as i said before doesnt feel just like another PS2 Crash game, but a Crash game with a soul, at least thanks to the visuals. I still maintain (like i said in other reviews) that videogame graphics as a whole never needed to get any better than the cutting edge sixth gen, but i realize repeating that constantly wouldnt make any difference, plus i guess i learned to live with that. Maybe Nitro Kart on the rest is nowhere near as impressive and they even had to copy a lot of things such as the UI which... is kind of lazy... but returning to the visuals, this was the only post ND game which had the same artists from the trilogy, and it really shows. Most of the character and track designs are incredible beautiful even to this day and exactly what WOC should had been since day one. I wouldnt say too much about this topic besides the fact that i never liked how the animations in podium are too much stiff at times (strange that a PS1 game had better animation) and how basically they got some models worse because they reemplaced their gourand shading of the originals with poor blurry textures that while arent noticeable on a CRT they somehow scale worse than the OG CTR. I think this is more noticeable in characters like N Gin, Cortex or my favorite Pura, they just look too much blurry. The proportions are the same as the originals and they have more polygons but sometimes they just look worse. Fortunately the enviroments didnt suffer any downgrade and is the first time i meet a game that reuses some assets of a previous gen prequel game, but in this case i think its something good because sometimes they feel upscaled to a higher res, and lets be honest, the originals could pass as PS2 games so good for me. On a technical perspective this game is not bad either, in fact it looks very impressive for 2003, even compared to cutting edge PC games there was just nothing like it, especially the Xbox version which runs at 720p, thats really a FEAT for the time. I think this may been one of the first HD games in history, at least on consoles.
But speaking about the gameplay and going straight into the negatives, i wouldnt mention the typical you can always heard: "is a carbon copy of CTR" because thats part of the issue, but its really really a minor issue in this specific case. The OG CTR had a very unique aproach to the kart racing genre that changing it completely wouldnt be ideal. And some downgrades in the gameplay or other gimmicks makes it feel different.... Yeah, thats not the general consensus but i would explain it. Unfortunately VV didnt fully understand what made CTR gameplay well, though i dont think its their fault, probably in 2003 people still didnt know everything about the CTR mechanics and so on, so i think anything changed in CNK is because of that, some mechanics are still there like reserves, u turn or hang time boost, but they dont feel anywhere as good or satisfying to pull off. There is a rumour where VV recieved from ND a pile of corrupted files when making CNK. I dont know if thats true, but that may explain some strange changes. The physics were also heavily tweaked to the worst, and before saying that it feels different (which kind of is), its something it really limits the overall gameplay and makes each aproach to each track very linear. We have to add to that the position of the boxes in time trials or the CNK letters or the amount of shortcuts and it kind of makes CNK like a regular kart racer at times. Like it doesnt feel as physics heavy as the OG, which wouldnt be bad if they actually designed it like a true kart racer, but it still carries some of the racing sensibilities of CTR. Some people may say that CNK tracks are overall better than CTR and that with the proper engine CNK could be better, but honestly? I dont think so. There is too much little changes to the formula that made CTR to stand out and CNK not as much and kill me for saying this: I dont think CNK track design is anywhere as good as the ones from CTR. I would admit though its very good for the most part but there are certain tracks that arent just interesting to play like meteor gorge or the very first one, and for a game with only 13 tracks (needlees to say a huge downgrade in terms of content), every one should be amazing. The tracks in CTR were way more dynamic, let you play around with the revolutionary physics engine and the most important thing, every player could tackle the tracks in a different aproach. CNK tracks are all way more flat in comparison, even with the antigravity which while its cool in terms of visuals its at the cost of the gameplay so pick your poison. CTR was like a racing game combined with platforming, exploration and kart racing mechanics. CNK is just a kart racer with a heavy driving system, and while that slow aspect of the kart and heaviness can be somewhat mitigated by doing powersliding, the truth is that the game has very inconsistent pace. It feels like CTR when doing powersliding on a straight line, but after a sharp turn or antigravity section it all gets ruined. In CTR you could do a sharp turn if you were skilled enough at almost max speed. When dominating CNK controls much of the flaws became less obvious and the game is actually more challenging than the original (though i have to say ND always wanted to make accessible games), but the problem is what i was mentioning before, is just less satisfying and less polished in every single way.
I think thats why i cant say CNK is close to CTR, they are just too minor and major things to ignore that detracts from the main experience: clunky collision detection, the use of weapons which feels now useless and everything depends on the driving, and the feedback is also worse, which makes things more difficult or the sound when hopping or doing boost is very off. And i still maintain it isnt doing a JUMP of quality that anyone was expected in a next gen game.
I still love CNK but its kind of strange that despite all of its issues i give it an 8. Is like WOC but well made in that regard, with the difference of being more polished and more "different" at times. CNK is a great game overall but is probably the only one i played that as great as it is, is somehow overshadowed to the original in every single way. Is somehow... dissappointimg.... And Nitro Fueled just ended up killing it. But i still respect it for being better than all of its PS2 counterparts, and making Crash feel like Crash... for the last time.
