CTR: Crash Team Racing

CTR: Crash Team Racing
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainent
Platform(s)	PlayStation PlayStation Portable PlayStation 3 PlayStation Vita
Release date(s)	PlayStation NA: October 10, 1999 JP: December 16, 1999 EU: December, 1999 PlayStation Network EU: October 18, 2007 JP: May 28, 2008 NA: August 10, 2010
Genre	Racing
Rating(s)	ERSB: Everyone (E) ELSPA: 3+ CERO: A OFLC: General (G)
Mode(s)	Single player Local multiplayer (2-4 players)
Preceded by	Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Followed by	Crash Bash

CTR: Crash Team Racing (or simply Crash Team Racing) is the first racing game in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, released on the PlayStation in 1999. It was the 4th installment in the Crash Bandicoot series and the last one to be developed by Naughty Dog. CTR: Crash Team Racing became a 'Greatest Hits' title in 2000 in the US, a 'PlayStation, The Best' title in 2000 in Japan and a 'Platinum' title in Europe and the overall PAL region in late 2000. For the Japanese localization, the game was renamed Crash Bandicoot Racing.

CTR: Crash Team Racing is also available in the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita (PAL regions only) and PlayStation Portable. A remake for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, titled Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, was released on June 21, 2019.

In the game's story, an egotistical space alien by the name of Nitros Oxide comes to Earth and challenges Crash Bandicoot, his friends and foes to a racing competition before facing himself, threatening to turn the world into a concrete parking lot if he wins.

Story

The main antagonist, Nitros Oxide talks to the people of Earth

Neo Cortex enhances his evil kart

Crash Bandicoot, his friends and foes are preparing to enter a kart racing tournament. Unfortunately, a space alien named Nitros Oxide travels from far out space to Earth and offers a challenge to its inhabitants. He claims to be the fastest racer in the entire galaxy, who travels the stars looking for creatures to test his skill. Nitros Oxide challenges them to a game that he calls "Survival of the Fastest" and explains the rules: Oxide races against the best racer on Earth. If Oxide wins, he will turn the entire globe into a concrete parking lot and make Earth's inhabitants his slaves forever, but if Earth's driver wins, Oxide promises to leave the "miserable little rock" alone. He then exits his spaceship and flies down to Earth's surface, where the racers are getting ready for the tournament. Coco uses her laptop to modify her kart, while Pura rests next to her. Tiny tries to put a screw on his kart's engine, but drops it and proceeds to wreck his kart in frustration. Polar takes his time reading a book called "How to Drive", which is upside down. Dingodile unsuccessfully tries to repair his kart's engine, which blows up in his face. Doctor Neo Cortex uses some sort of ray and shoots it at his kart to improve it, while laughing maniacally. Meanwhile, Crash is fast asleep.

To race Oxide, Earth's racer needs to prove their worth by collecting all 16 Trophies (four at a time) and then race and beat Ripper Roo, Papu Papu, Komodo Joe and Pinstripe Potoroo to earn four Boss Keys. Finally, when Earth's racer has accomplished this task, Oxide challenges the driver to the race for the fate of the planet. Earth's racer is victorious, but although Oxide says that he would leave Earth alone, he declares that Earth's racer can never claim they're the fastest unless they collect all the Relics and race Oxide again.

After collecting the 20 CTR Tokens and winning the five Gem Cups, the Earth's racer confronts Oxide again with all 18 Time Relics, and this time they race for the title. In the end, the Earth's racer is the winner and is declared the fastest. Oxide admits defeat and finally leaves Earth for good; heading home to Gasmoxia, and promising to never return.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Crash Team Racing is very similar to other kart racing video games like Mario Kart. Here, players choose a character from the Crash Bandicoot series and they must compete against the other racers on various racetracks. During a race, drivers can pick up Power-Ups from the ? Crates and use them to wreak havoc on their opponents or aid themselves a little. There are also Fruit Crates that contain Wumpa Fruit in which collecting them makes a racer's kart go faster. And if all ten Wumpa Fruit are collected, the racer's Power-Ups will be Juiced Up, making them more powerful.

A crucial maneuver in Crash Team Racing is the Drift/Power Slide. The driver executes the slide by holding down one of the shoulder buttons to perform a controllable hop (mainly for specific jumps) and steer left or right just upon nearly landing to initiate a drifting slide that reduces their kart's traction for a corner clearing turn but steering too much during a drift/power slide causes oversteer, and the driver's kart will spin out of control briefly.

In many kart racers, drifts are normally used to clear corners and trigger a turbo boost upon releasing the drift. However, the main distinction with CTR is the ability to perform the turbos mid-drift instead of at the end of one. While drifting, a turbo meter on the lower-right corner of the screen fills up and goes from green to red. At the same time, the exhaust gas from the driver's kart turns black. Pressing the opposite free shoulder button unleashes a turbo, with another one being possible to unleash up to 2 extra times for a total of 3 turbos in a single drift (where kart racers of other kinds normally involve holding the drift for as long as possible to level up the turbo).

Drivers that drift well can execute 3 perfectly timed turbo boosts in a row mid-drift if the gauge is nearly full and in the red zone each time (green earlier turbos result in less potent turbos unleashed), with the third boost being more powerful than the previous two. If the user delays too long during the drift however to trigger a drift turbo, the kart back-fires and the rest of the drift is unable to build up anymore turbos until the driver starts up another one. Drifts can be cut short at nearly anytime if by releasing the held-down shoulder button to start another drift right away in the desired/required direction if need be.

Aside from executing drift/power slide turbo boosts, speed boosts can also be obtained by either traveling over turbo pads (each turbo pad on each course has various levels output), or gathering hang time when leaping over gaps in the track via the aforementioned hopping mechanic (which can also go into a drift upon landing if the chosen shoulder button is held down) which again is controllable to be able to angle the kart in certain ways (using the brake to turn while in midair at any point is an advanced technique that can turn corners tightly without losing any speed). The longer the player is in the air from any jump, the bigger the turbo boost will be when the kart lands, even though jumping turbos tend to have the least overall output vs. other forms.

As a result, advanced levels of play involve chaining drift boosts and all forms of other boosts wherever and whenever on the track, to "reserve" their overall output to make a singular encompassing turbo boost last as long as possible throughout a course so long as the user/driver isn't impeded by boundaries or weapons. Hopping continuously is another advanced technique that helps carry the momentum of a kart forward to keep outputting speed, along other things. While lower level races do not require as much extensive turbo stacking to build up reserves, higher level races and overall top levels of play heavily rely on stacking up turbo reserves at any given juncture.

Controls

Menu navigation

Button	Action
or	Highlight selection
or	Confirm selection
or	Cancel/return to previous screen

Driving

Button	Action
or up with	Accelerate
/ or	Steer
or down with	Reverse
or down with	Brake
or	Hop
/ +	Tight turn
/ +	Power slide
	Use power-up
	Toggle view angle
	Rear view
	Toggle between map and speedometer

Racing Modes

Adventure Mode

• Adventure Mode is the single player portion of the game. First, players must choose one of the eight starting racers: Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex, Tiny Tiger, Coco Bandicoot, Doctor N. Gin, Dingodile, Polar, and Pura. Depending what racer is chosen, either Aku Aku or Uka Uka tutors the player. If the player that you choose is good, then Aku Aku mentors you, if your character is evil, then Uka Uka appears. They sometimes also give hints to the player in the hub areas, explaining how the mechanics of the game work. The player is then dropped in the starting area N. Sanity Beach. Players must race through all events and win to unlock the final event against Nitros Oxide. Players can earn a variety of awards to unlock new content for racing and show off their times to friends.

The different awards are:

• Trophies
  • Trophies are obtained by finishing in 1st place in a trophy race. Collect all four trophies in each area to open up the boss garage for that area. After gaining a trophy from one race, another one will open (with exception of starting with 2 open when you first enter an area).
• Boss Keys
  • Boss races are unlocked after obtaining all four trophies in one area. Boss Keys are obtained by beating the Boss of each area. The player must beat the four bosses (Ripper Roo, Papu Papu, Komodo Joe and Pinstripe Potoroo) and collect their keys in order to race Nitros Oxide.
• Relics
  • Relic races are unlocked after beating the area boss. Relics are obtained by scoring the lowest elapsed time in a solo relic race by smashing Time Crates. These Time Crates freeze the clock for the amount of seconds shown on the box (1, 2 or 3 seconds). If the player manages to break all the Time Crates, a "Perfect" bonus is awarded, which decreases the final time by 10 seconds.
  • There are three types of relics: Sapphire, Gold and Platinum. Sapphire is the easiest to obtain; Platinum which is the hardest, requires the fastest and lowest time.
  • After earning all 18 relics, the player can then face Nitros Oxide again for an alternate ending.
• CTR Tokens
  • CTR Tokens are unlocked after beating the area boss. There are 20 tokens which come in 5 different colors (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple). Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Tokens are obtained by finishing in 1st place in a token race, much like a trophy race. However, this time the player must also collect the 3 letters 'C', 'T' and 'R' in addition. The letters are often hidden away or in hard to reach places, meaning the player must go out of their way to grab the letters. The Purple Tokens are awarded for beating the Crystal Bonus Rounds by collecting 20 Crystals within a certain time.
• Gems
  • Gem Cups are unlocked after winning four CTR Tokens of the same color. These are played similar to the cups in Arcade mode, where players are awarded points across 4 tracks, with the winner being the one with the most points at the end. Winning a Gem unlocks a character, corresponding to the Gem Color:
    • Red unlocks Ripper Roo,
    • Green unlocks Papu Papu,
    • Blue unlocks Komodo Joe,
    • Yellow unlocks Pinstripe Potoroo,
    • Purple unlocks Fake Crash.

Time Trial

Time Trial is a single player mode where the player races against the clock to get the best time. If the player gets a fast enough time, he/she can challenge N. Tropy's ghosts. The player has unlocked the right to race him when he says, "You think you're fast, eh? Well, let's see if you can beat my fastest time on this track!" Upon defeating all of his ghosts, N. Tropy is then unlocked as a playable character. After beating N. Tropy, the player can then challenge N. Oxide ghosts. When the player beats all of Oxide's ghosts, the player will unlock the Naughty Dog scrapbook in the main menu.

Arcade

Allows the player to quickly race on a selection of tracks against a selection of opponents with up to two players. Players can race on a single track or a racing cup in which players race over four tracks for the highest total score.

Cup	Tracks
Wumpa	Crash Cove, Tiger Temple, Blizzard Bluff and Coco Park
Crystal	Roo's Tubes, Dingo Canyon, Dragon Mines and Sewer Speedway
Nitro	Mystery Caves, Papu's Pyramid, Cortex Castle and Tiny Arena
Crash	Polar Pass, N. Gin Labs, Hot Air Skyway and Slide Coliseum

Each cup has three difficulties, with Easy being available from the start. To unlock the higher difficulties you must complete each cup in each difficulty. Doing so will also unlock further maps for the Battle mode.

Vs.

Up to 4 players compete on a chosen track or across 4 tracks for points. There are no computer-controlled racers on Vs.

Some graphic details and textures are missing in Vs. mode, such as the mushrooms near the end in Roo's Tubes, making it easier to take some shortcuts.

Battle

Up to 4 players compete in a "Battle Arena" against each other using weapons scattered around the area. Players can compete in teams or have a "free-for-all", to either deplete all of the other players' lives to zero, reach a certain score first, or gain the most points before the match is over. There are no computer-controlled racers in Battle and items available in the boxes can be selected during the startup to include or exclude certain items. Parking Lot, Lab Basement, and The North Bowl are exclusive to this mode and must be unlocked in Arcade mode.

Characters

There are 16 racers total; 15 of which playable. The player starts the game with 8 characters by default, and has to unlock the other 7 playable characters.

Character	Difficulty and Stats		Unlock Condition	Mask
Crash Bandicoot	Intermediate	Speed: 2/6 Accel: 2/4 Turn: 3/4	Unlocked by default	Aku Aku
Dr. Neo Cortex		Speed: 2/6 Accel: 2/4 Turn: 3/4		Uka Uka
Tiny Tiger	Advanced	Speed: 6/6 Accel: 1/4 Turn: 1/4
Coco Bandicoot	Intermediate	Speed: 4/6 Accel: 4/4 Turn: 2/4		Aku Aku
Dr. N. Gin		Speed: 4/6 Accel: 4/4 Turn: 2/4		Uka Uka
Dingodile	Advanced	Speed: 6/6 Accel: 1/4 Turn: 1/4
Polar	Beginner	Speed: 1/6 Accel: 3/4 Turn: 4/4		Aku Aku
Pura		Speed: 1/6 Accel: 3/4 Turn: 4/4
Ripper Roo		Speed: 1/6 Accel: 3/4 Turn: 4/4	Win the Red Gem Cup in Adventure Mode or with a code	Uka Uka
Papu Papu	Advanced	Speed: 6/6 Accel: 1/4 Turn: 1/4	Win the Green Gem Cup in Adventure Mode or with a code
Komodo Joe	Intermediate	Speed: 2/6 Accel: 2/4 Turn: 3/4	Win the Blue Gem Cup in Adventure Mode or with a code
Pinstripe	Intermediate	Speed: 4/6 Accel: 4/4 Turn: 2/4	Win the Yellow Gem Cup in Adventure Mode or with a code
Fake Crash	Intermediate	Speed: 2/6 Accel: 2/4 Turn: 3/4	Win the Purple Gem Cup in Adventure Mode or with a code
N. Tropy	Advanced	Speed: 6/6 Accel: 1/4 Turn: 1/4	Beat all of N. Tropy's times in Time Trial or with a code
Penta Penguin	Intermediate ¹ Beginner ²	Speed: 6/6 ¹ — 1/6 ² Accel: 4/4 ¹ — 3/4 ² Turn: 4/4 ¹ — 4/4 ²	On the Main Menu, hold and , then input the following buttons: ↓ → ↓ ← ↑	Aku Aku ³
Nitros Oxide	Intermediate	Speed: 2/6 Accel: 2/4 Turn: 3/4	Not Playable (normally) / Playable (via GameShark code on the Main Menu)	Uka Uka

¹ These stats apply to the PAL or NTSC-J version of the game.

² These stats apply to the NTSC-U version of the game.

³ In the NTSC-U version, the Invincibility Mask icon when playing as Penta is shown to be Uka Uka, but Aku Aku will still show up when used.

Power-Ups

Power-Ups can be received when a player runs into a ? Crate and can be used either as a weapon against opposing racers or as a temporary boost for the user itself. These same Power-Ups increase in power when "Juiced Up", which will happen once the player collects ten Wumpa Fruit during a race.

Power-Up	Description
	Normal	Juiced Up
N. Brio's Beaker	Can be placed on the track, or thrown ahead of the player. Will cause a player who hits it to spin out. Can also explode if in the blast radius of another explosion.	(Red): Now the beaker is a poison. After a player hits it and spins out of control, a black storm cloud will appear over their head temporarily and will slow down the players kart. If the player holds an item, it will be shuffled for a new one.
Explosive Crate	Place the TNT Crate onto the track and if a player runs onto it, the box lands on their head. After a three seconds countdown the crate will explode causing the player to tumble and crash. If players can hop enough times before the TNT explodes, it will bounce off and land at the same location, exploding on impact. Will also explode if in the blast radius of another explosion.	Instead of a TNT, the crate is now a Nitro Crate and will explode on impact if another player drives into it.
Bowling Bomb	Roll these bombs at karts in front of or behind of you to make them fall into a tumbling crash. They only roll straight ahead or straight back so aim carefully before release. The bomb can be detonated early by pressing the item button again. Can be picked up either as a single item or as a group of three.	The bomb has a bigger blast radius, which is useful for sending up to three or more players flying.
Tracking Missile	Fires a tracking missile locking onto the closest driver in front of you. If it hits, the enemy kart will be sent into a tumbling crash. When you are being tracked by one, a cross-hair appears on the back of your kart as the missile hunts you down. Can be picked up either as a single item or as a group of three.	The missile moves faster and is more accurate.
Power Shield	The green shield protects the player from being hit by a weapon for a few seconds once activated. The shield will disappear after a few seconds, or when a weapon or other driver makes physical contact. The player can fire the shield like a bomb at another player.	The shield is now blue and lasts indefinetely until hit by a weapon or fired like a bomb at another player.
Turbo	Gives you a quick burst of speed. Can also be used to squash enemies and bounce off them.	The boost lasts longer and is slightly faster.
Invincibility Mask	Your kart is now protected from all attacks and obstacles while also providing you with a speed boost. You are also able to fall off the track without losing any Wumpa Fruit.	The mask will be active for longer.

Exclusive

Power-Up	Description
	Normal	Juiced Up
N. Tropy Clock (Only for races.)	Usage of the clock will make other racers spin out and slow their movement for several seconds. Also temporarily disables the collection and use of power-ups.	Its effect lasts longer.
Warp Orb (Only for races.)	A giant blue orb targets the player in first place and will hit any other racers who are in the way as the orb makes its way to them.	It will now target and hit all racers ahead of you on the track.
Super Engine (Only for battles.)	Provides a constant turbo for a few seconds.	Provides constant turbo speed for even longer.
Invisibility (Only for battles.)	You cannot be seen by other players and missiles cannot track you. However, you can still be hit!	Lasts longer.

Adventure Mode Tracks

Area	Track		Requirements		Rewards
N. Sanity Beach	Crash Cove		None
	Roo's Tubes
	Mystery Caves
	Sewer Speedway
	Ripper Roo's Challenge
	Skull Rock
Gem Stone Valley	Slide Coliseum
	Turbo Track			+ + + +
	N. Oxide's Challenges	First
		Final
	Red Gem Cup
	Green Gem Cup
	Blue Gem Cup
	Yellow Gem Cup
	Purple Gem Cup
The Lost Ruins	Coco Park
	Tiger Temple
	Papu's Pyramid
	Dingo Canyon
	Papu Papu's Challenge
	Rampage Ruins
Glacier Park	Blizzard Bluff
	Dragon Mines
	Polar Pass
	Tiny Arena
	Komodo Joe's Challenge
	Rocky Road
Citadel City	N. Gin Labs
	Cortex Castle
	Hot Air Skyway
	Oxide Station
	Pinstripe's Challenge
	Nitro Court

Gem Cups

• Red Gem Cup is composed of Crash Cove, Mystery Caves, Blizzard Bluff, and Papu's Pyramid.
• Green Gem Cup is composed of Roo's Tubes, Coco Park, Polar Pass, and Cortex Castle.
• Blue Gem Cup is composed of Tiger Temple, Sewer Speedway, Dragon Mines and N. Gin Labs.
• Yellow Gem Cup is composed of Dingo Canyon, Tiny Arena, Hot Air Skyway and Oxide Station.
• Purple Gem Cup is composed of Roo's Tubes, Papu's Pyramid, Dragon Mines and Hot Air Skyway.
  • This cup features the four bosses of the game competing without their infinite items.

Version differences

(Note: Due to the game being developed in the US and the US version releasing first, the North American/NTSC-U version will be considered the default for the purpose of this comparison.)

European/PAL version

Fake Crash's textures in the US version (top) compared to the PAL version (bottom)

Fake Crash's glitched eye textures during Time Trial mode in the PAL version

• In the US version, Penta Penguin has "beginner" stats like Polar, Pura and Ripper Roo; in the European version, he was buffed to have maxed out stats. This was carried over to the Japanese version. In addition, the placeholder "penguin yay one" and "penguin yay two" voicelines that were erroneously included in the US version were removed, and Penta's invincibility mask incorrectly displaying as Uka Uka instead of Aku Aku on the item carousel was fixed.
• Driving between different areas in the Adventure Mode hub now causes the name of each area to pop up at the bottom of the screen.
• The default best times for each track in Time Trial mode now have real times set for each track; in the US version, 9:59:00 was listed for every track instead.
• Characters' voicelines and some textures, such as the starting lights, are more compressed to save disk space.
• The checkered flag background on the main menu is slightly misaligned, with a black gap sometimes visible in the bottom right corner as the flag moves.
• The animation of Crash catching the trophy no longer plays every time the player backs out to the title screen, only playing when starting up the game initially.
• The scrapbook is significantly shortened. Some images were removed and the fading transition no longer plays between images.
• The Super Turbo Pads cheat code is disabled in Time Trial mode.
• In single lap races, the track's background music is sped up and the end-of-race fanfare plays correctly when finishing the race.
• Fake Crash's textures were tweaked. His eyebrows are now entirely brown instead of having black bottoms as they do in the US version, his pupils and eyes are smaller and his kart is paler in color. This change was carried over to the Japanese version.
  • Oddly, in Time Trial mode only, Fake Crash's new eye textures are glitched, with his eyebrows appearing to entirely cover his eyes. This was fixed in the Japanese version.

Japanese/NTSC-J version

• The main theme that plays on the title screen was replaced with the Japan-exclusive "Crash's Popular Rock" song, originally used in a bonus video for Crash Bandicoot: Warped. The title screen also replaces the original animation of Crash catching the trophy with one of Crash driving up in his kart, featuring a unique Crash model in the Japanese style.
  • The original theme can still be heard on the Adventure Mode character select screens.
• The startup sequence has entirely original music which includes the Crash Banjikyuusu leitmotif.
• The Naughty Dog box screen during the startup sequence in unskippable.
• The Time Trial and Arcade Mode options on the main menu are swapped.
• TNT Crates now have an image of a bomb on them instead of the letters "TNT".
• The text on Nitro Crates have been translated, having "ニトロ" (nitoro) instead of "Nitro" written on them.
• Ripper Roo actually speaks instead of just laughing, meaning he no longer has subtitles.
• In Arcade Mode, each track has a difficulty rating which is indicated by the number of Wumpa fruit next to the track's name. The rating ranges from 1 for the easiest tracks to 5 for the hardest.
• The Turbo Counter, which can only be activated by a cheat code in other versions, is on by default and cannot be turned off.
• All instances of the letters "CTR" are changed to "CBR" to match the game's Japanese title, "Crash Bandicoot Racing".
• In adventure mode, crystal challenges are locked until you earn two boss keys and open the door to the gem cups area.
• The Trophy Girls' eyes are all recolored to be brown. Their original eye colors can still be seen in the epilogue sequence during the credits.
• The scrapbook is slightly different, featuring a few new images from Japanese promotional material.
• The track preview videos were updated in order to include the new "CBR" banner at the starting line. Some of these new previews have abitrary changes from the original, taking different split paths and even showing the shortcut route in Sewer Speedway.
• A bug where cup races in Arcade Mode could have 5 or 7 laps per track depending on options highlighted in the course select has been fixed.
• The character epilogues during the credits were completely rewritten instead of being direct translations.
• Crash, Cortex, Coco, Pura, Fake Crash, N. Tropy and Penta's icons were changed, now featuring Japanese promotional models.

US/PAL
JP

• Nitros Oxide has four additional voicelines that play during his boss race.
• As is tradition, a hidden video can be viewed by holding L1+L2+R1+R2 when the PlayStation logo appears during startup. The video, featuring the Japanese Crash and Fake Crash mascot suits, shows Fake Crash becoming envious of Crash's popularity and challenging him to a race with disastrous results. It can be viewed here.
• All of the game's cheat codes were changed, as can be seen in the "Cheats" section below.

Cheats

Pressing certain button combinations on the game's main menu can unlock certain unlockables early, as well as causing unique effects to occur during gameplay. The cheat codes are the same between the North American and PAL versions, but are changed for the Japanese version.

North America/PAL versions

• Ice physics: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Left, Right, Down, Right, Circle, Triangle and Down. This causes ice physics to apply to all surfaces in the game, making the ground slippery.
• Infinite Bowling Bombs: Hold L1+R1 and press Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Up, Triangle and Left. This grants you infinite Bowling Bombs during races.
• Infinite invincibility masks: Hold L1+R1 and press Left, Triangle, Right, Left, Circle, Right and Down (x2). This grants you infinite invincibility masks during races, allowing you to repeatedly activate them to become practically invincible and build up a lot of speed.
• Infinite Turbos: Hold L1+R1 and press Triangle, X, Right, Left (x2), Triangle and X. This grants you infinite Turbo items during races.
• Infinite Wumpa fruit: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Right, Right and Down (x2). This grants you infinite Wumpa fruit, making all power-ups juiced up.
• Permanent Invisibility: Hold L1+R1 and press Up (x2), Down, Right (x2) and Up. This makes the player character permanantly invisible, preventing CPU racers from targeting you with weapons.
• Permanent Super Engine: Hold L1+R1 and press Up (x2), Left, Right, Triangle, Down, Right and Down. This permanently places the player character under the effects of the Super Engine item, granting them a constant turbo boost as long as they keep accelerating.
• Single lap races: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Up, Down (x2), Right, Up, Down, Right, Triangle and Down. This causes races in Arcade Mode to last only one lap.
• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! demo: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Circle, Triangle and Right. This grants access to a short demo for Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, including playable versions of the levels Magma Cone and Colossus.
• Super easy mode: Hold L1+R1 and press Right, Up, Down, Up, Right and Circle. This makes enemy CPUs in Adventure Mode slower and less aggressive.
• Super hard mode: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Right, Left, Up, X and Right. This makes enemy CPUs much faster and more aggressive.
• Super turbo pads: Hold L1+R1 and press Triangle, Right (x2), Circle and Left. This causes turbo pads to instantly speed up racers to full speed instead of their usual single boost. This does not work in Time Trial mode in the PAL version.
• Turbo counter: Hold L1+R1 and press Triangle, Down (x2), Circle and Up. This causes a turbo counter to display in the top right of the screen during races, showing how many boosts you have at once. This is enabled by default in the Japanese version of the game and cannot be turned off.
• Unlock Fake Crash: Hold L1+R1 and press Circle, Down (x2), Up, Circle (x2), Down, Left and Right. This unlocks Fake Crash as a playable character without having to complete the Purple Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Komodo Joe: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Circle, Left (x2), Triangle, Right and Down. This unlocks Komodo Joe as a playable character without having to complete the Blue Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock N. Tropy: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Left, Right, Up, Down and Right (x2). This unlocks Dr. N. Tropy as a playable character without having to beat all of his times in Time Trial Mode.
• Unlock Papu Papu: Hold L1+R1 and press Left, Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Circle, Left (x2) and Down. This unlocks Papu Papu as a playable character without having to complete the Green Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Penta Penguin: Hold L1+R1 and press Down, Right, Triangle, Down, Left, Triangle and Up. This is the only way to unlock Penta Penguin as a playable character.
• Unlock Pinstripe: Hold L1+R1 and press Left, Right, Triangle, Down, Right and Down. This unlocks Pinstripe as a playable character without having to complete the Yellow Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Ripper Roo: Hold L1+R1 and press Right, Circle (x2), Down, Up, Down and Right. This unlocks Ripper Roo as a playable character without having to complete the Red Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock scrapbook: Hold L1+R1 and press Up (x2), Down, Right (x2), Left, Right, Triangle and Right. This unlocks the scrapbook on the main menu without having to beat all of Nitros Oxide's times in Time Trial Mode.
• Unlock Turbo Track & Bonus Arenas: Hold L1+R1 and press Right (x2), Left, Triangle, Right and Down (x2). This unlocks Turbo Track, Parking Lot, The North Bowl and Lab Basement in Arcade Mode without having to complete their unlock requirements.

Japanese version

(The Ice Physics and Turbo Counter cheat codes were removed entirely.)

• Infinite Bowling Bombs: Hold L2+R2 and press Up, Down, Right, Triangle and Circle. This grants you infinite Bowling Bombs during races.
• Infinite invincibility masks: Hold L2+R2 and press Up, Triangle, Square, Up and Down. This grants you infinite invincibility masks during races, allowing you to repeatedly activate them to become practically invincible and build up a lot of speed.
• Infinite Turbos: Hold L2+R2 and press Left, Right, Down, Triangle and Circle. This grants you infinite Turbo items during races.
• Infinite Wumpa fruit: Hold L2+R2 and press Up, Down, Triangle, Circle and X. This grants you infinite Wumpa fruit, making all power-ups juiced up.
• Permanent Invisibility: Hold L2+R2 and press Triangle, Up, Left, Up and Down. This makes the player character permanantly invisible, preventing CPU racers from targeting you with weapons.
• Permanent Super Engine: Hold L2+R2 and press Up, Triangle, Down, Square and X. This permanently places the player character under the effects of the Super Engine item, granting them a constant turbo boost as long as they keep accelerating.
• Single lap races: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Left, Right, Square and Circle. This causes races in Arcade Mode to last only one lap.
• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! demo: Hold Left and Circle when the PlayStation logo appears during startup. This grants access to a short demo for Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, including playable versions of the levels Magma Cone and Colossus.
• Super easy mode: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Right, Down, Square, X, Triangle and Circle. This makes enemy CPUs in Adventure Mode slower and less aggressive.
• Super hard mode: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Left, Up, Circle, Triangle, Down and Up. This makes enemy CPUs much faster and more aggressive.
• Super turbo pads: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Down, Right, Square, Triangle, X and Circle. This causes turbo pads to instantly speed up racers to full speed instead of their usual single boost.
• Unlock Fake Crash: Hold L1+R1 and press Up, Triangle, Down and X. This unlocks Fake Crash as a playable character without having to complete the Purple Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Komodo Joe: Hold L1+R1 and press Up, Triangle, X, Down and X. This unlocks Komodo Joe as a playable character without having to complete the Blue Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock N. Tropy: Hold L1+R1 and press Up, Down, Right and Square. This unlocks Dr. N. Tropy as a playable character without having to beat all of his times in Time Trial Mode.
• Unlock Papu Papu: Hold L1+R1 and press Up, Left, Triangle and Circle. This unlocks Papu Papu as a playable character without having to complete the Green Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Penta Penguin: Hold L1+L2+R2 and press Left, Up, Right, Square, Triangle, Circle, X, Square, Right and Down. This is the only way to unlock Penta Penguin as a playable character.
• Unlock Pinstripe: Hold L1+R1 and press Right, Square, Up, Down and X. This unlocks Pinstripe as a playable character without having to complete the Yellow Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock Ripper Roo: Hold L1+R1 and press Up, Down, Triangle, X and Circle. This unlocks Ripper Roo as a playable character without having to complete the Red Gem Cup in Adventure Mode.
• Unlock scrapbook: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Left, Right, Triangle, X, Square and Circle. This unlocks the scrapbook on the main menu without having to beat all of Nitros Oxide's times in Time Trial Mode.
• Unlock Turbo Track & Bonus Arenas: Hold L1+L2+R1 and press Up, Down, Left, Square, Circle and X. This unlocks Turbo Track, Parking Lot, The North Bowl and Lab Basement in Arcade Mode without having to complete their unlock requirements.

Reception

Crash Team Racing received critical acclaim. Official PlayStation Magazine described Crash Team Racing as "the game that made kart racing cool" and proclaimed that "nothing has ever matched its quality." Electronic Gaming Month noted that the game was "heavily inspired by Mario Kart, but still an amazing multiplayer racer." Doug Perry of IGN stated that the game was "rock solid" in playability and graphics, but was critical of "the insanely capitalistic smile of Crash." Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot called the game "a great Mario Kart clone", and that it succeeded where similar games like Mega Man Battle & Chase, Bomberman Fantasy Race, Diddy Kong Racing, Chocobo Racing and Mario Kart had failed. Johnny Liu of Game Revolution concluded that despite the fact that the game "doesn't add much to the tired genre, it manages to do everything well."

The game's controls were well received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro praised the controls as "nearly-perfect" and explained that "the transparent controls allow you to concentrate on racing and blasting your opponents, and so the races are faster, more fluid and more fun." Johnny Liu of Game Revolution concluded that the controls "feel very natural, with an emphasis on maintaining speed rather than fighting lousy controls." However, Joe Ottoson of Allgame ("All Game Guide" at the time) said that the inability to reconfigure the controls was "the only real drawback to Crash's presentation."

The graphics of the game were positively received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro, while noting that the graphics were not too complex, cited the "cartoony look and the ingenious use of textures and colors" as high points in the graphics department. Doug Perry of IGN commended the "sharp looking" environments as "clean and fully formed" and the characters are "full of funny animations and cleanly designed". Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot said that the environments "are reasonably large, and they convey the cartoon-like attitude of the game very nicely." Johnny Liu of Game Revolution stated that the graphics were "smooth and seem to push the PlayStation's limits."

Critics expressed mixed opinions of the game's audio. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro said that the "whimsical" background music is "quite enjoyable" and the character sound bites are "varied enough to avoid becoming annoying." Doug Perry of IGN had a more mixed take, saying that the "classic bouncy, xylophone-heavy beat" is "not necessarily great", and that after a few courses, "you either stop hearing it, or the incessant simplicity of it makes you want to cry or pull your hair out". On the subject of the voice acting, he concluded that there is "nothing really that cute, clever or memorable" in the game, and noted that Crash's voice in the game is extremely similar to that of Luigi from the Mario Kart series. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot wrote that while the music and sound effects "push the game's cartoon theme," the themes were not too "over the top" or incessant. Johnny Liu of Game Revolution passed the music off as "standard kitschy fare" and added that while the sound effects "add to the cartoon quality of the game", some of the character voices were unsatisfactory. Joe Ottoson of Allgame noted that the characters "are all quite vocal", and the music "sets off the whimsical mood nicely".

Crash Team Racing has sold over 1.71 million units in Europe, 2.64 million units in the United States and just under 500,000 units in Japan. As a result of its success, the game was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up in 2000 and for the Platinum Range on January 12, 2001. An indirect sequel titled Crash Nitro Kart was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage and was the first game in the Crash Bandicoot series to feature full motion video.

Quotes

See: List of quotes in Crash Team Racing

Script

See: CTR: Crash Team Racing script

Gallery

See: CTR: Crash Team Racing/Gallery

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	クラッシュバンディクーレーシング Kurasshu Bandikū Rēshingu

This game was developed in English and was officially localized into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Voice cast

Language	Voice actor	Character
English	Chip Chinery	Crash Bandicoot
	Brendan O'Brien †	N. Gin Tiny Tiger Pinstripe Potoroo Crash Bandicoot
	Clancy Brown	Neo Cortex Uka Uka
	Hynden Walch	Coco Bandicoot
	David Anthony Pizzuto †	Nitros Oxide Papu Papu
	Mel Winkler †	Aku Aku (cutscenes)
	Andrew Dawson	Aku Aku (gameplay sound effects)
	Michael Ensign	N. Tropy
	Dallas McKennon †	Ripper Roo
	Gavin James	Penta Penguin (erroneous - first run of NTSC-U version only)
	Billy Pope Mike Gollom Michael Connor	Additional voices
Italian	Andrea Piovan	Nitros Oxide N. Gin N. Tropy Dingodile Fake Crash
	Angelo Cola	Neo Cortex Tiny Tiger Papu Papu Komodo Joe
	Benedetta Ferraro	Coco Bandicoot
	Ciro Carraro	Aku Aku Uka Uka Pinstripe Potoroo
Japanese	Kappei Yamaguchi	Crash Bandicoot Fake Crash
	Haruna Ikezawa	Coco Bandicoot
	Satomi Kōrogi	Polar
	Taeko Kawata	Pura
	Kenichi Ogata	Aku Aku
	Shōzō Iizuka †	Neo Cortex
	Kazuhiro Nakata	N. Gin
	Fumihiko Tachiki	Tiny Tiger
	Keisuke Ishida	Dingodile
	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo	Uka Uka
	Katsumi Suzuki	Ripper Roo
	Yuu Shimaka	Papu Papu
	Wataru Takagi	Komodo Joe
	Kazuhiro Yamaji	Pinstripe Potoroo
	Junpei Takiguchi	Nitros Oxide
	Chie Kōjiro	Penta Penguin
	Masaru Ikeda	N. Tropy

Trivia

• Pura and Polar were originally meant to be one racer sharing a single kart, and Komodo Moe was meant to appear along with his brother Komodo Joe.
• Early in the development of the game, Naughty Dog made a replica of Crescent Island from Diddy Kong Racing to see if they could make a racing track of that size on the PlayStation.
• Nitros Oxide was considered to be made a playable character, but was scrapped due to memory limitations. He can be played using a GameShark code. He has voice recordings and a victory dance on the podium programmed into the game.
• The female bandicoots who hand out prizes, Ami, Isabella, Liz and Megumi, are named after real-life people who were involved in the Crash Bandicoot games, as demonstrated in the credits.