Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a 2019 kart racing game developed by Beenox and published by Activision for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The game is a remastered version of Crash Team Racing (1999), which was originally developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game was rebuilt with updated visuals and audio, alongside adjustments to the original gameplay, including kart customization, two variations of the single-player campaign, and an in-game shop. The game includes additional content from Crash Nitro Kart (2003), which was originally developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Universal Interactive.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the faithful recreation, vibrant visuals, and robust content, though some noted issues with the difficulty and online functionality, and the post-release addition of microtransactions was criticized. Post-launch, the game was supported by free seasonal content for eight months, with each season introducing new tracks, characters, karts, and customization items. The game sold 10 million copies by June 2025.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a remaster of the 1999 racing game Crash Team Racing. At launch, the game featured 34 tracks, with 18 from the original Crash Team Racing, 13 from the 2003 racing game Crash Nitro Kart, and bonus tracks like Retro Stadium. The game included an initial roster of 26 playable characters from Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, with additional characters added via free "Grand Prix" season pass events for a total of 56. The game includes kart customization options (such as bodies, paint jobs, skins, wheels, and stickers) that are unlockable via Wumpa Coins, which are earned in-game by winning races and traded at the Pit Stop.

The game features seven modes of play. The flagship single-player mode, Adventure Mode, is a hub-based campaign where the player progresses through a world map by completing races, challenges, and boss fights to defeat the alien Nitros Oxide, who intends to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and enslave the populace. The mode is available in two variants: Classic, which mimics the original Crash Team Racing experience with a fixed character choice and no difficulty options, and Nitro-Fueled, which allows character-swapping, kart customization, and difficulty selection. Each of the mode's five hub worlds features a series of races the player must win, culminating in a one-on-one race against a boss character, who has unlimited power-ups. Defeating a boss grants access to the next hub world as well as challenges for the previous races. In CTR Challenges, the player collects the letters C, T, and R scattered across tracks while finishing in first. Relic Races are time trials where the player destroys time crates to reduce their time. Crystal Challenges are arena-based challenges where the player collects 20 crystals within a time limit.

The Arcade Mode includes single races, cups, and time trials, supporting local multiplayer (up to four players in split-screen). The Battle Mode features arena-based modes such as "Capture the Flag" and "Last Kart Driving". Online Multiplayer allows players to race or battle against others worldwide, with matchmaking for races and battle arenas. Online races support up to eight players across all tracks, with higher Wumpa Coin rewards than offline races. Online battle modes mirror local Battle Mode, with the same arenas and match types.

After the release of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a collection of remasters of the first three Crash Bandicoot titles, video game industry journalists speculated that Crash Team Racing would be remastered. In an interview, Vicarious Visions producer Kara Massie did not rule out the possibility of a remaster of Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation 4, acknowledging that she was repeatedly asked about the matter by fans.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled was developed by Beenox under the direction of Thomas Wilson and Philippe Turcotte, and was produced by Activision's Lou Studdert. Mathieu Mercier served as the lead game designer, while Etienne Beaulieu and Jason Godbout were the game's art directors, and Alexandre Gratton was the lead programmer. Nicolas Tremblay arranged the game's soundtrack and composed the music for the new tracks, with Josh Mancell and Mark Mothersbaugh, the original game's respective composer and music producer, acting as music consultants.

The remaster was built from the ground up, featuring updated visuals and audio while preserving the original game's content, including all characters, tracks, arenas, and modes such as Adventure, Arcade Single and Cup Race, Time Trials, and Battle. The game's visual style drew from Vicarious Visions' Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Beenox emphasized authenticity to the original experience, remastering the soundtrack and refining controls to appeal to both veteran players and newcomers. Additional content included the ability to play as the villain Nitros Oxide, who is unlockable through Adventure Mode challenges, and new customization options for characters and karts. Nitro-Fueled incorporates remastered content from Crash Nitro Kart, including its 13 tracks, karts, battle arenas, and modes, which were adapted to align with the original Crash Team Racing experience. The anti-gravity segments from Crash Nitro Kart were excluded due to the significant development effort required and to avoid comparisons with Mario Kart.