Start your engines: ‘CTR: Crash Team Racing’ remaster is probably coming

By Steven Petite Published December 5, 2018

best ps1 games crash team racing — Image used with permission by copyright holder

CTR: Crash Team Racing, Sony’s original answer to Mario Kart, looks to be getting the remaster treatment. PlayStation Access channel manager Hollie Bennett posted a teaser image that tipped off the existence of a CTR revival. The remaster is poised to be announced at The Game Awards.

So….uh….these just arrived at my house.
Any ideas? 😂🤔 pic.twitter.com/x0MRYihWvg

— Hollie Bennett (@HollieB) December 4, 2018

If you’re unconvinced that the dangling dice belong inside Crash’s cart, the official Crash Bandicoot Facebook page also posted the dice and changed its cover photo to a checkered racing flag. Someone has even updated the Crash Team Racing Wikipedia page to note that the remaster will launch in 2019. The 2019 release window is unconfirmed, but it seems likely.

Recommended Videos

Crash Team Racing originally launched in 1999 on the first PlayStation. Developed by Naughty Dog, the racing game received favorable reviews from critics. Though it wasn’t quite as successful or well-received as Mario Kart 64, Crash Team Racing sold enough copies to enter Sony’s Greatest Hits lineup the following year. A follow-up racer, Crash Nitro Kart, launched in 2003 for numerous platforms, including the ill-fated N-Gage.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The news of a remaster comes after the success of Crash N. Sane Trilogy, which launched in 2017 on PS4 and earlier this year on Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Like the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy, Crash Team Racing was a PlayStation exclusive. It stands to reason that will change with the remaster, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a timed PS4 exclusive.

Perhaps a Crash Team Racing remaster could lead to a proper revival of the racer. Activision has made a habit of mining its history as of late. Spyro Reignited Trilogy, compiling the first three games in the platforming series, recently launched on PS4 and Xbox One.

It will be interesting to see if new content will be added to the remaster. Crash N. Sane Trilogy, although faithful to its roots, featured new challenges and even had free DLC.

We won’t have to wait long to hear the official announcement. Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards airs December 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the event on Twitch and YouTube. Crash Team Racing probably won’t be the only reveal to debut during the show, so you’ll want to tune in.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

Gaming

Sega could release its own game subscription service

Old Sonic runs away from Metal Sonic in Sonic Generations X Shadow.

Between Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, and even Nintendo Switch Online, it feels like every company has its own subscription. Throw in Ubisoft+, EA Play, and multiple other companies and you have a veritable free-for-all. Now, Sega's new president, Shuji Utsumi, says the beloved company is considering a similar offer, although he remained tight-lipped on details.

In an interview with the BBC, Utsumi said, "We're thinking something — and discussing something — we cannot disclose right now," he said. The statement followed Utsumi saying the subscription services were "very interesting."

Gaming

PlayStation had a better 2024 than it should have. Now it needs to focus

Astro Bot climbs on a DualSense controller.

This time last year, PlayStation had given us a roadmap for the brand's direction moving forward. It made grand commitments to live-service titles, put heavy investments in a mobile initiative, and continued to launch new hardware. If one were to judge PlayStation's 2024 on the rubric it set for itself, it would have been a failure. But that doesn't tell the full story.

PlayStation's 2024 felt like a restructuring phase. On the software side, we saw PlayStation embracing young players again, a decision that netted it a big Game of the Year win. Behind the games, we saw even bigger changes, specifically with the appointment of two new co-CEOs, Herman Hulst and Hideaki Nishino, that may have radical implications for the brand going forward. All of this sets the stage for a needed pivot for a brand that flirted with disaster in 2024. The only problem? That new vision hasn't been communicated yet, and fans' good will may be in short supply after a year of ups and downs.
Shifting strategy
Sony had a lot of pots on the stove this year, which made it a rollercoaster ride for fans. If there was one message PlayStation wanted to communicate as clearly as possible in 2023, it was the commitment to finding a live service hit. At the time, 12 such titles were reportedly in development and scheduled to be released between 2024 and 2026. So far, that effort has struggled to get off the starting blocks. Naughty Dog made the wise decision to cancel its Last of Us Online project to focus on single-player IPs such as the upcoming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but the real casualty was Concord.

Gaming

At the end of 2024, Xbox finds itself as a crossroads

The Mental Wellness Awareness Xbox design.

At the end of 2024, Xbox finds itself at a crossroads that many fans wouldn’t have anticipated at the start of the year.

Finally bearing the fruits of its pricey Activision Blizzard acqusition, Xbox has had one of its most consistent years in terms of game output. Game Pass received a healthy number of day-one games throughout the year, and Microsoft delivered a new first-party title to the service every month between September and December.