Announced at E3 2018, Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled will bring back the nostalgic feel by remastering the iconic racing title. Similar to the N. Sane Trilogy, the title has a new engine making the game look super HD a crisp.
During an interview with the PlayStation Blog, Beenox Production Director, Stéphane Gravel had some interesting behind the scenes talking points.
Check out the full interview down below:
What sets Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled apart from other kart racers out there?
Well, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is the original kart-racing experience. It’s the same experience players got 20 years ago when they started playing on the original PlayStation. It was important for us to stay true to that game, while of course updating it to today’s graphical standards. It’s the best of both worlds – you have a great game and you are able to make it look as beautiful as possible. That’s something we are very proud of.
The game has been in development a little over a year. What has it been like eating, breathing, and sleeping that world?
It’s a lot of fun. Back at Beenox we are big fans of Crash Bandicoot. Even when the N. Sane Trilogy was announced, we were really glad that came out. We like the original games, and like many fans out there we wanted Crash Team Racing to be remastered as well, at some point. So when the chance came up that Activision was looking for a studio to remaster that game, we stepped up to that occasion to bring it to this generation of consoles.
Where does the development process begin with a remaster like this?
It begins by replaying the original game a lot. We played a lot of Crash Team Racing. Taking notes, finding opportunities where we can improve on that game, where possible. Mostly – towards the fact that it’s been 20 years – things have evolved a lot. What can we do to modernize that game up to today’s standards. Of course, visual fidelity was the most obvious choice, but there was also the online racing. 20 years ago, online racing wasn’t part of the standards, but now when you buy a game you pretty much expect to be able to race against your friends online.
What’s it like to go back to game design and aesthetic of the late ’90s?
It was different depending on who you were on the team. For some of us it was nostalgic. I started in the game industry in 1998, and [Crash Team Racing] came out in 1999. We were playing [Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled] during lunchtime and having a lot of fun competing against each other. It reminded me of the good time I had when I started working in the industry. For some of our team, they pretty much never saw an original PlayStation game. They are younger than I am, so they finally get to see what Crash Team Racing was. That game still has a huge cult following 20 years after coming out. When you see the original graphics of the PlayStation, some of [the younger developers] were like “Whoa, you played games like that?” Actually, that game was great-looking at that time. Depending on how old you are, you have a different level of reception, if you will.
Any final message you want to deliver to big CTR fans out there?
We are seeing on some online forums that fans want [Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled] to be as close to the original game. This is something that’s near to our hearts as well, so we’re making sure that the feeling is as close as possible to the original CTR.
Crash Team Racing is set to debut on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Are you excited for the remaster title? Let us know in the comments below!
