Fans of Crash Bandicoot will be pleased to see the series make its appearance on the N-Gage this month.
As usual Crash and Co have found themselves in a sticky situation — they’ve been kidnapped and are being used to entertain their captors. This time, however, the evil Dr Cortex isn’t the cause of the problem — in fact, it’s an alien emperor who wants to use
the gang as entertainment in his Galactic Circus. Win, and the captives will be set free; lose and the Earth will be destroyed. (But no pressure).
What follows is a fairly standard racing game, although it translates well to the small screen. There are up to 18 playable characters in the game, including Crash, Crunch and Cortex; each character has specific attributes — some are faster than others, some are better at taking corners — and all you have to do is make your choice and get on the track.
To unlock subsequent tracks, you must place first in each race. This is where the game loses some points, as it can get quite frustrating when you see your lead snatched by one of your opponents. There are ways to avoid this last minute loss, however. A number of power-ups on the track allow you set traps for your unsuspecting opponents, from ice blocks to TNT and missiles. Forcing other players on to the grass will slow them down to a crawl, enabling you to whiz past the finish line.
The N-Gage version has a number of exclusive features, including the ability to unlock secret characters in the N-Gage Arena, get exclusive cheats or shadow race against opponents. You can also play wirelessly over Bluetooth with up to four players, with Race Mode and Battle Mode on offer.
We liked this version of Crash Bandicoot; it’s got all the necessary ingredients for a great racing game, and although it got frustrating at times, it just made us all the more determined to beat the CPU players.
Crash Nitro Kart
Requirements: N-Gage games deck
Rating: 90%
Price: TBA
Contact: GameStop 01-8724305
13/09/04
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