Crash Tag Team Racing – GC – Preview

The makers of the great The Simpsons: Hit and Run comes Crash Tag Team
Racing, a game that looks to meld the best elements of the Crash Bandicoot
action games with the goofy and fun racing of Crash Nitro Kart. The game, penned
by Crash Twinsanity writer Jordan Reicheck (who also worked on Ren and Stimpy)
will feature the same kind of offbeat humor as other entries to the series and
the wacky fun that fans have come to expect.

The gameplay in Tag Team Racing is quite diverse. You have the racing levels
which feel very similar to Crash Nitro Kart at first, although there are some
very key differences. The biggest new addition is the new Clashing feature,
which allows your vehicle to link up with an opponent’s car, forming a super
vehicle with a turret capable of taking down other racers. You can switch
between the driving element and shooting on the fly, with the AI picking up the
other. The game also boasts fully destructible objects within the environment
that you can bring down with your turret.


There are also some on-foot platforming situations. These feel and control
much like the previous Crash Bandicoot games, with you completing a lot of
jumping puzzles akin to what you would be used to. The point of the platformer
elements is to unlock new tracks and see other characters, as well as upgrades
for your car.

There will also be a fair share of minigames. The one that was available to
see in the demo was a Bowling minigame, where you could roll your ball down a
veritable obstacle course with dips and ramps between you and the pins.

The multiplayer elements also looked quite promising. There will be
four-player split screen support for four players on the Xbox and Gamecube, as
well as two-player split screen on the PS2. The Xbox will also feature system
link for up to eight players, but unfortunately, no version of the game will be
online.

Crash Tag Team Racing ships this fall.


For All E3 2005 Previews