Awesome / Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

• With the announcement of Nitro-Fueled at the Video Game Awards on December 6, 2018, many new and amazing features have been revealed.
  • Your character's kart is now customizable, giving you a choice of kart bodies, wheels, stickers, and paint jobs and decals. This includes the kart from the original Crash Team Racing as well as the four team karts from Crash Nitro Kart and a variety of cars from Crash Tag Team Racing. Each character also comes with a selection of different colorations and costumes, allowing for even more personalization.
  • Rumored in the original game but not actually included, Nitros Oxide becomes Promoted to Playable, hoverkart and all.
  • Something fans have been asking for for years: full online compatibility. You can now actually race other people online.
• Crash Nitro Kart is commonly viewed by the fanbase as a less than stellar sequel to Crash Team Racing, with many fans deriding it for being Vivendi Universal's half-hearted attempt to cash in on the popularity of CTR. That doesn't stop this game from dedicating half of its assets to remaking it, which means there are 13 more tracks, 5 more battle arenas, and 10 more characters, all of which have been redesigned with the same attention to detail as its predecessor. Judging by the near universally positive reception, Activision has turned the situation around, as the series' former panned-status is finally receiving some respect.
• After spending all of her time being a damsel in distress and then being Put on a Bus for so long, Tawna finally gets to join in on the action!
  • If that wasn't enough, she's the leader of the Nitro Squad, whose members are Liz, Ami, Isabella, and Megumi, the Trophy Girls from the original Crash Team Racing.
  • That the game takes all five girls (who were pretty much Flat Characters originally) and gives them full personalities from the ground up, including full speaking roles. This is especially long awaited catharsis in the case of Tawna, who was a silent extra since the first game.
• Not as hype as the others so far, but Baby T. finally becomes playable after only appearing in Warped and its remake. That makes all the mounts from the classic trilogy, and to some, it just wouldn't be complete without him.
• Spyro the Dragon is coming to the game! Yes, you heard that right. The purple dragon himself will appear as the star of his own Grand Prix. Datamines also suggest he's bringing friends, prompting much speculation as to who it could be.
  • And the characters in question are Hunter, fittingly enough, and none other than Gnasty Gnorc. Spyro's oldest foe finally gets his long-deserved due.
• Komodo Joe's boss fight's cutscenes turn him into a freaking Ninja, expert in the art of Smoke Out.
  • Then there's his intro animation. He toys with a chicken with his scimitars before appearing properly, only to then flip his kart over and use the wheels to sharpen his blade. It's certainly a step up from Ripper Roo and Papu Papu's more goofy introductions. In his farewell cutscene, his line "it will all be your fault" echoes after he vanishes, demonstrating how downright serious he is about Oxide.
• Some podium victory animations are pretty damn impressive:
  • Ninja Cortex and Ninja Penta will execute flawless katas.
  • Punk Zem plays Air Guitar, and it really plays music!
  • Double subverted with Biker Crash; he pulls off yo-yo tricks, only to hit himself in the crotch, but shakes it off to do his trademark dance.
  • Witch Tawna whistle calls her broom, then takes a ride on it, getting really close to the camera and winks at the audience before returning to the podium.
  • Metal Head Oxide gives an all-out electric guitar performance.
  • Circus Liz twirls her fire baton around herself with ease and expert timing.
  • Winter Guardian Spyro flies up above the podium and uses his ice breath on it, producing some spires that soon retract into the snow.
  • All of the Rustland skins are accompanied by Apo-Apo making explosions when the racers finish off their animations. Many of them are extreme, but a few stand out above the rest:
    • Rustland Polar uses the spikes on the back of his armor to spin donuts on the podium really fast, then lets out a mighty roar.
    • Rustland Nina extends one of her cyber arms to go up above, then falls back in and makes a circle motion on the podium with her arms, then spins rapidly before posing.
    • Rustland Megamix awakens, fires its huge eye beams, then laughs maniacally, like a cooler Robo-Cortex.
  • Space Spyro shoots out some anti-matter, floats around in zero-G, winks to the audience, and dives into the anti-matter cloud to make it dissipate before landing.
  • Buccaneer Ami uses a pair of ray guns to do a rapid-fire volley, before putting them back into their holsters.
  • Beenox Robot Geary fires eye beams, unleashes a chest laser, launches his rocket fists, and blasts off to fly around before landing (then he notices the rubble to clean up).
• Oxide's voice actor is different from Crash Team Racing, being voiced by Corey Burton (who also plays N. Gin) where the original is the late David Anthony Pizzuto. But props to Burton, because it's a dead ringer for the original game and one of the closer replacements for any character.
• The hologram of Tiny at the starting gate in Tiny Arena plays a pretty sick guitar riff each time you complete a lap.
• Penta Penguin's Ascended Glitches from the original Crash Team Racing have actually been incorporated into his character. To elaborate, he keeps the quote "Penguin yay one" (previously voiced by a developer in monotone as a placeholder), a variation of which (roughly "Penguin I won I won!") he can actually utter as a victory quote. Additionally, he still receives either Aku Aku or Uka Uka at random as an invincibility mask, but also appears shifty throughout his animations, making him an Ambiguously Evil Fake Cutie to support this.
• The voice of N. Tropy will congratulate you for finishing all his Time Trials and unlocking him.
  N. Tropy: Congratulations, you've beaten all my track records! Now you've earned the right to choose ME as a racer in the character select screen!
• The CTR TV report for the Spyro & Friends Grand Prix has the purple dragon himself get the honor of co-hosting it, alongside Chick and Stew.
• When the Spyro & Friends Grand Prix went live, the entire title screen got a revamp, with gems piled up in the corners, a purple tint to the background, the Crash silhouettes replaced with Spyro, and the dragon himself and his companion Sparx having a bit of light-hearted fun by drawing Crash away from his post for a bit to give a wink and a nod to the audience.
• With the Halloween Grand Prix came the long requested option to swap engines, no longer shall your choice of character be restricted by their speed-class.
  • Not to mention the lineup of new characters revealed for said Grand Prix: Nina Cortex, Komodo Moe, and N. Brio, all of whom have been heavily requested to be in a Crash racing game for years! Even Chick notes how highly-anticipated they have been.
  • A minor example: although Moe has existed in the series for quite some time, this is the first time Moe has ever gotten a proper voice.
• For the Spooky Grand Prix's title screen revamp, there are pumpkins in the corners, the background has a green tint, the Crash silhouettes replaced with Nina Cortex, and Crash gets completely ripped away from his post by her, then she steals his trophy before laughing diabolically. Her uncle would be so proud.
• After not making a major appearance since 2005, fan-favorite Pasadena O'Possum is finally returning from Crash Tag Team Racing. And then she came with Ebenezer Von Clutch, rounding out the characters for CTR, Nitro Kart and Tag Team Racing, as well as Koala Kong, making his first playable appearance since Crash Bash and finally completing the ensemble list of original trilogy bosses. This and the last pack are officially the fan-pleaser packs. Additionally, Rilla Roo can be seen on a banner in the Koala Carnival track, suggesting that he will be playable later along the line.
  • Another minor example: like Moe above, Koala Kong has finally been given a proper speaking voice after being in the series on and off since its inception, even if he still grunts for the most part. In addition, he gets his very own track, making up for him not getting Mystery Caves way back in the original Team Racing.
• In the trailer for the Winter Festival Grand Prix, the ending shows that Chick and Stew have been Promoted to Playable.
  Chick: This just in... This chicken can drive!
  • And another fan-desired wish came to pass as Rilla Roo makes his triumphant return to the franchise after 19 years of absence.
• In the tie-in comic, when Oxide's drones hide the area keys, Papu Papu and Pinstripe decide to intercept the drones by shooting them down- Papu with a blow dart and Pinstripe with his tommy gun. In contrast to Ripper Roo and Komodo Joe, who get their keys by stumbling upon them, it seems as if Papu and Pinstripe planned ahead.
• The simple fact that the staff at Beenox has not only brought back Yaya Panda for the first time since 2010, but managed to make her work at all, despite lacking an official design with visible legs. Back in Nitro Kart 2 and 3D, Yaya was only ever seen outside of her kart in a dialogue portrait.
• There is the fact that the game had won Best Racing/Sports game at the Game Awards, ahead of games like Fifa, F1 2019, and Dirt Rally 2.0. This was later reflected in-game over a month later, via Crash holding his award in the title screen for the Rustland Grand Prix.
• Megamix is this for its voice actors. They all voice one character at once, and manage to make it work.
  • Also, the fact that they not only brought Megamix back, but made it look even more monstrous than before!
• For the Rustland Grand Prix, the title screen got a pretty substantial revamp; there are tires, paint mines and barbed wire in the corners, the background has a dirty orange tint, the Crash silhouettes replaced with Megamix, the CTR letters have rust on them, the "Crash Team Racing" banner has spikes on the side, the Nitro-Fueled subtitle is covered with paint, and the usual circle has been replaced with a buzzsaw. This is completed with Rustland Crash getting a brief visit from Apo-Apo, while he's holding none other than his Game Awards trophy (after the first week of the GP)!
• Beenox consciously deciding to stop launching new Grand Prixes and tracks after 8 seasons, just so that they can continue to release additional content and keep the fans happy. As such, they intended to have the 8th GP be as much of a Grand Finale as possible.
• The Gasmoxia Grandprix:
  • First off, the new track, Drive-Thru Danger, takes place in orbit above the homeworld of Nitros Oxide, Gasmoxia.
  • Secondly, in the background of the track, there’s a battle going one between two restaurant chains fighting for the sponsorship from CTR TV (which Oxide hijacked for his report).
  • Lastly, after eight months of waiting, Emperor Velo VVXII, is the new racer from the Gasmoxia Grandprix. The Nitro Kart Roster is now complete.
  • Tawna and The Nitro Squad get new outfits for The Grand Prix, decked out in spacesuits and with laser pistols which they show off. Also, there's holograms showing their team symbol.
  • The title screen background has a sickly green tint, Crash silhouettes replaced with drive-thru arrows, fast food signs, food and fireflies are in the corners, CTR letters and Nitro-Fueled done with neon and lights, the circle replaced with a portal, and Crash gets abducted by a tractor beam, with Oxide teleporting in to finally take his trophy prize. Though, he doesn't seem too fond of actually touching it.
• Beenox having successfully managed to hide the identity of the first post-Grand Prix update's secret bonus racer from everyone, including the dataminer BetaM. Bonus points for it to be something that no one would have ever figured out: the Iron Checkpoint Crate.
• After three racing games only having rosters comprised of main and secondary characters, a playable regular enemy has finally been added for the first time in over two decades: the humble Lab Assistant.
• Beenox’ post-grand-Prix update including free blue and white skins of various racers which not only unlocks said racers if you don’t already have them but also a fixed version of Rilla Roo as a separate racer and a trio of brand new karts, the Neon Hawk Airplane as seen in Koala Carnival, the Nitro GT Kart, and the Cog!
  • Special mention has to go to Geary’s new Beenox skin. After fans have been clamoring for everyone’s favorite cleaning robot to get a new skin, their prayers have been answered! And then there’s his victory animation. He fires off massive lasers out of his eyes and chest, launches rocket fists, and flies around like an Action hero before cleaning up the rubble he makes!
• The final big addition of the post-Grand Prix update is new rewards for completing all cups on varying difficulties, from Easy to Hard. However, the long-awaited feature for the game were two new sets of trials; The Velo and Developer ghosts. Velo is already harder than Oxide, absolutely refusing to give you any room for error and requiring heavy map knowledge to outrace his times. However, the Developer ghosts go even further beyond that, and beating both give you two final rewards for your troubles. Beating Velo's ghosts gives you a new, lavish decal set showing off the Emperor's mug for all to see. Beating the Dev ghosts, meanwhile, gives you the Master wheels; A legendary variant of the stock wheels that have rainbow Tron Lines surging through the treads. Accelerating with the Master wheels active leaves a trail of rainbow-colored ghost tires in your wake.