History VideoGame / CrashTeamRacing

* CivilizationDestroyer: A DummiedOut dialogue shows that [[BigBad Nitrous Oxide]] was the reason there's no life in Mars: there ''was'', until Oxide came to them, challenged them to a racing competition, and won.

* DummiedOut: Penta Penguin, who can only be accessed with a cheat code due to being an unfinished character in the NTSC version, with minor problems such as having placeholder lines like "Penguin Yay 1" mixed in with the normal penguin squawks or having Aku Aku protect him even though the item box shows Uka Uka. This led to him being left out of the normal roster in all versions of the game, even though these issues are fixed in non-NTSC regions.

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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue references ''Series/{{Baywatch}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Playboy}},'' by way of {{expy}}.

* SecretAIMoves: When fought as bosses, Komodo Joe and Nitros Oxide demonstrate the ability to throw TNT crates into the air and have them explode upon hitting the ground. This cannot be done in-game, as TNT crates can only be placed behind the player when used and cannot be made to explode at will.

* TookALevelInBadass: Every item has a "juiced-up" version if you have the maximum 10 Wumpa Fruit (which are scattered around the course and also slightly increase your speed, like the coins in Mode-7 ''Mario Kart'' titles as well as ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart7 7]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 8]]'').

* TheUnfought: N. Tropy in the main game; you only fight him in the TimeTrial mode. [[TimeMaster Quite fittingly.]]

* GuideDangIt: Some crates in Relic Race and letters in CTR Challenge placed on shortcuts seem out of reach on certain tracks, with no obvious way to get to them, though they can be averted when observing Oxide's ghost in Time Trial.

* TheGhost: Downplayed; the Brio Beaker item is named after Dr. N. Brio in the instruction manual, yet he is nowhere to be seen in the game.

* TheGhost: Downplayed; the Brio Beaker item is named after Dr. N. Brio, yet he is nowhere to be seen in the game.

* TheBusCameBack: The first four bosses (not counting Oxide as he's new to this game) return for this one after being absent for a game or two; specifically, Papu Papu and Pinstripe from the first game and Ripper Roo and Komodo Joe from ''Cortex Strikes Back''.

* {{Invisibility}}: One Battle mode-only weapon lets the user become invisible for a time. Only their wheels can be seen during this state.

** One particularly noteworthy example is the Warp Orb. A normal Warp Orb acts like a Mario Kart blue shell and targets the player in first place, although other racers in its path can get hit if they aren't careful. The juiced-up Warped Orb? It hits '''EVERYBODY IN FRONT OF THE PLAYER.'''
** PAL!Penta has souped up stats everywhere, making him quite the speed demon.

* GracefulLoser: N. Tropy when you best him in all the Time Trials.
* GuideDangIt: Averted with the shortcuts as they are typically marked with time crates in Relic Race and Oxide's ghost takes them in Time Trial.

* TheBusCameBack: The first four bosses (not counting Oxide as he's new to this game) return from previous games for this one; specifically, Papu Papu and Pinstripe from the first game and Ripper Roo and Komodo Joe from ''Cortex Strikes Back''.

The first spin-off of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series, as well as the last game of the series developed by Creator/NaughtyDog. A MascotRacer heavily inspired by ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', and also drawing several elements from ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'', ''CTR'' is often considered to be the best kart racing game on the original Sony Playstation, if not the entire fifth generation of consoles, though it's soundtrack typically isn't viewed with as much praise.

Followed by two indirect sequels in the sixth generation of consoles, 2003's ''VideoGame/CrashNitroKart'' and 2005's ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'', though these were made by different developers and recieved a mixed/mildly positive reception. Naughty Dog made their own DarkerAndEdgier SpiritualSequel in 2005, namely ''Jak X: Combat Racing'', a well received spin-off of the ''Jak & Daxter'' series.

With the success of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'' remaster, the original ''Crash Team Racing'' is receiving similar treatment by the developer Beenox for Creator/{{Activision}}, under the title ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled''. And like the ''N. Sane Trilogy'', the VideoGameRemake is coming to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch with a release date of June 21, 2019.

* MasterOfNone: Despite being presented as well-rounded in all areas, Crash, Cortex, Fake Crash, and Komodo Joe all ultimately fall into this: despite the game saying they have decent speed and acceleration, they're actually outclassed in speed by Acceleration characters (despite the game saying otherwise) and acceleration by the Turning characters (despite the game saying otherwise), leaving their one definitively good stat as handling, which isn't particularly useful in the earlier courses due to it ensuring they have trouble drifting in a straight line consistently and only sees some use in the later, harder courses.

* JackOfAllStats: Crash, Cortex, Fake Crash, and Komodo Joe all have balanced stats. They can power slide adequately in straight lines, and maintain a good top speed accordingly. Their acceleration and handling are also solid, which means their maneuverability and time taken to reach top speed are what would make them stand out from karts that have really good top speed but poor acceleration and handling.
** Also Penta Penguin in the PAL version of the game, having ''perfect stats'' all round.

* BalancePowerSkillGimmick: Crash and Cortex are balanced, Tiny and Dingodile are bad-handling high-speed racers, Coco and N. Gin are high-acceleration racers with below-average speed and turning, and Polar and Pura are slow-moving but excellent turners. Unlockable racers follow this pattern as well, with the exception of Penta Penguin in the PAL version where he's a MasterOfAll.

* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: Contrary to what the in-game stats tell you, Balanced characters are ''not'' faster than Acceleration characters. As the datamined stats indicate([[https://crashbandicoot.fandom.com/wiki/Crash_Team_Racing#Playable_Characters noted on the game's wiki]]), Acceleration characters actually have a higher speed value than Balanced characters, and thus have higher stats than the latter in all but turning.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The bosses in Adventure mode have infinite items (of the trap variety, and they are laid CONSTANTLY, though one uses the rolling bombs). Oxide ''starts the race before the green light''! [[TheComputerShallTauntYou He even laughs at you as he does this]].

* FragileSpeedster: Coco, N. Gin, and Pinstripe all are high-acceleration karts. Because of this, they reach their top speeds more quickly and recover from hits more quickly as well. However, said top speed is not very high, and their carts handle worse than those of balanced characters.

* [[GoKartingWithBowser Go Karting With Neo Cortex]]: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by way of EnemyMine. There are actually more bad guys than good guys as playable characters! You start with 4 bad guys and 4 good guys, then the unlockables are mostly the bosses in the Adventure Mode. In total, there are five good guys (the four Good defaults and one unlockable) nine bad guys (the four Bad defaults plus five unlockables), and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Fake Crash]].

* MovingTheGoalPosts: Oxide invokes this after you beat him for the first time. When he arrives, he says that he'll leave Earth alone if he's beaten in the big race. Once you actually do that, however, he says that he won't leave until you gather up all his Time Relics (which he didn't even mention the first time) and beat him ''again'' to prove that you're the fastest in the galaxy. As it so happens, getting all 18 Time Relics basically means you have to 100% the game! This can be subverted by the player however if they go for 100% completion before taking Oxide on the first time.

** DifficultButAwesome: Once power-sliding is mastered, however, those guys can remain on their top speed the whole race, trivialize turns, and even, thanks to the low handling stat, even powerslide in straight lines without losing time.