Like all of the Crash games and their derivatives, Crash Team Racing (or CTR) has lush graphics. The tracks are very easily distinguishable, and themed after various levels in the previous Crash Bandicoot games, which is a really nice touch. The kart-and-character models are detailed, with lots of frames of animation to keep you giggling as you tear around the track.

The music is pretty much the same Crash-tribal boops and beeps, which is what you’ve come to expect from the series. The voice acting is passable, but not the best, although the Aku Aku and Uka Uka voices are great. The in-game voices have a few highlights, but most of them are pretty dull. The actual weapon sound effects are solid, however, and keep you aware of just what’s going on in your vicinity. Much like the other Crash games, the presentation is extremely tight, with the high points going to the graphical side.

First of all, the bad news. This game is terribly unoriginal. It’s like every other kart racer you’ve ever played (the good ones, at least) -- Mario Kart 64, Diddy Kong Racing, even Super Mario Kart. There are a few innovations I’ll discuss in a minute, but overall it’s just the same game that was released back in the day for the Super Nintendo. The good news is that CTR is the best damn kart racer ever made, and if you’ve ever even sort of liked the genre, you simply must get this game. It takes every good idea from pretty much every kart racer ever made, meshes them perfectly, sticks the Crash characters into the game, and out comes a beautifully playable game.

There are tons of different tracks, some of which have different physics (the snow levels). The tracks can split and rejoin, and there are oftentimes hidden shortcuts that you can take. The normal ‘Adventure’ game allows you to play through all the tracks, fighting bosses after every four tracks, in an attempt to prove yourself as the best kart racer in the world so that you can save humanity from Nitros Oxide. Hackeneyed plot, like all Crash games, but like all Crash games, you don’t really care. What you want is in-your-face action, and CTR gives you that in spades. You can just play through Adventure mode to get to Nitros Oxide, but like everything Naughty Dog, there are tons of different hidden things you can do. By re-racing and trying to get the best time, you win Relics that open up new arenas. And by racing again against seven other racers and finding all of the letters in ‘CTR,’ you gain tokens that open up Cup Races.

This game has play options out the wazoo. The best, of course, are the multiplayer. You can just race with up to three of your friends on various tracks via the multitap and split-screen (and it plays butter-smooth), or you can do what every good kart game allows -- battle mode. Blow the ever-loving crap out of your friends in arenas. You can team up in any combination, from 3 vs. 1 to 2 vs. 1 vs. 1, to the more traditional 2 vs. 2. This way, you eliminate the advantage of the really good players. Good stuff.

As for actual racing, TRC has got all the standard jumps and power-ups and such. Power sliding is here, and it gets you massive speed boosts as usual. One of the nifty things you can do is catch air-time; the more time in the air you get, the more of a speed boost you get when you land. You start to look for jumps just so you can go really fast. Quite simply, this game has no noticeable gameplay flaws. Unoriginal as hell it may be, but fun as hell it certainly is.

The A.I. in this game is good, damn good. And like in every Crash game, getting all of the hidden things is insanely difficult. It’s also always doable, and always fun. You’ll get frustrated at some of the races, but then you’ll figure out a trick, and you’ll love it all over again. That is the way of Naughty Dog, and it is the way of CTR. In multiplayer, of course, the difficulty is determined by the competence of your friends.

Crash Team Racing’s controls are spot-on, allowing either D-Pad or analog control. Both work excellently. The button layout is sensible, the game map is fun to cruise around in, and the menus are easily understandable. The game is, quite simply, a very well put-together gem. It would be perfect, except for the fact that it is simply an amalgam of all the goodness from all the other kart racers ever made. It doesn’t put out anything original. But overlook that -- deep inside, CTR is the most addictive, most playable, and most fun kart racer available on any system. Get it now.