Does Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled need to be better than Mario Kart 8?

When it comes to mascot kart racing games, few compare to the Mario Kart series. Then again, that series kind of kicked off the whole genre in a big way.

The problem arises when someone else wants to make their own version of Mario Kart. Some clones are pretty good, while others are complete garbage.

Crash Team Racing originally came out in 1999 for the PSX and it was one of the best Mario Kart clones ever made. And, for those of you that will remember this period in video game history, Nintendo was still sort of lost in the woods. This means that Sony dominated, and if you wanted something like Mario Kart but didn’t own the Nintendo 64, this was your only option. It was an amazing game, and we think the remake will be as well.

Lofty expectations for kart racing devs

Regardless of the quality of the end result, almost every dev out there feels pressured to meet or exceed Nintendo’s classic karting games – even when remaking their own classic titles. But do they need to do that?

Not at all, and it would probably help the genre in general if a kart racing IP tried to do something different. Because, let’s face it, few games are going to be as good as Mario Kart 8. Originally arriving on Nintendo’s doomed Wii U, Mario Kart 8 was easily one of the best games on that system. And for the Nintendo Switch, it is an absolute blockbuster success, ranking among the top three best-selling games of all time on that system.

Naturally, that kind of success gets a lot of attention. Perhaps that’s why so many people are hoping that Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is basically Mario Kart with Crash’s lineup. But no one really wants that – even the people who are asking for it.

Super Mario universe unparalleled

Maybe it is because so few people have faith in other devs to handle this genre well. That would make sense. It’s a kind of “if you can’t beat them, join them” type of deal. Yet this is probably the root of a lot of the stagnation in the kart racing genre outside of Mario Kart games. What other karting games fail to capture is the shared sense of the Nintendo universe that Mario Kart games have baked into them.

People don’t talk about Mario Kart endlessly because it has the best gameplay, though that helps, but because it is the most accessible among broad-based audiences. Most people have some memory of playing Mario Kart with friends, and Mario Kart 8 takes this to the next level with robust online matchmaking.

You can’t really deny the combination of characters everyone knows about and gameplay that is immediately accessible to most people. So asking a Crash game to conjure these same spirits is a little ridiculous. Sure, the titular character is iconic in his own right, but not all of his supporting cast are as beloved.

Now, when Mario Kart 8 is wildly popular and widely available, what is the point of a Mario Kart clone, especially one from 1999? For one, Crash isn’t Mario and doesn’t have that instant appeal. Secondly, trying to outdo Mario Kart isn’t really a viable option.

Crash Team Racing must do its own thing

What would work best for Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is to do its own thing to the best of its own abilities and even use its reputation as an excuse to try out new stuff. This would mean distinguishing itself through unique gameplay features and robust online play.

You don’t want people to ask: Why not play Mario Kart 8 instead of Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled? If the game can offer something unique and compelling on its own then it might be able to get away with things that Mario Kart never could.

It’s just tough competing against a game like Mario Kart 8. That’s why it’s often best to try to carve out your own space. This is the rare opportunity when an IP would get away with it, too, because, if you don’t like the remaster, go pick up the old copy.