Crash Tag Team Racing

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.

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