Crash Tag Team Racing

Crash Tag Team Racing
North American PlayStation 2 cover
Developer(s)	Radical Entertainment
Publisher	Sierra Entertainment
Release date(s)	GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox October 19, 2005 November 4, 2005 (PS2/Xbox) November 11, 2005 (GCN) PlayStation Portable November 10, 2005 November 25, 2005
Genre(s)	Racing, 3D platformer
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone 10+ PEGI: - Seven years and older
Console(s)	Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Media	Game disc (console versions) Cartridge (PSP version)

Crash Tag Team Racing is the third racing game of the Crash Bandicoot franchise. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment, and it had a multi-platform release in 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube, the PlayStation 2, the PlayStation Portable, and the Xbox. A Nintendo DS version was planned but was later cancelled.

In 2007, Crash Tag Team Racing was included on the three-disc Crash Bandicoot Action Pack compilation, along with Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity. Some content and the characters from the game were included in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Story

The game opens with Chick Gizzard Lips and Stew, announcing the farewell race of Von Clutch's MotorWorld. Long ago, Ebeneezer Von Clutch, a deranged German cyborg genius, fabricated the ultimate auto-racing theme park. For years, the park's racetracks have wreaked terror on its participants. The park's Power Gems, which have kept the park active, have been stolen.. By coincidence, Crash, Coco and Crunch crash into the theme park while trying to escape their foes Dr. Neo Cortex, his niece Nina, and N. Gin. Von Clutch recruits the six of them to find the missing Power Gems.

At first, Cortex is unwilling to help Von Clutch, but then it is explained that whoever finds and returns all the missing Power Gems will win ownership of the park. Even Von Clutch's life source, the Black Power Gem, was stolen, and without it, Von Clutch will die in a matter of hours. N. Gin informs Cortex that Von Clutch's Motorworld is fertile grounds for them to "plant their new seed of evil", so Cortex believes the theme park becomes their new base of operations against the Bandicoots. From there, the gang is introduced to Pasadena O'Possum, a professional racer hired by Von Clutch to ensure his continued ownership of the park, and Willie Wumpa Cheeks, the mascot of Von Clutch's MotorWorld and producer of its popular beverage, Wumpa Whip.

After Crash finds and returns all the missing Power Gems and officially wins himself the ownership of the park, a bandaged Cortex suspects that someone is upstaging their efforts to claim ownership of the park. Coco deduces that whoever stole the Power Gems had some connection to Wumpa Whip, because of a trail of the drink appeared at the scene of every stolen Power Gem in the park. Crash is suspected of stealing the Power Gems due to his heavy consumption of the drink, but then Willie Wumpa Cheeks admits that he stole the Power Gems and the Black Power Gem. With the Black Power Gem in his possession, Willie flees to the final area, Astro Land, and prepares to blast off in a large rocket. Von Clutch runs out of power and shuts down.

In Astro Land, Crash eventually retrieves the Black Power Gem, thus saving Von Clutch. Willie prepares to launch the rocket, but Crash pulls a nearby lever that aborts the launch. Before the Bandicoots can interrogate Willie about the Black Power Gem's location, Willie is shot and liquefied by a battleship operated by Cortex, Nina, and N. Gin. Cortex is prepared to obliterate the Bandicoots for ruining his plans to claim ownership of Von Clutch's Motorworld. Cortex attempts to destroy the Bandicoots with a machine gun mounted on his ship, and Crash throws a chicken into the ship's main rotor, causing the ship to behave erratically. Cortex swears vengeance as he flies off in his malfunctioning ship.

The Bandicoots are presented the deed to the park, but Coco decides it should be returned to Von Clutch, though due to the loss of the Black Power Gem, Pasadena says that Von Clutch will remain deactivated. Everyone mourns the loss of Von Clutch except Crash, who attempts to drink Wumpa Whip from Willie's remains. Crash begins choking and coughs up the Black Power Gem, which jettisons into Von Clutch's power core and revives him. He thanks Crash and allows the Bandicoots to have free lifetime passes to Von Clutch's MotorWorld to all the Bandicoots. Crash pats Von Clutch on the back, inadvertently ejecting the Black Power Gem and deactivating Von Clutch again. Fearing that he accidentally killed Von Clutch, Crash scampers into an orange car and drives away, leaving Coco, Crunch and Pasadena behind.

Gameplay

Despite being a racing game, Crash Tag Team Racing features platforming as much as racing. At Von Clutch's Motorworld, the player controls Crash Bandicoot, who goes on an adventure to retrieve the Black Power Gem and the missing Power Gems in each of the five areas of the theme park.

There are a couple of items that Crash can collect from Motorworld. He can retrieve Wumpa Coins in various ways, such as participating in races or playing minigames. If Crash drinks a Wumpa Whip, he can temporarily earn twice the number of collected Wumpa Coins until the timer runs out. With the currency, Crash can unlock rewards such as outfits or cars. He must also collect Power Crystals to retrieve a Power Gem of a themed area. Each Power Gem unlocks another themed area from the main hub, the Midway. Crash can also unlock Die-O-Ramas, which are short clips that show Crash being injured grievously or "killed" in various comical ways. Contrarily, he can also unlock various gags of him hurting the Park Drones, such as by feeding a poison apple to one.

Crash can talk to characters with an icon over their head, either to unlock a car, a weapon upgrade, clothing, or to play minigames. The only enemies at Motorworld are Ninja Penguins, and Crash can attack them by either jumping or spinning into them, causing the Ninja Penguins to release Wumpa Coins.

The main hook of the game is the "clashing" feature of the racing sections. This action causes the racer's and an opponent's car to merge. By default, the player's character controls a turret weapon to shoot a limited amount of ammo at opponent while the other racer drives the car, similar to Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The racers can switch positions in the car.

Characters

Playable characters

• Crash Bandicoot - The protagonist of the game, Crash Bandicoot, is an evolved bandicoot who must win each of the races in Von Clutch's MotorWorld and win the deed to the park before his foes can
• Coco Bandicoot - The younger sister of Crash.
• Crunch Bandicoot - The muscular brother of Crash.
• Dr. Neo Cortex - A mad scientist and the recurring antagonist of the series, Cortex attempts to win MotorWorld's deed and convert the area into a new base of operations.
• Nina Cortex - The niece of Dr. Neo Cortex.
• N. Gin - Cortex's psychotic and effeminate right-hand man.
• Pasadena O'Possum^* - A professional racer who seems to take a liking to Crash
• Ebenezer Von Clutch^* - A deranged German cyborg and owner of MotorWorld. His power source is the Black Power Gem, which Crash must retrieve before Von Clutch shuts off automatically.

^* - This character makes their first appearance in the game.

Other characters

• Willie Wumpa Cheeks - The excessively jolly mascot of MotorWorld and source of Wumpa Whip.
• Chick Gizzard Lips and Stew - Two chicken race commentators who provide comic relief and provide tutorials throughout earlier pasts of the game
• Park Drones - The disgruntled employees appearing all around MotorWorld. Crash can give Wumpa Coins to most Park Drones to receive something in return.

Gallery

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  Nintendo GameCube cover

References

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