Activision seems to be teasing a remake/remaster of the classic PS1 kart racer, CTR: Crash Team Racing.
While loose rumours regarding this game’s existence have existed for some time, a recent tweet from PlayStation Access channel manager Hollie Bennett has people convinced that this game will soon be confirmed. Why? Well, it seems that Bennett received a mysterious pair of fuzzy orange dice similar to the ones you might hang in a car. Included with the dice was an anonymous note that reads “Sliding into the Game Awards on 6/12 (December 6).”
Put it all together, and it certainly sounds like Activision will announce some kind of game related to CTR during the 2018 Game Awards.
That’s certainly nice and all, but we still have quite a few questions about this rumoured project. First off, will this be a remake or a remaster? The recently released remasters of the original Crash Bandicoot games tends to suggest that CTR will receive the full remake treatment, but we suppose you can never rule out the possibility of a remaster (at least until this project is confirmed). While we’re on the subject, we actually don’t have any confirmation that this will be a remake/remaster and not a new game in the Crash universe.
However, the smart money is on this game being related to the original PlayStation title in some way. After all, subsequent attempts at making a Crash racing game ranged from serviceable to downright awful. Only the PlayStation original retains the reputation of a bonafide genre classic. Whichever studio works on this project may put their own spin on things, but the base PS1 game is solid enough to stand tall on its own with few upgrades required.
The best part is that a potential remake of CTR will revive the classic Mario Kart or CTR debate that was quite prevalent for an admittedly brief period of time. While many seem to side with Mario Kart (it’s certainly the stronger franchise), the original CTR offered enough innovations to satisfy those who were otherwise unable to play the N64 version of Nintendo’s revolutionary racing spin-off.