Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (June 21st, 2019)

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Bit strange that Ripto didn't make the cut considering his VA is credited.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Jango said:

Well. There you go. Like I said minutes ago, don't take Ripto and Sorceress for granted just because their names was in the files

The track looks nice, they actually did based on more than one location. Artisans, Dark Hollow and Alpine Ridge apparently. It's a shame they focused only in Spyro 1 tho'

It's not confirmation until we see the road map. Pretty sure only Ami and Megami were seen in the Nitro Grand Prix preview.

[Jango]

18 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

It's not confirmation until we see the road map. Pretty sure only Ami and Megami were seen in the Nitro Grand Prix preview.

Of course, I'll wait hopefull too. I'll take Ripto over Gnasty any day. 

And yes, the video preview on YouTube didn't showed them because it's a shorter version. Let's wait for the key-art shall we.

BTW, Spyro's kart looks rad. Not sure what Hunters' supposed to be tho'.

It's like a purple batmobile hahaha

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

A screenshot, taken from the homepage, describing the upcoming (in two days) Grand Prix.

Shame the trolley isn't a kart body. Tsk.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Oooooh joy, two days.

And that means unless I pay, I'm officially screwed on getting the Back N Time stuff. Yaaay

[Jango]

Welp....

But, bu.. m..maybe someone could be dressed as Ripto, hm?? What about Velo in Ripto's clothes? Zam as Gulp? Anyone?

Ahem, yeah, maybe they will do re-runs of each GP every year and only then Ripto and Sorceress will be added. Imagine that xD

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

4 minutes ago, Jango said:

Ahem, yeah, maybe they will do re-runs of each GP every year and only then Ripto and Sorceress will be added. Imagine that xD

I get the idea of re-runs, but literally holding characters, especially characters that fans wanted more or expected back for said re-run is going to make things even more of a drag.

At this rate, I'm just relieved that they've confirmed Nina up front, so I won't have to worry about her getting cut or held back in player hostile fashion.

7 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Oooooh joy, two days.

And that means unless I pay, I'm officially screwed on getting the Back N Time stuff. Yaaay

Best pray they don't bump up the Nitro top price with the Spyro grand prix too then.

[Sonicka]

Ooooh nice! And it’s a traversal through realms as well - amazing stuff Beenox. 

Shame about only 3 characters once again. Two things I’ll say on this though.

1) Again, the 5 characters we got in Nitro Tour GP were 5 non identical yet similarly modelled BANDICOOT GIRLS. Here we have 3 unique characters.

2) The reduction to 3 characters could also indicate a change in plans for the GP’s. These have been a lot more popular than I think Beenox/Activision anticipated. It wouldn’t be a stretch to conclude that the originally announced 3 GP’s (and rumoured Halloween GP event) have been extended for additional GP runs and creations. I always assumed there would be more anyway - but this could be why certain characters are being held back for now.

Considering that it sure looks like (apart from Hunter) that the Spyro and Friends GP is Spyro 1 inspired, it would indicate that there is always a chance for sequel GP’s based on the remaining trilogy.

Got to believe that Elora will be an Unlockable character eventually 

[Jango]

3 hours ago, Son-icka said:

1) Again, the 5 characters we got in Nitro Tour GP were 5 non identical yet similarly modelled BANDICOOT GIRLS. Here we have 3 unique characters.

2) The reduction to 3 characters could also indicate a change in plans for the GP’s. These have been a lot more popular than I think Beenox/Activision anticipated. It wouldn’t be a stretch to conclude that the originally announced 3 GP’s (and rumoured Halloween GP event) have been extended for additional GP runs and creations. I always assumed there would be more anyway - but this could be why certain characters are being held back for now.

Considering that it sure looks like (apart from Hunter) that the Spyro and Friends GP is Spyro 1 inspired, it would indicate that there is always a chance for sequel GP’s based on the remaining trilogy.

Got to believe that Elora will be an Unlockable character eventually 

Huh, didn't though about that first item. Although we got 5 different characters, the trophy girls/Tawna models were basically if not literally the same. Sure enough each one has a unique hair, clothing, animation and VA, and that takes time and money.

I still think we only got 5 characters because of a coincidence, they couldn't separate the girls. They coooooould technically separate Tawna and put her in a GP with Brio and Koala Kong (missing CB1 characters), but it would still have a GP with 4 characters. So I guess 3 characters and a bunch of skins per GP was always the idea. Would have loved 5 every GP, but God knows how much time Activision is giving Beenox to create all this. I think they had at least 4 GPs planned prior to the game's release tho'.

They'll likely adress the missing Spyro characters with skins

And I imagine the Spooky GP will likely have Nina, Brio and Moe, which will be pretty sick.

 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

5 hours ago, Son-icka said:

1) Again, the 5 characters we got in Nitro Tour GP were 5 non identical yet similarly modelled BANDICOOT GIRLS. Here we have 3 unique characters.

Or maybe it's a sign that they need to slow the fuck down with these grand prixs so they can actually get in all the characters planned from the get-go and give us players some breathing room for Christ's sake.

Oh, and so they can fix problems with the game more readily too.

[Sonicka]

1 hour ago, Jango said:

Huh, didn't though about that first item. Although we got 5 different characters, the trophy girls/Tawna models were basically if not literally the same. Sure enough each one has a unique hair, clothing, animation and VA, and that takes time and money.

I still think we only got 5 characters because of a coincidence, they couldn't separate the girls. They coooooould technically separate Tawna and put her in a GP with Brio and Koala Kong (missing CB1 characters), but it would still have a GP with 4 characters. So I guess 3 characters and a bunch of skins per GP was always the idea. Would have loved 5 every GP, but God knows how much time Activision is giving Beenox to create all this. I think they had at least 4 GPs planned prior to the game's release tho'.

Oh, completely agree. They couldn’t separate the Trophy Girls for sure, I reckon they may have taken less time though with the similar models and skins attached.

Thinking about it - 5 characters per GP is quite an ask in reality especially when this is being dealt to us monthly...

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

Or maybe it's a sign that they need to slow the fuck down with these grabd prixs so they can actually get in all the characters planned from the get-go and give us players some breathing room for Christ's sake.

Also completely agree. I mean, I love the constant things they are throwing our way... But man Beenox, could we not have even an ENITIRE week or 2 for a breather rather than a few days. The players won’t go anywhere if the additional content is good enough (Nitro challenges withstanding).

I admit whilst I genuinely love playing CTR there are other games in my library I’d like to play now. I feel a bit like my hands are tied because of the exclusivity of the timed scenarios. I appreciate everything will come back around to the shop eventually but I can’t be constantly keeping tabs on that.

I mean at least there is a bit of relief via paying for the Nitro Gauge now as the amount isn’t totally insane. But then this means if you’re not playing as much you probably won’t get enough Wumpa coins to purchase timed skins and decals and karts you want on top of it. 

Hence MTX as your “last resort” I guess 

[Your Vest Friend]

And it's officially revealed. 

Ahh, lookit Joe! 

Also lmao September 30 instead of August 30.

 

 

 

[Jango]

It's an error indeed? Wouldn't mind a month to cool off. Even better if they could add Ripto and Sorceress because of the reschedule.

The announcement feels a little... underwhelming. I guess it's because I had higher expectations. Don't get me wrong, the track and the karts look great, but... IDK. I'm sure I'll dig once I get my hands on it. Prehistoric Playground looked kinda boring at first sight, but it ended up being one of my favorite tracks.

[Jango]

By the way, road map:

(The crazy bastards actually did! Crash Mind Over Mutant skins for Coco and Crunch!!!)

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Mind Over Mutant Coco and Crunch is brilliant and highly tempting to make me grind the prix.

That said, it’s really fucking lame that Spyro doesn’t have a legendary.

[Your Vest Friend]

Official trailer is here too. 

Lol gnome velo

[DarkRula]

So I don't even have to grind for a legendary skin for the main GP character I probably won't use, anyway? I just have to finish bronze? Well, I think that's a kart at the beginning of gold, so I don't think I'm fully out of the grind yet. I won't be spending as much time on this one, either way.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 minutes ago, DarkRula said:

So I don't even have to grind for a legendary skin for the main GP character I probably won't use, anyway? I just have to finish bronze? Well, I think that's a kart at the beginning of gold, so I don't think I'm fully out of the grind yet. I won't be spending as much time on this one, either way.

Screw grinding nitro. If you don’t care about the champion kart or the decal, just save up enough nitro coins to fill the gauge up at the end of the prix. You can save about 14k coins with three days of weekend bonuses compared to the many tedious days you’ll have to jump onto the game to do daily challenges that still take an hour to do for significantly less value.

[Jango]

Kinda lame that the track is called "Spyro Circuit"  But oh well. Dragon Realms would've been cooler.

[DarkRula]

If I'm playing casually, I probably wouldn't even need all 14k, anyway.

[Jango]

22 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Screw grinding nitro. If you don’t care about the champion kart or the decal, just save up enough nitro coins to fill the gauge up at the end of the prix. You can save about 14k coins with three days of weekend bonuses compared to the many tedious days you’ll have to jump onto the game to do daily challenges that still take an hour to do for significantly less value.

Yep. That's more like. I'll play naturally like I always did, if I get gold tier, cool, if I don't, it's more than likely that I'll have enough coins to fill that shit. Gotta admit that was a cool compromise. Good one, Activision.

Anyways, can't wait to hear the music!

[Sonicka]

Yeah, I think my expectations were probably too high for this one as it seems fairly underwhelming ^^’

I think the course is still going to be sweet AF - especially as Wumpa fruits and Crates are swapped out for Gems and treasure chests. But the whole package (apart from Hunter) does seem to be Spyro 1 theme’d overall - which is ok.

Much like with the last Grand Prix I feel largely disinterested about the most of the purchasable skins announced so far. I’ve also no ties to Mind over Mutant or Crash or the Titans from never playing them, so although that’s awesome for fans and the crash legacy value... I actually don’t understand their inclusion in the Nitro Bar as unlockables. What’s the relevance to the GP? Personally I’d have rather had the option to buy them separately and place the Spyro related ones in.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

6 minutes ago, Jango said:

Yep. That's more like. I'll play naturally like I always did, if I get gold tier, cool, if I don't, it's more than likely that I'll have enough coins to fill that shit. Gotta admit that was a cool compromise. Good one, Activision.

Anyways, can't wait to hear the music!

Don’t get me wrong - it’s anything but a good compromise, it’s solving a problem they created by incentivising one grind over another. If someone wanted to get every prix item on top of skipping the nitro grind, it becomes a lot more difficult to save the full amount needed as well. The only reason we need to rely on wumpa coins to fill the meter is because Activision has pinned another atrociously boring grind onto the game, and the alternative of grinding for coins is better than grinding nitro.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

12 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Don’t get me wrong - it’s anything but a good compromise, it’s solving a problem they created by incentivising one grind over another. If someone wanted to get every prix item on top of skipping the nitro grind, it becomes a lot more difficult to save the full amount needed as well. The only reason we need to rely on wumpa coins to fill the meter is because Activision has pinned another atrociously boring grind onto the game, and the alternative of grinding for coins is better than grinding nitro.

And that's not even factoring in how you'll have to make a lot more than just 14,000 wumpa coins if you also want to get all the GP content from the Pit Stop. And considering how expensive things could get, yeah, you're gonna find yourself grinding either way.

Not to mention that you have to wait till like, the end of the month to fill up that bar too which forces you to wait for the nitro bar content as well.

[Jango]

Well, yeah, but it's interesting that this ties directly with my theory that, at the end of the day, the Nitro Gauge becomes basically useless. Since you can now buy the Nitro Gauge itens with coins, it wouldn't make a difference if they were available in the Pit Stop from the beggining.

We don't know if Beenox tweaked the challenges to make them more fun and engaging, but I assume they didn't. If they make them fun, people would more likely to complete them. If challenges are boring, chances are: they're gonna pay to fill. Profit. It's a big 'ol scheme. 

But what can I say? As long as they keep the wumpa time and weekend bonus alive, I'm sure unlocking things will never be a huge chore. Grinding the Nitro Points was ass, but coins? Nah. 

We got gameplay:

Wow, the track actually looks great!!! And look, the misterious Artisans door is finally open xD

Wumpa fruits in the Spyro Circuit are actually Gems now!

The music is a remix of Mushroom Speedway from Spyro 3, great pick!!!