Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart Review

If there is one game that ripped off Mario Kart it was Crash Team Racing on the original PlayStation. Everything down to the question mark boxes were stolen from that game but no one seemed to care, why? Because the game was so much fun, and now it has a successor on the iPhone. Enter Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart(CBNK) to the iPhone, with tight controls, bright graphics, and hours of fun gameplay and you have a great launch title.

To start things off the game looks great. It resembles its predecessor very well, and in many cases surpasses it, think of CTR if it were a N64 game. There are a few graphical glitches here and there and the frame rate can drop pretty low when things get hectic. The good thing is that the game is so much fun you won’t even notice. The sound is also nice and has that great uptempo mix to get you into the race, unfortunately instead of using mp3s the game uses what sounds like a traditional cell phone sound engine.

The gameplay is simple enough that anyone can play. Just like with Super Monkey Ball and Cro-Mag Rally you have to tilt the screen to control your player. Compared to these games though CBNK has tighter controls and just feels more natural. One plus is that the kart is always moving forward so you don’t have to worry about pressing down on a gas button and blocking half the screen with your thumb. All the race tracks offer something unique to the game and all the races are a joy to play. The only gripe I have about the gameplay is there is no way to adjust the difficulty. So after a few hours of gameplay expect to finish in first every time.

This is the game that you would want to show your friends what the iPhone can do as a gaming machine.  With 12 courses and 3 race types this game will keep you entertained for hours.  If you have $10 to spend in the App Store you can’t go wrong with this game.

App Store Link