The wait is nearly over for Crash Bandicoot fans, as the next Crash Bandicoot remaster, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, will be hitting consoles on Friday. The remaster will combine tracks from all three original Crash Team Racing titles, released between 1999 and 2005, and has been completely rebuilt from the ground up with all new assets and textures. The title adds customisation options to the karts, new skins and online multiplayer.
The game looks great and the development team have taken great pains to preserve the characteristics of the original title while also upgrading the graphics to match current generation games.
The number of nostalgia remasters is fast expanding after the recent success of the Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy and the Spryo Reignited Trilogy. With the coming release, in early 2020, of the remastered version of Final Fantasy 7 even Square Enix are getting in on the action.
Is this remaster craze a good or bad for the games industry? I guess it depends how far the craze goes. Existing franchises already command a sizable percentage of new releases and, in my opinion, originality is certainly the spice of a healthy games industry. However, remasters are far from taking over, and there are still many titles that fans are crying out for remasters for. I’ve very much enjoyed playing the remastered Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games. I, personally, think it’s great to have the opportunity to share these classic games with a whole new generation of gamers. Whatever, your opinion, a new nostalgia trip is about to hit consoles.
