Crash Nitro Kart

Cover art

A kart racer based on the 2003 console game of the same name, placing Crash Bandicoot and his rivals in an intergalactic race circuit at the behest of alien emperor Velo. Developed by Vicarious Visions for N-Gage with fully 3D tracks, 18 characters, four race modes, and four-player Bluetooth multiplayer across two variants — Race Mode and Battle Mode.

The console original was itself notable — Traveller's Tales began the project before handing it to Vicarious Visions, who completed it as a follow-up to Crash Team Racing (Naughty Dog, 1999). The N-Gage version received mixed reviews, with the central criticism being structural rather than technical: the device's tall portrait-format screen dramatically reduced peripheral vision, making it difficult to anticipate corners or see opponents, and effectively undermining an otherwise competent port. GameSpot's review called it 'a very bittersweet affair', noting that 'there's a really good game inside Crash Nitro Kart, but it's a shame that you can't quite see it.' Vicarious Visions later went on to develop the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017) and the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 remake (2020) before being absorbed into Blizzard Entertainment.

Screenshots