Crash Team Racing

When you say kart racing, most people automatically picture a plumber in a red cap. Yet on the PlayStation in 1999 a rival appeared that not only matched Nintendo but, according to many, even surpassed it.

Crash Team Racing, affectionately known as CTR, comes from the studio Naughty Dog, then still at the peak of its career with the mascot Crash Bandicoot. And it was no lazy copy of the competition. Naughty Dog bet on unexpectedly deep driving mechanics whose heart is the boost system. When you slid, a gauge filled that rewarded you with a short burst of speed, and true masters could chain these boosts one after another in an unbroken stream of velocity. This skill ceiling made CTR a racer that rewarded practice and precision.

Beyond the usual cups and time trials, CTR offered a full-fledged adventure mode with a hub world, bosses, and item collecting. It wasn't a mere collection of tracks, then, but a kind of small campaign that gave racing meaning and context. That was unusually generous by the standards of the genre, and the game gained dozens of hours of content because of it.

The tracks themselves were imaginative and colorful, full of shortcuts, jumps, and traps, each of them demanding knowledge of the ideal line. Add to that sharp controls, a balanced arsenal of weapons, and superb multiplayer for a group of friends around one screen, and you have a recipe for one of the best racing games of its generation.

CTR's success was confirmed by the acclaimed remake Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, which revived the original game in a modern coat and reminded a new generation how brilliantly the foundation was designed. The very fact that it received a full-fledged return after decades speaks for the quality of the original all on its own.

Why play it: The best kart racing outside Nintendo's world, with a boost mechanic that rewards skill and content that lasts far longer than a single afternoon.