Originally released 26 years ago, Crash Team Racing’s extension of the series’ beloved art style and complete single-player mode made for an unforgettable series of playable tracks.
While arguably no form of media was revolutionized more drastically than video games in the 1990’s, that point rings especially true for games in the kart racing genre.
Headlined by the innovative Super Mario Kart for the SNES in 1992, Nintendo seemed to extend their stranglehold on the genre with a pair of iconic releases in 1997 for the Nintendo 64 with Mario Kart 64 and Diddy Kong Racing.
In September 1999, the Crash Bandicoot series combined perhaps the best elements of both games to create, at least in my opinion, one of the best kart racers of all-time in a game that is equally riveting for single players as it is for gatherings with friends in Crash Team Racing.
What made me fall in love with this game growing up was the incredible single-player mode, offering four main homeworlds with four distinct tracks each, in addition to a fifth bonus homeworld that ties together the loose ends encountered throughout the campaign.
Crash Team Racing offers a total of 18 standard tracks, almost all of them offering a distinct theme, including several that are themed for specific characters.
In this list, I’ll look to rank the 18 standard tracks of the original game from my least favorite to favorite, judging them on what I see as their creativity, innovation and replay value with a brief explanation on the reasoning behind my rankings.
Though this game received a well-deserved remaster with a dizzying amount of extra content in 2019, this list will solely be based on the original 1999 release for the PlayStation.
18. Turbo Track
One of two tracks encountered in Gem Stone Valley, the game’s bonus homeworld, Turbo Track is essentially a sanitized version of Slide Coliseum, it’s Gem Stone Valley counterpart.
While offering a photogenic sunset setting inside a stadium, Turbo Track has little to distinguish itself from other tracks in the game, with a chain of boost pads being the primary feature of the track.
Unlike the similar Slide Coliseum, which at least incorporates challenging hairpin turns with a few small shortcuts to utilize, Turbo Track is essentially a straight shot, with very little going on outside of speeding up and breaking item crates.
17. Coco Park
The lowest ranked track from one of the four main homeworlds, Coco Park is undoubtedly a pleasant and aesthetically pleasing track – it just doesn’t offer quite what many courses in the rest of the game do.
Outside of its green, park-inspired daytime setting, Coco Park is essentially a straight-shot loop, sending players through a brief tunnel before encountering more wide turns. There aren’t really any hazards, and the one shortcut can really only be utilized efficiently if aided with a speedy item.
Though solid and fun to play, it’s simply bested by many of its contemporaries.
16. Slide Coliseum
Not too much to say about this one, other than it being a slightly more interesting version of Turbo Track. The constant turns take a while to master and serve as great practice for drifting, while the brief parts of the track where you can jump over the turns are intriguing enough elements to give this one the nod over Coco Park.
15. Blizzard Bluff
The opening track to the third homeworld, Blizzard Bluff also has the detriment of being a lesser version of another track it shares a homeworld with.
While the course is spiced up with some moving hazards and a few shortcuts, its conventional design and relatively short layout make it one of the more forgettable tracks in the game.
14. Dragon Mines
Also in the third homeworld and serving as the setting for the boss race against Komodo Joe, Dragon Mines is a shorter, mostly underground track with a mine cart theme.
While certainly inoffensive, I could at least say for myself that Dragon Mines would rank higher on this list if its great train track shortcut was better executed (it’s nearly impossible to avoid being ran over when taking it). The tight elevating turns before the track’s closing section are also certainly no fun to maneuver.
Other than the clear drawbacks, the course’s multitude of hazards make it a fun multiplayer option, with its theming among the more apparent and stronger in the game.
13. Roo’s Tubes
The second track of the game and home of the Ripper Roo boss fight, Roo’s Tubes is certainly one of the game’s better themed tracks, taking place underwater with a tunnel section that makes one feel as if they are driving through a large aquarium.
Though it’s tough to have many complaints with the tracks theming, the rather basic layout and lack of major hazards make it one of the game’s more elementary and forgettable courses.
12. Tiny Arena
Already the third of four tracks from Glacier Park, the game’s third homeworld, Tiny Arena serves as the game’s longest course, using the same music and a similar stadium setting to Slide Coliseum and Turbo Track.
While the massive course is themed rather appropriately, with large signage and seats seen off in the distance, the track itself could be a lot more varied for how long it is. Despite its length, much of the track feels identical, filled with bumps for jump boosts and few mud pits serving as obstacles.
If this course had a bit more going on throughout to make sections feel more distinct from one another, it could be one of the game’s best.
11. Dingo Canyon
The final track in the game’s second main homeworld of The Lost Ruins, Dingo Canyon is another course on the shorter side, with a bit more to spice it up than tracks of a similar length such as Roo’s Tubes and Blizzard Bluff.
Taking on a desert canyon theme, this course is tightly packed with basic, but fun elements, including a few road hazards and some hidden opportunities for major jump boosts.
Though still perhaps on the forgettable side for the high standard of tracks in this game, its tight design leads to one of the more enjoyable multiplayer experiences.
10. Crash Cove
Perhaps the game’s most nostalgic track for me, it’s hard to find a more fitting opener than Crash Cove.
Taking the setting of N. Sanity Beach, the game’s first homeworld, Crash Cove serves as a perfect hands-on tutorial of the game’s features, with a pleasant soundtrack and art style accompanying a straightforward track that introduces players to items and even hazards for those who fall into the water.
Although overshadowed by later tracks with a bit more to offer to players who have gotten their feet wet, Crash Cove serves as an arguably perfect start to a classic game.
9. Tiger Temple
The poster child for a great short track, Tiger Temple packs in all of the signature CTR elements in a mind-bogglingly short amount of time.
From plenty of jump boost bumps, a narrow tunnel with fire hazards and perhaps the game’s signature shortcut, Tiger Temple likely gives players on adventure mode whiplash after coasting through the quaint Coco Park.
The course also takes on the theme of The Lost Ruins, the game’s second homeworld, with its setting, art style and music all equally convincing, feeling especially impressive near the time of the game’s release.
8. Cortex Castle
Finally the first track from the stellar final homeworld of Citadel City, Cortex Castle is named and themed for the primary antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series, who was playable for the first time in Crash Team Racing.
While it’s hard to avoid to obvious connection to the Bowser’s Castle tracks in the Mario Kart series, Cortex Castle does an incredible job of feeling creepy and uneasy without the pyrotechnics, with the stormy setting and intimidating structure helping to fill the void.
The track offers plenty of difficulty and hazards, making it just as challenging of a single-player track as it is an enjoyable one playing with friends, thanks to the constant flow of obstacles that picks up at the end of the course.
7. Mystery Caves
The third track in the first homeworld, Mystery Caves is the game’s first taste of the kind of challenges it would pose to players throughout the course of adventure mode.
Lengthier than its two predecessors in Crash Cove and Roo’s Tubes, Mystery Caves features multiple distinct sections as drivers find themselves both jumping over short streams and blazing fire pits within seconds of each other.
Though far from the game’s most difficult track and simple to master after a few playthroughs, its enjoyability never seems to fade, with plenty of opportunities to pick up speeds ahead of big jumps and even a small shortcut for those wanting to take a risk.
6. Oxide Station
The final track of adventure mode and the setting for the final boss race against Nitros Oxide, Oxide Station fits the bill as equally intimidating, challenging and fun on an initial playthrough.
With an art style that echoes the Y2K futurism common at the time, Oxide Station is a furious race through space, with its lengthy, unconventional design and frequent item crates for opponents serving as obstacles more than traditional hazards.
Though a fitting end to the game and a blast for multiplayer races, this excellent game still has a handful of tracks I hold in slightly higher regard.
5. N. Gin Labs
Taking on a lab/reactor theme seen before in the Crash Bandicoot series, N. Gin Labs is in many ways a slight step up from Cortex Castle – a lengthy, challenging track adequately themed and named after one of the series’ antagonists.
Hitting players right away with a series of challenging jumps, the course includes the game’s lone boost tunnel, a fun and unique feature that also oozes of Y2K futurism. Its unique design sees players lap above parts they pass later in the course, with a wide dose of unique hazards that can quickly change a race.
The track’s lone drawback is its absence of a signature shortcut, one that would almost be expected with a course of its size and length – the primary reason I have it one spot below my fourth-place pick.
4. Sewer Speedway
The final track in the opening homeworld of N. Sanity Beach, Sewer Speedway takes the familiar sewer setting seen in previous Crash Bandicoot levels and elevates it to one of the game’s most immersive tracks.
Directly introducing players to different driving surfaces with a stream of sewage down the center of the track, the course’s signature feature comes with its overhead shortcut, one that is obviously present but not obvious in how it is reached.
As a track early on in the game, Sewer Speedway strikes a delicate balance of slightly increased difficulty with new hazards and features introduced while still being quite approachable for new players.
The course also holds plenty of replay value for experienced players, as it offers one of the most challenging Platinum relics in the game.
3. Polar Pass
The second track that replicates the snowy setting of Glacier Park, the third homeworld, Polar Pass is an intensely elevated version of Blizzard Bluff in every way.
From a unique layout with plenty of snow and ice throughout to shortcuts hidden in plain sight, Polar Pass may offer one of the steeper learning curves to master, but is also a course that holds replay value equally well for single-player and multiplayer settings.
Even for those who have mastered the track, its thin margin of error keeps races competitive – getting hit by a missile or bomb on the track’s narrow straight-away can derail a race, as can missing the jump over a wall to nail a shortcut.
Excelling in theming, difficulty, soundtrack and replay value, Polar Pass is one of the game’s crown jewels and a standout course of the genre in general. Yet there’s still two tracks I have ranked marginally higher.
2. Papu’s Pyramid
Acting both as the setting for a boss race and part of its homeworld, The Lost Ruins, it’s hard to find images that capture PS1 nostalgia more than a race through Papu’s Pyramid.
Introducing drivers right away to new and unique hazards such as 90-degree turns and lethal piranha plants, the course also includes multiple game-changing shortcuts that are both tricky to pull off and wildly rewarding when utilized.
To make matters better, its golden hour setting almost enhances the 5th generation graphics, making the sun-kissed track and surroundings feel quaint and comforting, even among the frustrations the course provides.
Despite being in just the game’s second homeworld, Papu’s Pyramid is likely to remain in the rotation of players seeking 101% completion in the game, as the course offers arguably the game’s hardest Platinum relic.
1. Hot Air Skyway
One of the game’s most photogenic and marketable tracks to begin with, this sunset ride in the sky comes in as my favorite track of the game, and one of my favorite kart racing tracks of all-time.
Utilizing a unique setting with the entire track taking place in the sky, Hot Air Skyway still offers multiple distinct sections when typically other surroundings would be present to help differentiate.
While the track features no moving hazards, its unconventional design, plethora of tight turns and unforgiving edges make for a small margin of error, leading to thrilling multiplayer races as well as plenty of frustrating trial-and-error for single player runs.
Though Crash Team Racing is an all-time favorite game of mine and almost all of these tracks hold some level of personal nostalgia for me, Hot Air Skyway still stands out for both its innovation and enduring challenge. In a game where plenty of advanced skill is necessary to complete 101% of the way through, this track gives players a sample pack of what needs to be perfected while remaining ridiculously fun and easy to revisit.
Thank you for reading, as I’ll look to continue the Retro Rewind with more level/item based rankings like this one – feel free to comment any suggestions!
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