Crash: Tag Team Racing [PS2]

When Sony first debuted Crash Bandicoot, this irreverent creation of Naughty Dog was touted as "the next big thing" and the crazy marsupial quickly became the PSone mascot. Though the early games excelled, the later titles started drifting into lackluster territory, with the property shifting from developer to developer. For the latest iteration, Vivendi commissioned Radical Entertainment to take a crack at the franchise. What it has come up with is intriguing, to say the least.

Created by the same team responsible for Simpsons: Hit and Run, Crash Tag Team Racing is much more than just a racing game. In fact, the name itself is something of a misnomer, as nearly half the game occurs on foot. Set in a twisted amusement park owned by Ebeneezer Von Clutch, the races take the place of rides and must be unlocked as you progress through the game.

Each of the five worlds is themed. The first, Mystery Island, is designed as a homage to the early Crash games, while the remainder (a dinosaur level, space level, Egyptian level and a fairy tale level) were conceived to give the course designers a wide swath of creative freedom when designing the environments.

You'll start the game as either Crash or his nemesis Neo Cortex, wandering around in the main hub area. From here you can either go straight to Mystery Island or explore the amusement park fairway for a bit, engaging in mini-games, listening to the park workers complain about their jobs and searching out the aptly named "Die"-o-Ramas. Each Die-o-Rama is a cleverly hidden, scripted death animation for Crash. Find all of them (there are 34) and you can unlock an extra skin for the Crash-meister.

"Instead of having lives, you collect death," said Joel DeYoung, a producer with Radical Entertainment. "You try to find places that are dangerous for crash and you get these little triggerable animations."

The game's humor isn't limited to the macabre. For example, one of the mini-games has you shooting "cow pies" at cows as they fly overhead. A successful hit will turn the airborne bovine into a shower of grade-A steak. Another mini-game features bowling, while the "Chicken Challenge" has the Crash-man trying to collect all the chickens in the level.

"We really tried to create lots of stuff to do," said DeYoung. "If you don't want to race you really don't have to race that much."

While the mini-games aren't required fare, playing through them will help Crash earn money to unlock other competitors as well as other cars. In all, the game features eight characters (Crash, Neo Cortex, Pasadena, Crunch, Coco, Nina, NGIN and Ebeneezer Von Clutch) with three cars each.

If you'd rather just focus on the racing, don't worry. Crash Tag Team Racing has plenty of it. Each world features three courses, for a total of 15 tracks. When you enter a race you can play any previously unlocked track, so there is no unnecessary backtracking from world to world just to hop on a favorite course. At first glance the racing is fairly standard stuff -- eight cars on the track, power-ups, shortcuts and weapons galore -- but that all changes the first time you "clash" with another car.

Clashing occurs when two cars combine in order to form a supercar. When clashed, one character will drive while the other will man a 360 degree turret with a souped up weapon. The weapons are specific to each character, however you can switch between them while clashed -- as a result players will often choose who they clash with.

Because the weapon ammunition is limited, players will eventually have to unclash, but even that requires a bit of strategy. Either player can unclash at any time, and whomever initiates the decoupling will benefit from a slight speed burst - however, that will also place you right in the sights of the car you just left behind. It might seem a little odd to have a co-op mechanic in a competitive racing game, but it works and it works well.

"It's a great dynamic because you're competing with these people, but you're cooperating temporarily," said DeYoung.

Adding to the mayhem during combat are the numerous shortcuts that are littered about. Some you will be left to discover for yourself, while others will not be enabled until you perform some action on foot, causing the track to be modified.

"Because it's a theme park, we really played with this facade idea. It's very animatronic," said DeYoung. "We made the shortcuts the backstage area that you're not supposed to see."

Unfortunately, Crash Tag Team Racing will not feature any online play, however multiplayer will still be a major component of the game. The PlayStation 2 will be able to handle up to two players via split-screen, while the GameCube and Xbox offer up to four. The Xbox also has the ability to support up to eight racers via system link and the PSP can support up to eight via WiFi. Players that own both the PS2 and PSP versions of the game will be able to link them via USB to unlock hidden content on both.

In addition to standard racing, the multiplayer modes also include the battle and stunt arenas. Battle arena features four clashed cars within a limited arena, and the winner is determined deathmatch style. When playing multiplayer, you can either team up with a friend or partner up with the CPU.

Although it's still too early to cast a final judgment, we have to admit that Crash Tag Team Racing has piqued our interest. From what we saw in our time with the game, Radical is attempting a fresh approach to the franchise that just might result in a fun little game. Besides, who can hate on a game that features farting on the loading screen and kung-fu ninja penguins scattered about the levels?

"Burping and farting on the loading screen -- the kids dig it," said DeYoung. "We added the kung-fu ninja penguins just because we wanted a little variety."

We'll have more on the game as soon as we chase the kung-fu ninja penguins out of the office.