Crash Tag Team Racing (PS2 - Platinum)

I can never get enough of crash bandicoot and spyro the dragon games as i think they're classics and this bandicoot game is great fun to play (this racing game is different from crash nitro kart) ,in the single player mode you are at the fun park at von clutches motorworld running around interacting with people ,finding gems ,picking up coins that you use to purchase unlockables ,playing fun games and competing in various motor races (check your map on the screen to see whats available around you). The mini games you can find are ...

Critter clobber (duck shoot)
Animal farm frenzy (skeet shoot)
Dropped on djinn (falling target)
Below the briny (protection)
Mummy mash (falling target)
Astro lanes (bowling)
Jellyfish smack (protection)
Von clutches lanes (bowling)

The races/tracks you can compete in are ...

MYSTERY ISLAND - tiki turbo ,pirates of the carburetor ,deep sea driving.
HAPPILY EVER FASTER - once upon a time ,track and the beanstalk ,evilocity.
TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS - fossil fuel injection ,labrea car pits ,tyre and ice.
TOMB TOWN - dead heat ,crash test mummies ,pyramid pass.
ASTRO LAND - rings of uranus ,uranus' mine ,craters on uranus.

Each character has 3 cars in total but only crash and cortex are available at the start the rest need to be unlocked and they are ...

Pasadena o possum
Crunch bandicoot
Coco bandicoot
Nina cortex
N-gin
Von clutch

Each character has unlockable costumes aswell when purchased with the coins and they are ...

CRASH COSTUMES
Agent C.R.A.S.H - Purple spy outfit
Cave crash - caveman bandicoot
Nega crash - monster type costume
Crizzash bandicizzle - rapper type costume
Mad crash - mad scientist
Classic crash - adventure type costume
Realistic crash - skeleton bandicoot
Star crash - spock bandicoot

NEO CORTEX COSTUMES
Neo fu - ninja type costume

PASSIDINA O POSSUM COSTUMES
Embiginator - biker type costume

CRUNCH BANDICOOT COSTUMES
Mr crunch - Mr T type costume

COCO BANDICOOT COSTUMES
Princess coco - blue princess type costume

NINA CORTEX COSTUMES
Part timer - Waitress costume

N-GIN COSTUMES
Cyborg idol - a daft looking pink ballerina type costume complete with lipstick

VON CLUTCH COSTUMES
Captain no-sense - pirate/movie type costume.

There is also a multiplayer in this game and this mode is fantastic ,you get a choice of a split screen or lan play (2 tvs) ,in this mode there is ...

Race - all the races i have mentioned above
Gift shop - purchase all the unlockables for the multiplayer here
Grand prix - Race on all tracks on any of the 5 lands
Battle arena - Compete in a battle on either the jungle rumble or extinction party battle arenas
Stunt Area - Perform vehicle stunts before the time runs out to earn coins

On the main menu there is also an extra option where you can view any in game video sequences ,track secrets and gags that you unlock by just watching them once and you can also connect this game to the crash tag team racing psp game

Overall the graphics are quite good on this game and the gameplay will keep you entertained for hours with it's very addictive gameplay and with the usual character gags along the way ,the only thing thats annoying on this game is the 3d camera when you're running around the theme park but you get used to it after a while.

This game, like any game in this genre (I would include things like mario kart), is always good fun. However, this game is let down in two main ways:
1. you start with 2 cars and a few tracks; you have to unlock them by playing (despite being quite easy to do this, it can be a bit annoying).
2. the racing element of the game is somewhat over-complicated and the array of weapons that can be picked up through crashing into boxes is very limited. I think i prefer crash team nitro on the ps1 in terms of actual simplicity and fun. Or mario kart on N64

As for the platform side of the game, I have not really played this as it is not what i bought the game for. It does not limit you too much if you do not want to play this side of the game but it does leave you feeling slightly confused as to whether this is a racing game or a platformer......