*----------------------------------------------*
Crash Tag Team Racing Mini-FAQ
Written by Angelo Heartilly
Last Updated: Jan 21, 2006
*----------------------------------------------*
\              |                 /
-        Crash Tag Team Racing           -
Mini-FAQ
/              |                 \
*=============*
Intro
*=============*
At the time of writing this FAQ, the only other file available for CTTR is for
collecting the Die-O-Ramas. Being the amazing citizen I am, I wanted to make an
FAQ to help all of you nice folks out there. Only problem is, I'm a lazy
bastard. So rather than a full walkthrough, I'll give basic explanations and
helpful tips wherever I deem fit. Don't like it? That's cool.
Why would you want to use this guide? Quick and easily accessed information, if
I don't think something needs to be included then I won't. So you don't have to
scroll through very much crap to get to whatever vital piece of information you
are looking for.
This guide will give you all of the basics to gameplay, tips for completing the
many aspects of the single player mode, and send you on your way to using more
advanced techniques (we'll entertain ourselves and pretend they exist). On with
the FAQ, eh?
*=====================*
Table of Contents
*=====================*
========================
1. Opening Information
========================
1.1  Disclaimer
1.2  Contacting Me
1.3  Using the Find Function
1.4  Version History
1.5  Frequently Asked Questions
==================
2. Racing Basics
==================
2.1  Controls
2.2  Clashing
2.3  Gunner
2.4  Driver
2.5  Earning Boosts
2.6  Power Sliding
2.7  Power-Ups
2.8  Car Types
2.9  Battle Mode
2.10 Stunt Course
2.11 More Racing TIps
============================
3. Characters/Weapons/Cars
============================
3.1  Crash
3.2  Coco
3.3  Crunch
3.4  Cortex
3.5  Nina
3.6  N-Gin
3.7  Pasadena
3.8  Von Clutch
===================
4. Single Player
===================
4.1  Controls
4.2  Using the Mini-Map
4.3  Die-O-Ramas
4.4  Earning Coins
4.5  Unlocking Tracks
4.6  Crashinator
4.7  Rolling Thunder
4.8  Run 'n Gun
4.9  Fast Lap
4.10 More Single Player Tips
=============
5. Closing
=============
5.1 Next Update(s)
5.2 Credits
*==========================*
1. Opening Information
*==========================*
#--------------#
1.1 Disclaimer
#--------------#
This document is Copyright 2006 Tommy "Angelo Heartilly" Chambers. You are free
to use this FAQ in any way as long as you don't make a profit off of it. The
ONLY site that has permission to post this FAQ though is GameFAQs, don't bother
asking if it can be posted on yours because the answer is no.
#-----------------#
1.2 Contacting Me
#-----------------#
My e-mail is homicidal_bunny@hotmail.com. I try to check it regularly, so if
you have anything to say about the guide I welcome you to contact me. Just be
sure to include something about the FAQ in the subject line to ensure I at
least read it. Keep it related to the guide of course though, if you want to
compliment my guide, criticize it, contribute more information, correct
something, it's all good. Just don't electronically mail me correcting small
grammar mistakes... as I really don't care about those.
#-----------------#
1.3 Find Function
#-----------------#
If you need to find information in a jiffy, the find function can help you get
what you want. Hopefully you already know this, but Ctrl + F will bring up the
find box and you can type in exactly what you want information on and presto!
It's there!
#-------------------#
1.4 Version History
#-------------------#
Jan 21, 06 - Only about 3/5 of the guide is finished, but I thought I'd just
post it now in case you want some of the information done. I'll be a while
getting the rest of the information, thanks to my new copy of Vagrant
Story and a little thing called Mega Man X Arena. Hopefully I'll get my
act together before all of SE's big guns come out (all within a month of
eachother it seems) or else I won't have any ambition to work on the guide
for MONTHS.
#------------------------------#
1.5 Frequently Asked Questions
#------------------------------#
Q: Is this game hard?
¯
A: Not really, the enemy AI provides minimal challenge even on hard. Single
¯  player is devoid of any REAL challenges also. Though the Crashinator
challenges can a bit obnoxious in Astro Land and Fast Lap challenges in the
last few worlds are next to impossible unless you use a bit of a cheap
trick.
~
Q: What all do you need to get 100%, and what are the rewards?
¯
A: On the Single Player main menu you can select "Game Progress" and see
¯  everything you need to do and everything you have done to get 100%. As for
rewards... it would appear nothing.
~
Q: What all can you unlock in single player?
¯
A: Single player has turret upgrades and an extra Crash costume (which totally
¯  sucks, but that's beside the point), but unfortunately these aren't usable
in multiplayer mode. But you can also unlock secret short cuts, one in each
world in single player, and I've yet to confirm whether these short cuts
carry over in multi-player AFTER you unlock them or if they are
automatically there when you purchase the course in multiplayer. You also
can unlock a plethora of movies, some cool and some crap to watch anytime in
the movie gallery.
~
Q: What's all this about linking the PSP and PS2 versions together?
¯
A: A somewhat noble attempt to raise interest in the PSP version (as well as
¯  encouraging other games to link via the systems), if you are rich and/or
stupid enough to own both versions of the game, or you can borrow the PSP
version from a friend it seems you can unlock some goodies with them.
According to the booklet with the game you get two battle arenas and five
new cars from the PSP version, and supposedly a true co-op mode in
multiplayer (not like there's a difference...). Is it worth it? Nah,
probably not. At the same time though, I've been trying to find Action
Replay codes to unlock some or all of these features. If you know of any
(for any version of AR, though I personally own the older, not MAX version
of AR) codes I'd really appreciate if you sent them in and I'll post 'em up.
~
Q: Who is the best character?
¯
A: As far as cars go, it doesn't really matter. They all get the same three
¯  types, handling, speed and endurance vehicles. Though there might be minor
differences between the different character's cars, races are too battle
oriented for it to matter. So it all comes down to their turret weapons.
N-Gin's rockets have some great raw power while still having a relatively
high ammo count and decent range, I'd go with him. Cruncher's high rate of
fire gives him some unique advantages while still being an all-around solid
weapon too, so he isn't a bad choice to be or to clash with. Nina's Energy
Shotgun is also a solid weapon if paired with a more long-ranged oriented
turret. Cortex and Pasadena seem to have the weaker weapons in the game, and
Crash, Coco and Von Clutch are closer to the middle.
~
Q: Do you know where I can find pictures of all of the clashed vehicles?
¯
A: Unfortunately no. They all seem to have minor differences in appearance
(even though by my possibly incorrect calculations there are a bit more than
250 different possible car combinations not counting the PSP vehicles) but
the only way to see them is to actually make the combination. Come on
developers, how about include in the extras section pictures of all of the
different combinations of cars we've made?
~
Q: Are the cheat codes any fun?
¯
A: Crash's Japanese skin is kind of fun to play with, but I can't get high
speed or toy block car codes to work. And to hell with chicken-head
characters.
*====================*
2. Racing Basics
*====================*
#------------#
2.1 Controls
#------------#
CTTR has a decent control scheme, though it could have really used the option
to customize controls. If you play a lot of FPSs you might have to re-train
yourself, as most are used to the right analog stick being used for sighting
and R1 for firing.
Either Role
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
|---------------------------------|
| Clash/Unclash    |     Triangle |
| Switch Roles     |     R1       |
| Use powerups     |     O        |
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Driving
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
|---------------------------------------------------|
|Steer            |     L Stick                     |
|Accelerate       |     X, R2                       |
|Brake/Reverse    |     Square, L2                  |
|Power Boost      |     O (with no powerups on hand)|
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Gunning
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
|--------------------------------|
|Aim                  |  L Stick |
|Fire Turret          |  X, R2   |
|Switch Turret Weapon |  Square  |
|Snap to Front or Back|  R Stick |
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
#------------#
2.2 Clashing
#------------#
Far and away the most important aspect of the game, if you aren't clashing then
you simply aren't playing the game buddy. I'm sure you already know what
clashing is, you combine your car with one of the enemies and form a short
alliance, where one drives and the other fires a turret at enemies. It's a
fairly fun and interesting system and a welcome change to the usual kart
racing. But... you will quickly find it is completely broken and cheap.
There are no advantages to driving solo, you _might_ have a tiny advantage in
speed (though it doesn't appear so) but you have not even 1/10 the offensive
capabilities of two clashed cars and probably around 1/10 the opportunity to
earn power boosts. So unless you are looking for a bit of a challenge or have
some angsty lone wolf reputation to uphold do yourself a favor and start
clashing.
How do you clash? If you push triangle your car will glow a faint blue. At this
point if you get close enough to any other unclashed car you'll join up with
them and be thrown into the gunner's seat. You can be either the gunner or the
driver, both covered in detail below. Unclashing is as simple as pushing
triangle again, but your partner can also unclash too. Whoever is the one to
break the clash gets a small speed boost, so when you are nearing the end of
the race you have to keep an eye on your buddy and be ready to break apart when
you know you can make it to the finish line on your own.
As long as you have cars around you though there is no limit to how much you
can clash and unclash, which is kind of why it is so broken. Even if you run
out of ammo for both of your guns, by simply unclashing and reclashing with the
same vehicle a second later you refill all of your ammo. A rather awkward
decision, but still fairly fun.
#----------#
2.3 Gunner
#----------#
A vital part of the team, the gunner fends off enemies, earns the majority of
the power boosts and is tasked with just generally protecting the driver. This
is done with a turret mounted on the back of the joined cars.
You can fire either one shot by tapping X or R2 or fire a fully automatic burst
by holding either down. The former is suggested as it is easy to chew through
all of your ammo in a short amount of time, that is of course unless you don't
have a problem with abusing the clash system to have more or less unlimited
ammo. There are two types of aiming, most characters have the usual targeting
reticle that you move around and focus on the enemy. When it is red that means
you are locked on to that target and your shots will home in on it a bit.
Von Clutch and Cortex have what is called "ground targetting" though. Your
targetting reticle moves along the ground instead of being able to point at any
object you want. This is a much inferior system for aiming, not only is aiming
at cars harder (especially at longer distances) but many targets along the
stages that give power boosts will be hard or impossible to hit.
If you find yourself surrounded by cars you might want to make use of the right
analog stick to snap to the front or back of the car. Also be aware when the
driver picks up a powerup, you also get your own unique powerups and they are
all one hit KOs. And if you find yourself without any enemies in range of your
turret, you can always try busting out a power-up on one in the distance. When
the race is a bit calmer it is also a good idea to focus on shooting the
targets along the race course to earn boosts. If you're in first place you'll
inevitably have about ten fire guys coming at you every few seconds too, so you
might as well try to shoot them down. It IS possible, but overrall seems to be
kind of random and I've yet to determine the best weapon for gunning them down.
And contrary to popular belief, destroying cars always gives +25 power boosts.
The comments after each successive kill:
1 - Great Shot
2 - Two Timer
3 - Triple Play
4 - Quadcicle
5+ - Rolling Rampage
Only seem to be for bragging rights and encouragement.
#----------#
2.4 Driver
#----------#
As the driver your main concern is getting through the course obviously. Though
most courses are pretty simple, avoiding obstacles, knowing shortcuts and
taking advantage of the terrain will help your tag-team along to victory. The
gunner will earn most of the boosts, but through powersliding you can also make
a decent contribution to the boostage. Some courses have a scattering of ground
targets it seems, I've yet to fully figure out how they work but it seems you
have to hit a group of targets to get a big boost, though hitting just one
might reap no rewards for you. Regardless, your main concern should be driving
and you shouldn't be too distracted by targets on the track.
Power sliding is a helpful technique for more than just getting power boosts,
so be sure to learn that (it has it's own section below). As the driver you
should also be sure to get power-ups. If you aren't clashed they are your only
means of offense at the moment and if you ARE clashed then the gunner is also
given an uber-powerful power-up as well, which gives him a pretty much
guaranteed KO. And finally, you're responsible for deciding when to use power
boosts. Be sure to keep an eye on the boost gage, when you're in the middle of
a large gunfight it is easy to miss the rockets that appear on top of your car.
And though you don't want to hold on to it for too long, saving a power boost
for a few seconds for a straight-away rather than a curvy path (which will more
than likely result in you slamming yourself in to the wall repeatedly and get
minimal gain) isn't a bad idea.
#------------------#
2.5 Earning Boosts
#------------------#
An important part of the game, players are constantly filling their boost meter
and unleashing power boosts to zoom ahead of the competition. The boost meter
takes 100 "boost points" to fill up, which can be earned in a variety of ways.
And for the record, the official name seems to be "Rocket Boost" but I call it
by the far more groovy name "power boost".
~!~ Powersliding ~!~
Gives +10, +20 and then +30 as the flames behind the tires change colors, for a
total of +60.
~!~ Knock-Outs ~!~
Gives +25 for each enemy KOed.
~!~ Targets ~!~
Either shot or run over, they give a variety of different boost points.
~!~ Power-Up ~!~
A boost power-up will completely fill your boost meter.
~!~ Stunts ~!~
In the stunt courses, successfully landing a jump will earn you boost points,
equal to whatever the score earned / 100.
#-----------------#
2.6 Power Sliding
#-----------------#
Power sliding is a bit different in CTTR than most other kart racers but it is
still relatively simple and still necessary to become a "master" of the game.
You can powerslide at any time, but unless you are going through a turn you are
just going to powerslide in to a wall. But basically, whenever you are tilting
the left analog stick to maneuver you can tap the brake to start power sliding.
Flames should be trailing off your back wheels, which in real life would be a
sign that you should cut that the hell out but is good in the game. If you
don't get any orange flames behind your tires it probably means you aren't
turning sharp enough (you have to keep an eye on the flames, you'll get the
same sound effects regardless of whether you are powersliding or not) and
you'll have to try again by tapping square.
After a few seconds you'll get a +10 message, then the flames will turn yellow
and a few seconds to get +20. And if it's a really wide turn you can get some
slick purple flames accompanied by a +30 to your boost meter.
It's a bit clunky feeling at first but before long you'll be gliding through
turns and spirals like they were nothing. It is worth noting that using the two
face buttons to powerslide can be difficult for people who HAVEN'T had a
controller sitting in their hands for half their life, which is probably why
acceleration and brakes were also assigned to the shoulder buttons. If you are
finding tapping square while holding X is aggravating, you might want to try
instead using one or both of the actions with R2 and L2.
#-------------#
2.7 Power-Ups
#-------------#
There are depressingly few power-ups in the game, but it wouldn't be "racing
basics" if I didn't cover them, eh? Powerups are found along the track, usually
lined up in groups of four. The color of the power-ups is different for each
world but otherwise they are the same. When you drive over a power-up icon you
get a (somewhat) random power-up and also give one to the gunner if you are
clashed. Power-up icons regenerate after a few seconds but if there is a large
pack of cars all together you might find yourself fighting to get a weapon.
Power-ups are fairly nice to have, especially if you are clashed, so if you see
one a little out of the way (usually they will be put in the air in front of
ramps off to the side) it is usally a good idea to go for it. Keep in mind
though that except for boost power-ups you can't hold more than one at a time.
It is also worth noting that which power-ups you can get is effected by your
position in the race. 1st place usually gets Monkey Dynamite and less often
Chicken Bomb. Last place pretty much ALWAYS gets the Rocket Boost, and if they
have a full boost meter they pretty much always get a Chicken Bomb. Those in
the mid-positions seem to be the ones who most commonly get Fire Guys.
~ DRIVER POWER-UPS ~
Chicken Bomb
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Your basic power-up, you throw a chicken at the enemy. It will home in on an
enemy if thrown directly at them but if there aren't any enemies around it will
bounce around sporadically until disappearing. So basically, unless you want to
waste it don't throw it unless an enemy is directly in front or behind you. If
you hold back on the left analog stick you can also throw it backwards. If it
doesn't hit an enemy sometimes it explodes on it's own and sometimes it remains
on the track as a sort of mine.
Monkey Dynamite
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A sort of mine (or a TNT crate for Crash fans) with a humorous/weird twist.
When you drop the suicidal monkey it grabs on to any car that drives over them
and hops around on it for a bit before exploding and taking a nice chunk of
health off. It can be thrown forwards or backwards, and seems to like to lock
on to enemies if they are right in front or behind you. Otherwise it will
become like a mine and grab on to cars that drive over it. If you get a crazed
monkey on your car, boosting seems to shake them off. The instruction booklet
also states that bumping in to other cars will make the monkey jump over to
them, but it doesn't always seem to work.
Fire Guy
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
When launched he will seek out the first place driver and detonate on them.
Obviously you won't be getting this if you're in first place yourself, but it
is picked up at a shockingly large rate by people behind the leader. It won't
seek out other racers along the way, but if it should pass through one on its
way to the head of the race it will catch them on fire and take off a little
health. Occasionally Fire Guys go retarded and will only sit in the middle of
the road, not going anywhere. I've also noticed that after gaining a big
enough lead they seem to stop coming at me altogether so it would appear they
only work at certain distances. If you are in 1st and hear the fire guy's
scream you can't do a lot. Gunners can take him down if they're lucky, but he
likes to zigzag when he gets close and you'll likely just end up wasting ammo.
Rocket Boost
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Not mentioned in the instruction booklet, but you CAN find this power-up. All
it does is fill up your boost gage to full, fairly handy.
Tracking Swarm Missile
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A very rare and powerful power-up (for the driver at least), unfortunately how
it works is a bit vague too. It seems to fire one missile that tracks down and
hits numerous (maybe all) enemies before disappearing. All I know is I rack up
several KOs with it the few times I've gotten and launched it, so I'm happy
with it.
~ GUNNER POWER-UPS ~
Shark Missile
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Push O to bring up a targetting reticle for it. By keeping the reticle trained
on one enemy (you don't have to have him in your sights, just point where he
should be) the reticle will eventually turn red. At this point you can fire the
missile and it will track down the enemy and hit and murder them. You don't
have to wait for the reticle to turn red, but by just firing it it has lesser
to no lock-on abilities. Otherwise, it is a long distance projectile that is a
one-it KO. Not much to dislike...
Robot Dog
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Honest to god, despite my best efforts I haven't seen this power-up yet. If I
have, it isn't noticeable enough in it's differences between the Shark Missile
for it to stand out when I use it. Supposedly it slows down an enemy before
KOing them, so it doesn't sound much different anyways.
Piano/Submarine/Cow
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
No point giving these each their own section, we all know they are the same
power-up with only aesthetical differences. Like Cortex or Von Clutch's turrets
these power-ups use the awkward ground aiming, the only difference is they are
deadly powerful. When it lands it has a wide area-of-effect where anybody close
enough is KOed. What's worse is that it stays behind a couple seconds spewing
rubble so any enemy that drives through that will be KOed too. The cheapness of
this weapon is unbelievable, have three or four cars in front of you all
clumped together? Toss this a little in front of them and guaranteed every last
one will bite the dust. Going through a narrow passage? Drop this and the enemy
will have nowhere to go. Heck, just throw the thing and you're pretty much
guaranteed one or two KOs.
#-------------#
2.8 Car Types
#-------------#
All characters have three cars, handling, speed and shield types and if you are
planning to go solo in a race then picking the right one is pretty important.
To answer that question ASAP for you, handling is probably the best type for
races, speed for stunts, and shield for the battle arena. A rundown of their
race performance is below, since that is the major game type.
~ Speed ~
Being a big fan of the original CTR (and Tiny), I was quick to assume this
would be the best car type in the game. Though it might be the best in a
master driver's hands, that is about all who could use it most effectively. It
does go a bit faster than the other cars, but keep in mind that there are a lot
of curves on most of the tracks. The Speed car types handle loosely and when
powersliding unless you are really good you will find yourself just going all
over the place pretty often.
~ Shield ~
Quite simply not worth it. Better defenses against weapons, but consider this:
most turrets can shred cars in a matter of just a few seconds. The Shield cars
will last only a small, fairly negligent amount of time longer under heavy
fire. And all of the gunner's powerups are one hit kills, so the shield cars
don't have any advantage there either. About all they help against is driver
powerups (not much of a threat anyways) and if a stray bullet or two of the
enemy finds its way to them (which is rare, if they are hitting you that
usually means they are pounding the crap out of you). So the extra defense
doesn't at all make up for the loss in speed and handling.
~ Handling ~
To be honest, I didn't want to touch these cars at first. "Ah, damn, these are
for the CHILDREN to use!" After driving N-Gin's Doom Buggy around a bit though
I found out how wrong I was. Here's how it is: handling cars have a slightly
harder time keeping up with speed cars on straight-away, but absolutely kick
speed cars asses on turns and curves. Just try playing as a speed car for a
while and then switch to handling, I guarantee you'll be amazed at how easy it
is to glide through turns exactly how you want and powerslide like it's
nothing. Nearly all of the courses give handling cars more of an advantage, and
several courses give them a blatant one. Like Pyramid Pass, the series of four
or so curves near the end can be murder for speed cars but handling cars will
literally fly through it like nothing. They won't just get through turns faster
and easier, they'll leave turns going at a faster speed too usually. By the
time a speed-type cars acceleration advantage kicks in, they'll most likely be
at another turn.
So handling cars would definitely seem the way to go when going solo. When
driving while clashed though? It seems the driver's speed and handling is
effected by what car he has, I don't know about damage taken or what the
gunners car contributes. But I largely suggest you use handling cars for the
best performance.
#----------------#
2.9 Battle Arena
#----------------#
What... battle arena tips under the "Racing Basics" section? Oops.
Anyways, the battle arena is a fairly straight forward place but it doesn't
hurt to pad the size of the guide a bit. You are thrown in to a small arena
permanetly clashed with another racer and one drives while the other shoots the
others. There are a _small_ variety of power-ups to get and all characters have
to use the same initial weapon, so the action doesn't stay fresh all that long
unless you bring some friends over. Unfortunately, instead of a more exciting
deathmatch game it instead only allows a "first to X points wins" type game.
Tips below:
+ The shield car type is probably the best choice, if only because speed and
handling offer next to no advantages.
+ The computer is a solid gunner no matter what weapon you use, at times maybe
even better than yourself. Depending on the gun though, they can SUCK as the
driver and not only run into objects unseeingly but also rarely give you the
chance to have a clean shot at the enemy.
+ The best play type I've found is Hard difficulty, Insane speed and the
Spinning Lightning Tornado weapon. Other guns are either too strong or
impossible to dodge, with this turret you can have some lengthy and
enjoyable firefights.
+ Don't get TOO enthusiastic when dodging enemy fire. Remember that getting
killed doesn't offer any major consequences like deathmatch, the enemy that
killed you just gets one point. Keeping your health up is acceptable, but
should very rarely be of higher priority than taking out enemys.
+ When you spawn/respawn, if you don't want to drive straight in the center of
the stage you can hold left or right as you leave the starting ramp. Though
you can't turn on the ground right after spawning, you can turn in the air.
You'll land, be carried by the automatic acceleration for a second more and
then be free to move where you want.
+ The houses in Jungle Rumble can be destroyed to reveal wrenches.
+ There are other arenas you can unlock through the PSP, but I haven't yet and
can't give details on them.
Battle Arena Powerups
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Weapons - Drive over these and you get whatever turret weapon is pictured with
a limited amount of ammo. Although it can be good (N-Gin's missiles!), keep
in mind there are also bad weapons. Either way, you can switch between
turrets with square so it isn't a big deal. Upon dying you lose any extra
turrets.
Health - The wrenches found around on the battlefield replenish a considerable
amount of health. But again, considering the battle mode is a purely
offensive game, it is kind of asinine to have health powerups.
Flames - At the center of the Extinction Party (what's the joke with that
name?) there is a more unique powerup. Pick it up and your car goes kind of
see-through and has flames all around it. Now you can drive in to enemy cars
and destroy them instantly as long as it lasts. Fairly useful, it balances
out your team offensive-wise and can rack up a couple more points.
#-----------------#
2.10 Stunt Course
#-----------------#
The Stunt Course offers almost no depth, it's just a place to fool around in.
You can spin, flip and rotate your car using both analog sticks while in the
air for a fun time, but there really isn't a lot to do. Basically just see what
kind of weird angles you can hit and see how long you can stay in the air.
+ Speed cars are the best choice here for maximum heighth and distance.
+ Though this might be common sense since it is done with the race trakcs, it
took me a couple of days to realize that the arena select screen shows you
how the arena is laid out. This helps make sense of the places you will be
flipping around in.
+ I find the double barrel roll to be the safest trick. Once you are up to
a solid speed it is easy enough to do, offers plenty of points and is easy
to land. Flips and (especially) turns are often hard to land and even when
it seems like you should have gotten the points the game refuses sometimes.
+ When doing flips it seems doing them forward (nose-first) is better because
as you launch of the ramp cars seem to naturally lean forward, making it
easier.
+ Just because you can't complete another full turn/rotation/flip doesn't mean
you should just wait to hit the ground. Doing a quarter rotation and then
going back will still net you a few extra points.
+ Although power boosts can obviously be used to boost your speed right before
a jump to increase time in the air, they have funner uses. If you use them
_while_ you are in the air the initial burst of speed will shoot you in
whatever direction you are pointed. So you can make your car fly straight
upwards a short ways, divebomb straight in to the ground, or even land back
by the ramp you took off from. Though such tricks will usually end up in a
horrifying crash, it's fairly fun to mess around with.
+ The biggest point potential would probably be the ramp high up in the space
arena that lands back down in the starting area. Have a power boost when you
take off there and you can get some big points. My personal best is 16,400
for one trick.
#---------------------#
2.11 More Racing Tips
#---------------------#
+ You can use your car to effectively "block" an advancing enemy car. If they
get caught up behind you while using a power boost or something you can
totally keep them from passing you. Keep in mind this does place you in a bit
of a dangerous spot if they have powerups though.
+ Power boosts are obviously good on straight-aways, but are also good just as
you exit sharp or long turns, when your speed has dropped a bit.
+ Learn alternate routes and shortcuts well. If you have a powerful duo clash
right in front of you, you don't want to stay out in the open for them to
blast you into a pile of crap.
+ Watch out for targets on along the course. They give points when shot, but
many are also potential hazards. Like in Tire & Ice, the large snowball
rolling across the course will destroy your car if it hits you. There is also
the giant shoe in Track and the Beanstalk, UFOs in Rings of Uranus, lots of
stuff to watch out for. As the gunner you should be aware of these dangers
and take them out when you can.
*==============================*
3. Characters/Weapons/Cars
*==============================*
#---------#
3.1 Crash
#---------#
"Yiyivloogibidah!"
As the main character he is obviously also going to be a solid and balanced
racer, it's a part of kart-racing law. He lacks any comedic comments since all
he does is yell gibberish, but his animations are pretty dang funny.
Speed     -     Trikee
Handling  -     Yellow Horde
Shield    -     Crikey
~ Wumpa Gun ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
An average weapon. Average damage and average rate of fire. The shots home in
on enemies from pretty far away though, making it effective at long distances.
On the downside it has a rather low ammo count for the power of the shots,
especially if you are going fully automatic.
#--------#
3.2 Coco
#--------#
"Tell some blonde jokes, you'll feel better"
Hey, she might be a bit annoying but her only competition for cutest girl is a
disgustingly stereotypical Texas oppossum and the ugliest damn gothic teenager
one could ever find. Coco has cute animations, decent lines and some sexy cars,
definitely my favorite character alongside N-Gin.
Speed     -     Nostalginator
Handling  -     Bandibuggy
Shield    -     Fairy Mobile
~ Sticky Lightning Gun ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A unique weapon, shots from Coco's turret will stick to enemies and suck a bit
of health away before falling off. Although the fact that it doesn't do damage
immediately is a bit of a disadvantage, enemies get more time to retaliate
before they're destroyed. On the other hand, her shots slow down the enemy a
bit, which is pretty helpful if they are trying to blow past you really fast
but not much else. It is a nice incentive though, if you don't finish off an
enemy before you get out of range you either slow them down so they have a
harder time catching up or you have an easier time catching them. A nice
weapon.
#----------#
3.3 Crunch
#----------#
"How's things back there in losertown anyways?"
The Mr. T voice gets old but his messages mostly involving personal hygiene are
pretty funny. Nice cars too, but it's still impossible not to notice he is a
crappy replacement for the irreplacable Tiny. Damn you Crunch!
Speed     -     Bone Machine
Handling  -     The Guzzler
Shield    -     Overcompensator
~ Hot Rivet Gun ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
The game wouldn't be complete if at least one character didn't have a gatling
gun. Crunch's weapon requires you to hold down fire for a moment before it
actually starts shooting, but once it does start firing it keeps those
projectiles coming at a crazy pace. His high rate of fire makes him a good
character for challenges and hitting targets, he might be good at shooting down
Fire Guys too. The Hot Rivet Gun is all around good, and if you use ammo rather
reservedly it will last a while.
#----------#
3.4 Cortex
#----------#
"Last time I saw a car like that somebody was feeding it hay!"
Cortex, either you like the zany bastard or you find him flat-out annoying. I'm
caught in the middle, but his lame turret pushed me towards hating him. His
cars are cool though, and his silly innocent comments during races are always
pretty fun.
Speed     -     The Deadinator
Handling  -     The Guzzler
Shield    -     Probulot 2000
~ Chargeable Energy Ball ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Worst weapon in the game? Debatable. Most boring and unfun? Definitely. The
problem with ground-targetting turrets is that they can't aim at most of the
passing targets AT ALL, and those that they can aim at are hard as hell. So
right there you have a solid disadvantage. The weapon itself just sucks though,
hitting targets from farther away is a total pain, requiring the wasting of
ammunition as you try to "sight" where to fire to get them. Switching targets
is hard and awkward as well, moving along the ground to find another enemy
takes substantially more time and effort than simply moving the crosshairs of a
normal gun on them. The whole charging aspect of the gun doesn't really help it
either, it just loses the ability to be fired rapidly by holding down X. In the
end, I'm sure you can practice with this weapon and get good at using it. The
question is though... why? Just use a normal weapon, or go with Von Clutch's
funner ground firing weapon. To heck with this poo.
#--------#
3.5 Nina
#--------#
"Eat the humiliation like candy!"
I despise her as a character, but I'm still willing to race as her for her cool
shotgun. Her lines are generic teenage girl's lines and her cars are all gothic
inspired... thank goodness for the shotgun.
Speed     -     Organ Grinder
Handling  -     Angsterator
Shield    -     Slave Driver
~ Energy Shotgun ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Both cool and effective weapon. Only two shots will down most foes up close,
and if you're willing to waste the ammo you can soften them up in the distance
as well. Her weapon upgrades in single player are even cooler as the shotgun
blast increases in size and absurd destructive power. As you'd guess though,
the shotgun has a poor rate of fire.
#---------#
3.6 N-Gin
#---------#
"Take up a slower sport, like fowl hunting or duck hunting or something... with
the ducks..."
Definitely tied for coolest character for me. Hilarious quotes, awesome weapon
and the only one of the three playable villains that isn't a loser. And the
Doom Buggy!
Speed     -     Junkulon Prime
Handling  -     Doom Buggy
Shield    -     Extreme Surplus
~ Rocket Launcher ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Slow rate of fire and little/no target tracking, but it is still a very useful
weapon. His rockets pack a punch, two will take out most enemies. The RL also
has a rather wide range of effect, so even if you don't hit the enemy dead-on
there is a decent chance you took off a nice chunk of health. I usually find it
easier to aim at the ground below them rather than at the cars themselves, you
can often find your rockets going right over their head otherwise. For all of
it's power, the RL also has lots of ammo too so you don't have to do a bunch of
clashing to keep firing it.
#------------#
3.7 Pasadena
#------------#
"I'm flush with dangerositude now!"
Pasadena is a dull and uninteresting character, basically all of the
stereotypes of Texans thrown in to the body of an oppossum. She has some nice
cars though, and her turret is my favorite one to use in Battle Arena. To be
honest though that is only because of it's ineffectiveness.
Speed     -     Bad Girl
Handling  -     Le Chaux
Shield    -     Harm Aid
~ Spinning Tornado Lightning ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
It is a mediocre weapon with no real highlights (but at the same time no
blatant disadvantages) that the developers hoped they could balance out by
making bullets fired by it bounce a couple times before disappearing. It
doesn't really help, the gun feels a bit unwieldly and since you are out racing
in the open most of the time the bouncing effect of the shots doesn't really
do anything worthwhile. In enclosed racing areas it might fare a bit better,
but still isn't really exceptionally useful.
#--------------#
3.8 Von Clutch
#--------------#
"Mine backside says hello!"
A crazed German cyborg, that is mostly all his description needs. Funny quotes
and unique cars, he also has a bit of an odd weapon. That's why I occasionally
feel like driving as Von Clutch, he's different. His cars "Der Pickle" and
"Zwergauto" look a bit like old-style European cars while "Pressurizer" seems
to come from the German U-boats. Maybe slightly inappropriate, at least he
isn't driving a "Nazinator" or something like that though.
Speed     -     Der Pickle
Handling  -     Zwergauto
Shield    -     Pressurizer
~ Radioactive Bomblets ~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Though suffering from many of the same disadvantages that the other ground-
targetting weapon has, the Radioactive Bomblet's have a nice added bonus where
if you don't hit the target initially three small bomblets will explode out of
the shot on the road and bounce along the road for a bit. This means you rarely
_won't_ hit the enemy if they aren't too far away, and it is rather effective
for softening up enemies farther away since it spreads out AFTER reaching them,
which is more effective then, say, a shotgun blast that immediately begins
spreading out just as you shoot it. You can keep the bomblets focused to the
area where the enemy is, rather than just pounding anything within a fifteen
foot radius of the enemy. Not the best weapon, but you can't argue that it
isn't fun to bomblet-ize the enemy every once in a while.
*====================*
4. Single Player
*====================*
#--------------------#
4.1 On-Foot Controls
#--------------------#
_______________________________
|  L-stick    |  movement     |
|  X          |  jump         |
|  X (in air) |  double jump  |
|  square     |  spin         |
|  O (in air) |  belly-flop   |
|  triangle   |  talk/activate|
|  R-stick    |  camera       |
|  L1         |  look around  |
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Those are the ones that matter. Bah.
#----------------------#
4.2 Using the Mini-Map
#----------------------#
The mini-map that's part of your HUD is a very useful tool when trying to get
100%. It shows the majority of the things you need to find to get 100%, though
a few things won't be seeable with it. Icons on the screen will tell you where
nearby events or points of interest will be, so be sure to check them out.
Checkered Flag  -  Signifies where a race or battle arena is
Key     -   Mission to unlock a new car or weapon
Balloon -   Unlock/play mini-games
Shirt   -   Buy new costume, color of shirt indicates character clothes are for
Power Crystal - Buy power crystal from park workers
Dot     -   These point out where Die-O-Ramas are that you haven't watched yet.
A few don't show up on the radar though, oddly enough.
Bright Yellow Dot  -  Chickens on the map during Chicken Challenges
#---------------#
4.3 Die-O-Ramas
#---------------#
Die-O-Ramas are necessary to earn single players only reward besides turret
upgrades, and are on rare occasions kind of funny. They aren't too difficult to
find, use your mini-map and check out anything suspicious. If I'm not mistaken,
the only Die-O-Ramas that DON'T show up on the mini-map are the four in the
main Midway area. So if you can't find anymore I'd suggest checking there. Just
for a little reference, here is how many Die-O-Ramas each area has:
Midway               -     4
Mystery Island       -     7
Happily Ever Faster  -     4
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks -     8
Tomb Town            -     5
Astro Land           -     6
Total                -    34
It might not be a bad idea to keep a checklist of the ones you've found, but it
isn't necessary. You can watch any of your collected Die-O-Ramas (or other
movies) by going to the Movie Gallery in the Extras section. And in case you
are wondering what the prize is for getting all of the DORs...
*SPOILERS*
*I'M SERIOUS*
*DON'T LOOK IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT YOURSELF*
*LAST WARNING*
Crash wearing a diaper. Yes, a completely unrelated and crappy costume is your
only reward, but it's better than nothing. Well... not really.
#-----------------#
4.4 Earning Coins
#-----------------#
Next to power crystals, coins are the most important thing for you to collect
so you can keep purchasing crap from the park workers. There isn't any real
problem having all the coins you need, if you are going after all of the power
crystals you should make more than enough coins from the tracks anyways. There
are some fairly massive coin caches scattered around the game too, the tower in
Happily Ever Faster is probably the biggest. Before feasting on a huge stack of
coin crates it would be a good idea to check if there is Wumpa Whip anywhere
nearby. Wumpa Whip doubles the coins you get for a period of time so it is
worth picking up.
During races and challenges you get a certain amount of coins depending on your
score, and playing on higher difficulties multiplies that score so it is a good
idea to play on Hard if you can handle it.
#--------------------#
4.5 Unlocking Tracks
#--------------------#
Simply by walking up to it's entrance, (marked on the mini-map), you unlock a
track. When you enter though you can select from any of the tracks you have
unlocked to play on, which is pretty convenient. Then you also get to choose
one of five game types on the track, you have to beat all five for all tracks
in order to get all of the power crystals. Unlocking tracks in single player
DOES NOT unlock them in multi-player, however, you have to purchase it in that
mode all over again.
#---------------#
4.6 Crashinator
#---------------#
Crashinator is a driver oriented game where you have to drive through targets
scattered through the course. If the time limit expires, you are left with
whatever score you currently have, regardless of whether you've made it back to
the finish line yet or not.
+ Handling cars are the best here.
+ This challenge is usually very easy, the objects are lined up so you can hit
them all very easily as you follow the track.
+ Don't worry about the time limit until later tracks, and keep in mind that
you can raise the speed of the game (Normal, Faster, Insane) to let you go
through the track at a faster pace. You can reach more objects this way, but
they'll be a bit harder to hit.
+ The moving canisters in Astro Land might give you a little challenge. They
move back and forth, side-to-side. Try to predict where they'll be as you
reach them, it's easy to miss them.
#-------------------#
4.7 Rolling Thunder
#-------------------#
This really doesn't need any tips, you just drive along the course with all of
the other racers bunching up around you and letting you shoot them all to hell.
Try to score as many KOs as possible before reaching the finish line.
+ N-Gin and Nina are the best here, they'll slaughter enemies like there is NO
tomorrow.
+ Focusing on one enemy at a time is the best way to rack up kills, though
spreading the damage out won't hurt your score much in the long run
+ Obviously, turret upgrades will help here but aren't necessary.
#--------------#
4.8 Run 'n Gun
#--------------#
Now here's a REAL shooting mini-game, though still easy. You are given a
specific character (depending on the world and track) and have to shoot down
all of the planes/blimps you see as you drive by. They go down in one hit, so
there isn't anything too difficult about the gunning. Destroy as many as
possible before you reach the finish line.
+ Aim ahead and try to take them out before you reach them, slower firing
weapons can sometimes obnoxiously miss the target at closer range.
+ Remember you can snap forward and backward with the R-stick, you can try and
risk picking off a plane you missed and then face forward again before the
next one comes.
+ Crash's starting turret is probably more effective than his upgraded turret,
so you might want to hold off on upgrading it until after Tomb Town (where
he'll see some use).
#------------#
4.9 Fast Lap
#------------#
Basically Time Trial mode, try to get lower than the time listed to win. This
seems impossible on later tracks, and by my guess IS unless you use a bit of an
obvious trick...
+ Be sure to powerslide so as to build up your boost meter. Most courses will
only let you build up one though, so once you have it don't feel obligated
to use it right away.
+ Setting the race speed to "Insane" seems to be the ONLY way to win later
tracks. It increases your speed without increasing the time limit, a very
odd decision but helpful for you.
#----------------------------#