Earlier today Activision announced that they would be running three more Grand Prix events for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Now we have additional details on what exactly we can expect with the first one, including three new characters, a bunch of goofy costumes, a new track,as well as some AI balance and a new cup.
The Spooky Grand Prix will begin on October 4th, meaning you have a few days to get your Crash Bandicoot Halloween costume ready. Like all Grand Prix events, you’ll have to earn Nitro Points during the month it takes place to unlock the content. There’s a new way to earn Nitro Points this time around, and that’s by becoming a ghost hunter. Sometimes while breaking boxes you’ll find ghosts trapped within. By freeing them you’ll earn points. The more Nitro Points you get by ghost hunting or completing other challenges and races, the more rewards you unlock. What kind of rewards? Well there’s a pair of new Halloween-themed karts you can grab. There’s also a werewolf skin for Tiny Tiger. Most interestingly is new character Nina Cortex (the niece of Nitro Cortex) and some costumes for her as well.
Nina isn’t the only new character joining the game. A pair of secondary villains is also being added to the pit stop. You’ll get a chance to grab either Komodo Moe or Dr. N. Brio by using your in-game money. You can also grab some fun Halloween costumes for the rest of the cast, including things like a pirate version of Papu Papu, a witch costume of Tawna, and a firefighter costume for Dingodile. Activision has also noted that the pit stop will restock items from the game’s first Grand Prix, giving you a chance to pick up some things you may have missed out on.
The other big Halloween-themed addition this Grand Prix brings is a new map named Nina’s Nightmare. In this race you’ll be going through a swamp full of slime-spitting pumpkins that leads into a haunted mansion. Survive that, and you get to the final challenge of the track: a giant spider-pumpkin hybrid that wants nothing more than to crush you.
While it may be a Halloween update, there are some other new additions and changes. Any character can now use any driving style, allowing you to play your favorite character without having to worry about how the handle. The driving styles have also been renamed to give a better idea on what they do. For example, the vague “Intermediate B” has been replaced with “Acceleration”, giving a much better idea of what it does. Two more driving styles are also being added to the game: Drift, which gives you more drifting control, and Classic, which just defaults to what the character’s driving style was pre-patch.
Another change comes with the 2x Wumpa Weekend. The 2x reward will now extend to all the game modes, including the campaign-like Adventure mode, on the condition that you’re online while it happens. The AI has seen some tuning as well, as they now no longer have the ability to use either N. Tropy Clocks or Warp Orbs in online races. Those items will also no longer spawn at the beginning of online races. Finally, a new cup has been added, called the Lost Cup. In this cup you’ll race through Oxide Station, Clockwork Wumpa, Twilight Tour, and Prehistoric Playground.
