Crash Team Racing

Crash Team Racing
Also known as: Crash Bandicoot Racing (JP) Developer: Naughty Dog Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: December 16, 1999 Released in US: October 19, 1999 Released in EU: November 24, 1999 Released in AU: January 2001 This game has unused areas. This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused code. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused items. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences. This game has anti-piracy features. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

Crash Team Racing is the first of several Crash Bandicoot racers and Naughty Dog’s swan song to the series, in which characters of the Crash Bandicoot series are pitted against each other in a race to save the planet.

Received a remake in 2019 entitled Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, which gave the game a 4K make-over and added online multiplayer, tracks from Crash Nitro Kart, more playable characters from all over the series, and about a billion “Games as a Service” hooks.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Unused Audio

Voice Clips

Placeholder Dialogue

The American version of the game contains a few placeholder dialogues for character sounds which weren't implemented in the game yet. Whilst most samples were removed from the retail disc, two samples were particularly notable for not merely existing within the game's code, but actually playing in-game via a mistake and contrasting largely from the rest of the character's audio. Because Penta Penguin was added late into development and was largely untested, he ended up appearing in a rather unfinished state in this version, where the most notable quirk being his audio bank featuring voice samples from the programmer Gavin James uttering "Penguin yay one" and "Penguin yay two" in a deadpan tone. According to Rob Titus, the developers didn't notice this until they played the retail copy themselves, which by then was too late to be fixed because the game's discs had been burned. This was later fixed in the European and Japanese versions. The placeholder dialogue still exists in the re-release on the PlayStation Network store.

Placeholder (NTSC-U)	Fixed (PAL)

This placeholder became a reference in the game's remake, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, where Penta Penguin actually says "Penguin yay one" when unlocking him with the classic cheat code and after boosting, and "Yay penguin yay one!" when winning a race.

Unused Announcer

A rather unusual sounding Dr. Neo Cortex announcing the title and menus of the game. The enunciation in these clips are rather poor, thus impairing the music playing in the background. Only the the title announcement remained in later releases.

Crash Team Racing

Press Start to Play

Select Player

Select Players

Choose a Racetrack

Unused Adventure Voice Clips

There exist numerous audio clips by Aku Aku and Uka Uka which were intended for Adventure mode but are rendered unused in the final game. The majority of them relating to hardware problems with the PlayStation.

Hardware Issue Notices

	Aku Aku	Uka Uka
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Japanese

The latter 6 clips were likely intended to be used in conjunction with the Load-Save Screen, but these warnings are displayed by text as opposed to voice, rendering the recorded audio unused.

Boss Key Congratulations

	Aku Aku	Uka Uka
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Japanese

Good job! You've earned a key!

A congratulatory message for obtaining a Boss Key. The message was likely removed as a result of being deemed redundant by Naughty Dog, as the bosses congratulate you themselves in an in-game cutscene after beating them in a race.

CTR Token Congratulations

	Aku Aku	Uka Uka
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Japanese

Excellent work! You've collected a CTR Token!

A similar case occurs with the CTR Tokens: Although audio does exist of the masks congratulating you on obtaining them, they are not used, since after the race has concluded, you spawn outside of the level's warp pad with no message from the masks.

Ripper Roo speaking in English

At some point in development, Ripper Roo was supposed to talk like in the Japanese version but it was scrapped in favor of stock clips of Ripper Roo laughing along with subtitles added in.

Wa hahahaha! Are you crazy enough to race me?! Ya hahaha! I should face Oxide in the big race! Hahahaha! I'll show you wild driving! Last one across the finish line is a ROTTEN BRAIN!

You ARE crazier than me! Hahahaha! Best get head checked if you think you can beat Oxide! Ya hahaha! Have a key! Wa hahahaha! Good luck, you'll need it!

Unused Nitros Oxide Dialogue

N. Oxide has an unused voice recording which was planned to be a cutscene in Adventure mode. Two more unused audios were found in the September 3rd, 1999 prototype, suggesting that these dialogues might have been placed after defeating the first three bosses. This can be further evidenced since Oxide already taunts the player after defeating Pinstripe.

English	French	German	Italian
Spanish	Dutch	Japanese

Think you can save your planet? Believe me, it's doomed. No one has ever beaten Oxide in a race, ever! Still, you savages amuse me, so a fair chance is in order. Bring 16 trophies to my spaceship, proving you are the world champion. Then will we race for the fate of your planet.

Audio suggesting that Oxide was at one point going to taunt the player into bringing all 16 Trophies to his ship.

Speed Champion Ghost

N. Tropy has alternative dialogue for when the player gets a fast enough time in a Time Trial. Originally, N. Tropy was the final ghost challenger on each track, and the first ghost challenge had you race against the "owner" of the track, denoted the Speed Champion (e.g. Crash in Crash Cove, Cortex in Cortex Castle, Coco in Coco Park, etc.). This feature was overhauled in the final game by making N. Tropy the first challenger and N. Oxide the final challenger. The original Time Trial format could still be seen in action in the August 14th, 1999 prototype.

Think you're fast, eh? Well, let's see if you can beat this track's speed champion.

I can't believe you beat the champ! Well, you'll never beat my time on this track!

Nitros Oxide as a playable character

According to Rob Titus, former Naughty Dog developer, Nitros Oxide couldn't fit into memory for multiplayer, plus he was too big in-game, so he got cut as a playable character. They ran out of memory all the time because the game's levels aren't constantly streamed off the disc like the previous Crash games. However, when forcing the game to load him as the playable character via hacking, there will be a complete set of voice clips that would only play in-game when a character is controlled by a human player, such as hitting the wall, spinning out or even performing a big air jump:

English	French	German	Italian
Spanish	Dutch	Japanese

Nitros Oxide would later become a playable character in the game's remake, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

Race Results Dialogue

In the American version, most of the characters have more lines than in the regular game, including some grunts and, more interestingly, comments according to which place they finish the race. Not all of these lines were done, as some are just placeholders voice by Gavin James. Since these lines for Crash, Dingodile and Fake Crash were missing, it is assumed this feature was already scrapped by the time the clips of these characters were being recorded.

Character	1st place	2nd place	3rd place
Crash Bandicoot†
Dr. Neo Cortex*
Tiny Tiger*
Coco Bandicoot*
N. Gin*
Dingodile†
Polar*
Pura*
Ripper Roo*
Papu Papu*
Komodo Joe*
Pinstripe*
Fake Crash†
Dr. N. Tropy*
Penta Penguin*
N. Oxide‡

* Character has complete voice clips for finishing a race in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
† Character has placeholder voice clips for finishing a race in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
‡ Character only has a complete voice clip for finishing a race in 1st place and placeholder voice clips for finishing in 2nd and 3rd place.

Unused Japanese Clips

Kurasshu Bandikū Rēshingu

The Japanese version contains the characters announcing the title of the game, which is based on the unused announcer found in the international versions.

Unused Gem Cups Hint

Aku Aku	Uka Uka	Translation
		Behind this door there are color gem challenge portals. I wonder if there are some doors left open. Don't get too nervous and finish strong.

The Japanese version adds an extra line for Aku Aku and Uka Uka where they would have a specific hint when approaching the locked door leading to the Gem Cups. However, this release still plays the default hint telling the player that they must have 2 keys to open it, rendering the audio unused in the final game.

Sound Effects

Bounce

The bounce sound effect used in the previous games would play when the player bumped into a TNT crate, before being replaced with a proper sound effect.

Turtle Splash

The turtles in Mystery Caves were supposed to feature a splashing sound effect when laying down in the water, but due to a mistake in the code, it prevents the sound from playing. The sound effect still exists in the audio files and is actually loaded within the level.

Rolling Boulder

The rolling boulder hazard in Blizzard Bluff was supposed to feature a proper sound effect, however it didn't make it into the final game due to a mistake in the code that prevents it from playing.

Spring

A sound effect would play when the scrapped Spring power-up is activated. It can still be heard in-game if the power-up is enabled through hacking.

Super Engine

Super Engine originally played a sound effect when used. It can be heard in the August prototypes, but went unused in the final game.

Unused Text

Early Translations The American version contains localized in-game texts for other languages, which have differences compared to the region they were featured.

Kart Customization

CHANGE CART

It seems there was a planned feature that would allow the player to change their vehicle at some point. Pre-release articles mention the "gold wrench" feature, which would allow the player to upgrade the kart stats, and move them to multiplayer arenas.

CAR TYPE

STANDARD
UNLIMITED

A scrapped menu containing two options that would let the player change the engine class. According to pre-release materials, the "Unlimited" mode would allow the players to load customized Adventure mode karts from memory cards and compete in all out war.

Leftover Strings

SAVE TIME

A scrapped menu option that would allow the player to manually save the high score in Time Trial mode. Since the name entry screen always shows up after the results of a Time Trial race, this option becomes useless.

Timing Out - Exiting Demo

A leftover string of the demo versions that would be displayed onscreen if the player was idle for a while.

HITPTS
POINTS

Text strings for the player HUD scores in Battle mode that were eventually replaced by the cross and skull icons, respectively.

PLAYER 1
PLAYER 2
PLAYER 3
PLAYER 4

Leftover strings that acted as a cursor for an earlier character select screen, which can be found in demo versions.

Text	Translation
たいけんばん なので ロ-ドとセ-ブは できません	This is a demo version, loading and saving is disabled

A leftover message from the Japanese store demo that would be displayed under the player's profile when accessing the Load-Save Screen in Adventure mode. It is present in PAL and NTSC-J releases.

Text	Translation
このさきは せいひんばんで あそんでね	To continue further buy the full version

Possibly intended to appear upon reaching a certain point in Adventure mode, this message was presumably made for the Japanese kiosk demo playable at the Tokyo Game Show 1999 event.

Text	Translation
いっていじかん にゅうりょくがないので デモに もどります	No input detected Returning to demo mode

A duplicate of the unused idle timeout string, located alongside the aforementioned demo strings - again possibly related to the playable demo at the event.

Extra Languages

ENGLISH
FRENCH
GERMAN
ITALIAN
SPANISH
DUTCH
BABYTALK
ESPERANTO

As mentioned in the sub-page, the American version already contains the language texts, including the menu language options - although the names are all translated for each language, rather than keeping their original names. The list also features Babytalk and Esperanto, two languages that aren't selectable in the final game. These were most likely a developer joke.

Bonus Round

BONUS ROUND

An unused fly-in intro text string for Crystal Challenge where it would say "Bonus Round". Since there is no fly-in intro camera on battle arenas, this string became unused.

Shortened Character Names

N. OXIDE
PENGUIN
F. CRASH

The High Score name list contains shortened default names for Penta Penguin, Fake Crash, and Nitros Oxide. Since these characters never appear in the rankings by default, these strings go partially unused in the game, although the names for Penta Penguin and Fake Crash can be seen by browsing the memory card data used for saving ghost replays of each character from the NTSC-U version (the ghost replay data in the PAL version does not include the character info, thus making such names entirely unused in this release). Default scores for Penta Penguin and Fake Crash were present in the September 3rd, 1999 prototype.

Penta and Fake Crash's Epilogues

	Penta Penguin	Fake Crash
English	PENTA PENGUIN became a news weatherman for one of the big three networks. Sporting a groomed look and great screen presence, he gleefully predicts an impending new ice age each night. Ratings are up!	FAKE CRASH still contends he is the real Crash Bandicoot. Submitting to a DNA test on 'The Jimmy Spranger Show,' the test results were destroyed when Fake Crash tried to dance, and the show erupted into a brawl.
French	PENTA PENGUIN est devenu Monsieur Meteo sur l'une des trois grandes chaines. Avec ses manieres raffinees et son charisme legendaire, il annonce tout sourire une nouvelle ere glaciaire chaque soir. L'audimat explose !	FAUX CRASH continue de pretendre que le vrai Crash Bandicoot, c'est lui. Il a subi un test d'ADN lors de l'emission 'Haut les masques'. Les resultats ont ete detruits lorsqu'il essaya de danser, provoquant une bataille generale.
German	PENTA PINGUIN wurde Wetteransager bei einem der grossen Fernsehsender. Mit gelecktem Aussehen und grosser Bildschirmpraesenz sagt er jeden Abend eine neue Eiszeit voraus. Die Quoten steigen!	FALSCHER CRASH behauptet immer noch, der wahre Crash Bandicoot zu sein. Nachdem er einem DNA-Test bei "Hera am Vormittag" zugestimmt hatte, wurden die Ergebnisse zerstoert, als er anfing zu tanzen und die Show im Tumult versank.
Italian	PENTA PENGUIN e' diventato il meteorologo di una delle tre piu' grandi reti televisive. Telegenico e dall'aspetto sempre molto curato, predice allegramente una nuova era del ghiaccio ogni sera. L'indice di gradimento e' davvero alto!	FAKE CRASH sostiene ancora di essere il vero Crash Bandicoot. I risultati del test del DNA cui si e' sottoposto nello show di Jimmy Spranger sono andati persi quando si e' messo a ballare e lo show e' degenerato in rissa.
Spanish	PINGUINO PENTA paso a ser el nuevo hombre del tiempo de una de las tres grandes cadenas. Siempre de esmoquin y con una gran presencia en pantalla, cada noche predice con regocijo una inminente era glaciar. Y los indices de audiencia suben!	FALSO CRASH aun sostiene que el es el verdadero Crash Bandicoot. Se sometio a la prueba de ADN en Cronicas plutonianas, pero los resultados se destruyeron cuando intento bailar y el programa quedo en una reyerta.
Dutch	PENTA PENGUIN werd de weerman van een van de drie grote tv-zenders. Met zijn verzorgde uiterlijk en aanzienlijke charisma voorspelt hij iedere avond sombertjes een nieuwe ijstijd. De kijkcijfers stijgen!	FAKE CRASH beweert nog steeds dat hij de echte Crash Bandicoot is. In de 'The Jimmy Spranger Show' liet hij een DNA-test uitvoeren, maar de resultaten werden vernietigd toen Fake Crash wou dansen en de show uitliep op een massale vechtpartij.
Japanese	じつは すべてのせんしゅのなかで もっともすぐれたせいのうを もつス-パ-キャラクタ-が このペンギンの「グリン」! 「ひたすらトライアル」や「めざせ タイムトロフィ-」の すべてのきろくが ぬりかえられるかも! きゅうきょくのタイムアタックに チャレンジしよう!	「あなたは クラッシュくんではないですね?」 「・・・ホンモノ-!」 「クラッシュくんのにんきを どうおもいますか?」 「・・・オレが ホンモノだ-!」 「あなたのほんとうの おなまえは?」 「・・・ク、クラ、クラッシェ?」

Penta Penguin and Fake Crash never appear in the credits, however, they were supposed to make an appearance alongside the rest of the cast at some point, since among the credits strings are two unused epilogues surrounding their characters. The epilogues can be seen in-game in the September 3rd, 1999 prototype.

Interestingly, Penta's epilogue in Japanese features an unique formatting command (~18) not used anywhere else in the game, which turns the text white - it matches Penta's own color, even though the epilogue texts are all white anyway, thus making no difference whatsoever.

Unused Hints Menu Text

There are text transcripts of all the Aku Aku/Uka Uka dialogues in the game stored along with all other Adventure Mode hints, including the unused ones. However, the following texts do not fit as an appropriate tip, so they went unused in the final game.

GREETINGS!
WELCOME TO THE ADVENTURE ARENA.  YOU CAN TRAVEL AROUND THIS AREA AND PRACTICE YOUR DRIVING SKILLS.  THE DOTS AND STARS ON THE MAP REPRESENT WARP PADS WHICH LEAD TO RACES.  WHEN THEY FLASH, IT SIGNIFIES THEY ARE OPEN TO PLAY.  TO ACCESS A RACE TRACK, DRIVE ONTO A WARP PAD THAT HAS AN ACTIVE WARP VORTEX, AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE TRACK'S START LINE.  FINISH A TRACK IN FIRST PLACE TO WIN A TROPHY.  AS YOU COLLECT MORE TROPHIES, OTHER TRACKS WILL TURN ON AND OPEN TO YOU.   GOOD LUCK AND DRIVE FAST!

This one has been split into "Map Information" and "Using a Warp Pad". The initial welcome sentence, however, was scrapped as it does not provide useful information for the player.

NO MEMORYU CARD IN MEMORY CARD SLOT WARNING
THERE ARE NO MEMORY CARDS IN ANY OF THE MEMORY CARD SLOTS.  PUT A MEMORY CARD IN A MEMORY CARD SLOT AND TRY AGAIN.

MEMORY CARD FULL WARNING
THE CURRENT MEMORY CARD IS FULL.  PUT IN A DIFFERENT MEMORY CARD OR DELETE BLOCKS FROM THE CURRENT MEMORY CARD.

NO CRASH DATA ON MEMORY CARD WARNING
THERE IS NO CRASH TEAM RACING DATA ON THIS MEMORY CARD.

NO CONTROLLER WARNING
NO CONTROLLERS ARE PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORTS.  PLEASE INSERT A CONTROLLER INTO A CONTROLLER PORT.

These hardware issues texts do not fall under the hints category for obvious reasons. Notably, in the unused Aku Aku/Uka Uka audios for memory card space, the masks actually say "erase files" instead of "delete blocks".

WHEN PLAYER WINS A TROPHY
CONGRATULATIONS!  YOU WIN A TROPHY!

WHEN PLAYER WINS A BOSS KEY
GOOD JOB, YOU'VE EARNED A KEY!

WHEN PLAYER WINS A RELIC
GREAT, YOU'VE EARNED A RELIC!

WHEN PLAYER WINS A CTR COIN
EXCELLENT WORK, YOU'VE COLLECTED A CTR TOKEN!

WHEN PLAYER WINS A GEM
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'VE WON A GEM!

Again, no point on including these texts into the hints category as they do not teach anything. Also, the CTR Token title still calls them "CTR Coin".

Unplugged Controller Messages

YOU MUST HAVE A CONTROLLER PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORT 1 TO PLAY A ONE PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN A CONTROLLER OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

YOU MUST HAVE CONTROLLERS PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORTS 1 AND 2 TO PLAY A TWO PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN 2 CONTROLLERS OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

YOU MUST HAVE A CONTROLLER PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORT 1A TO PLAY A ONE PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN A CONTROLLER OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

YOU MUST HAVE CONTROLLERS PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORTS 1A AND 1B TO PLAY A TWO PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN 2 CONTROLLERS OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

YOU MUST HAVE A MULTI TAP PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORT 1 AND CONTROLLERS PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLERS PORTS 1A, 1B AND 1C TO PLAY A THREE PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN A MULTI TAP AND 3 CONTROLLERS OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

YOU MUST HAVE A MULTI TAP PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLER PORT 1 AND CONTROLLERS PLUGGED INTO CONTROLLERS PORTS 1A, 1B, 1C AND 1D TO PLAY A FOUR PLAYER GAME.  PLEASE PLUG IN A MULTI TAP AND 4 CONTROLLERS OR PRESS ^ TO RETURN.

There are more detailed versions of the error messages when a controller is not plugged into a controller port, which are not displayed anywhere. Normally, when you disconnect a controller, a simple warning message saying the controller is unplugged will show up instead.

Unused Items

Spring

The Spring power-up, which can be seen in early footage of the game is still present in the final game and it's fully functional. By changing the item ID to 05 will load the unused item. When used, it will make the kart perform a high jump, making it easier to reach some shortcuts. The icon was removed from the final game, and the reason it was disabled was likely because it was considered pointless.

Interestingly, even if the item was restored in the RNG system, there is also an extra piece of code preventing it from being used, as it gets automatically changed to the Turbo power-up everytime the item would be obtained.

Unused Code

Removed Objects

The overlay 231 stores all the thread code for stuff that spawns on the track. Interestingly, it also contains unused leftover functions and text strings related to a few scrapped track hazards.

• The code mentions DYNAMIC_VONLABASS and baron, which would feature the lab assistants flying on planes, similarly to the Baron levels of Crash 3 - it also shares the same codename for the lab assistant enemies (obj_von_lab_ass). It was very likely planned for Hot Air Skyway.
• There is also a mention of a Skunk enemy mentioned as DYNAMIC_SKUNK. Its purpose is currently unknown.
• Lastly, there is a mention of an Orca enemy mentioned as DYNAMIC_ORCA and orca. A pre-release screenshot reveals that an Orca would originally appear in Polar Pass, jumping over the wooden bridge. Leftover sound effects also exist in the demo versions.
• Man-eating plants in Papu's Pyramid contain an unused function to attack dropped items. It wouldn't chew or spit, just lean forward and destroy the object.

Multiplayer Race Camera Intro

Unlike single player race modes, the camera doesn't fly around the players in multiplayer mode, skipping straight to the countdown. However, the function related to it in this mode actually exists, but it's programmed to the last one frame only. Restoring it will reveal that the camera would fly on each player's screen, although with no title bars or HUD. This feature can be seen in the demo versions.

• 
• 
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Track Video Camera

There is an unused camera mode that runs through the entire track, following the path for the Warp Orb weapon. It is believed to have been primarily for a quick checking if the tracks rendered properly, and eventually used to create the video previews in the track select menu.

To enable it, use the following GameShark code:

NTSC-U
D0096AD8 FFFE 30098052 0009 D0096AD8 FFFE 80098068 FFC0

Press Select to toggle.

First-Person View

There are two unused camera types which puts the player in a first-person perspective. This view is positioned above the characters and is mostly functional, wobbling according to the kart's movements. It also follows the player when going out of bounds.

0F - In the first type, the camera is affected by the kart's rotation, so sliding or spinning out will make the camera turn in response to the character's head.

10 - In the second type, the camera moves is only affected by the kart's velocity, which means the view is mostly fixed forward.

To enable them, replace the XX with one of the values in the following GameShark code:

NTSC-U
D0096818 2000 80098052 00XX

Press Select to enable it, and L2 to reset to the default perspective.

Unused Mask Subtitles

To do: Include code or at least a patch that restores this unused feature.

There is unused code to display the titles of the hints whenever Aku Aku/Uka Uka is talking to the player. In the final game, this was replaced by the generic replay text after the masks appear once.

(Source: Niko)

Unused Graphics

Placeholder Thumbnail

Among the thumbnail textures for all racetracks and battle arenas is an image of a blue skybox internally named movie1, which is a placeholder for the thumbnail video previews.

Unused Models

To do: Screenshots and/or videos.

Coco's Head

Present within Coco Park's level data is a model of Coco Bandicoot's head. Earlier builds featured the head floating in the sky near the finish line, although it could not normally be seen due to a thread making it invisible. It is unclear what its purpose was, although it is speculated that it may have been intended to appear exclusively in the Japanese version, as it can be seen briefly in a Japanese pre-release trailer.

Oxide Station Multiplayer Models

Oxide Station is the only track in the game that cannot be accessed in multiplayer modes. However, there are two unused models planned for 2-player and 3+ player modes, meaning the developers were planning to make it playable in multiplayer, but the idea was scrapped due to time constraits. Through hacks, attempting to force the game to load it on 2-player mode will work fine, though there will be occasional FPS drops. The 3+ player file, however, is corrupted.

Unlockable Arenas High-Poly Models

Even though Parking Lot, The North Bowl, and Lab Basement can be only played in multiplayer modes, a detailed single player model exists for all of them.

Low-Poly Nitros Oxide

Nitros Oxide's model is always set to the highest LOD during the boss race. However, attempting to load his character in multiplayer modes will use less detailed models that are never seen in regular gameplay.

Unseen Objects

Misplaced Item Boxes

Roo's Tubes

On the right side of the start line, there is a ? crate floating far away out of bounds. It can't be seen in-game as it doesn't render.

Hot Air Skyway

On the left path after the large ramp, there is a Wumpa crate misplaced under the road. The crate was later restored in the game's remake.

Nitro in Nitro Court

When entering Crystal Challenge in Nitro Court, there is a Nitro crate which is never seen during normal gameplay. A Nitro explosion can be noticed in the background in the first second each time the level starts. That happens because even though the memory can hold a limit of 50 objects, the limit in the game is set to 40 objects instead, but there are 41 explosive crates in the arena. Thus, if the total number of objects exceeds the limit, the oldest thrown object will be automatically destroyed in order to allocate the newest one in memory.

In-game	Restored

(Discovery by: Niko)

Internal Names

Levels

Internal names for every level in the game can be found in the files, following the structure of [theme][number]. Notably, a good amount of them are numbered, even though there is only one track for the majority of the themes, suggesting that there could have been more tracks based on the same theme.

Internal Name	Level	Notes
proto8	Dingo Canyon
proto9	Dragon Mines
desert2	Blizzard Bluff	While this name might not appear to match the track theme at first sight, the final track is in fact a half-desert, half-taiga hybrid.
island1	Crash Cove
temple1	Tiger Temple
temple2	Papu's Pyramid
tube1	Roo's Tubes
blimp1	Hot Air Skyway
sewer1	Sewer Speedway
cave1	Mystery Caves
castle1	Cortex Castle
labs1	N. Gin Labs
ice1	Polar Pass
space	Oxide Station
asphalt1	Coco Park
asphalt2	Tiny Arena	Strangely, the name does not match the track's theme at all, even though in earlier builds it was internally named arena2, which was a more appropriate name.
secret1	Slide Coliseum	The name reveals that this track was originally an unlockable along with Turbo Track, as can be seen in earlier builds.
secret2	Turbo Track
battle1	Nitro Court
battle2	Rampage Ruins
battle3	Parking Lot
battle4	Skull Rock
battle5	The North Bowl
battle6	Rocky Road
battle7	Lab Basement

Trophy Girls

The names used for the files storing the model data, as well as the names of the model instances, of Ami, Isabella, Liz, and Megumi are tawna1, tawna2, tawna3, and tawna4 respectively.

Game Version

The memory card header contains a version number, which is set to 18. All retail releases share the same versioning.

Obscure Controller Setup Menus

The game has support for two different types of controller, which turned out to be very unknown among players. Two setup menus are "hidden" in the game and can normally be triggered by plugging said controllers. The first one is for the Racing Wheel, while the second one is for the Namco's JogCon Controller. These features were never mentioned in the instruction booklets of any region, possibly because the manuals were written before the controllers were included as an option.

Regional Differences

European

• There is a language option on the main menu. Languages available are: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch.
• There is less space between characters to accommodate other languages.
• The default best times now have actual times for each track, no longer displaying 9:59:00 everywhere.
• Driving between the different areas now causes the name of the area to show at the bottom of the screen.
• The start lights textures have a lower quality due to the limited space on the disc.
• The audio clips of the characters are more compressed.
• The character icons on the character select screen and position HUD for 1-player races are smaller.
• The checkered flag background is set up slightly to the left. A black spot can be noticed at the bottom right corner of the screen.
• Nitro Court now features a proper AI path.
• The trophy animation no longer plays every time you go back to the title screen when the menus are reloaded after a race.
• Super Turbo Pads cheat code no longer works in Time Trial mode.
• In 1-lap races, the track music is now sped up and the race results fanfare plays properly when finishing the race.
• Fake Crash's face was altered: the underside of his eyebrows were changed to brown, and the eyes and pupils are smaller. The color of his kart is also less brighter; this is due to his kart in the American version having the same vertex colors used for Crash Bandicoot's kart, which was unintended. As a result, his kart now follows the intended coloration.
  • However, his model in Time Trial mode now erroneously has the eyebrow textures covering his eyes.
• The scrapbook was shortened considerably. There are a lot less pictures and no fading transition between them. The Japanese merchandise was omitted entirely. This was done to save space, as the PAL version of the game just barely fits in one disc due to the multiple languages.
• A misplaced wall texture in the deck hallway of Citadel City was fixed.
• The title of the ghost replay data has been changed from "TRACK:CHARACTER:SCORE" in NTSC-U to "CTR/TRACK/SCORE", replacing the character info with the game's acronym.

Penta Penguin

Penta Penguin has different stats depending on the game's region. In the American version, Penta Penguin shares the Beginner class with Polar, Pura and Ripper Roo, while in the European and Japanese versions, Penta has all his stats maxed out, making him the best racer in the game.

In the American version, when Penta gets a mask power-up, the icon shows up as Uka Uka, but when activated, Aku Aku appears. The likely cause of this error is that since Uka Uka is internally the default mask, the developers forgot to update the power-up icon after changing Penta's mask to Aku Aku, as the icons are not directly tied to the masks themselves. This was fixed in the European and Japanese versions. This mistake was once again referenced in the remake, where Penta Penguin can obtain both Aku Aku and Uka Uka masks, though the icon inconsistency was fixed.

Finally, both of his placeholder voice clips were replaced by actual penguin grunts.

No Language Glitch

When prompted to select a language before the main menu, you can press Triangle to cancel it, causing neither of the six available languages to be selected, and leaving you with nothing but blank spaces and hyphens where words would normally be, and no voice clips or dialogues will play at all. This mistake is actually a result of the game setting the language to index 0, which is the address for the Japanese language. However, since no Japanese font is loaded as 0 never was intended to be selectable here, there are no textures for those characters loaded in VRAM. Additionally, the lack of voice clips for this language will cause the characters to be completely silent throughout the game.

This glitch, for yet unknown reasons, also causes a number of the bosses heads (with the exception of Ripper Roo), to be switched in the cutscenes.

• Papu Papu will have Pinstripe's head.
• Komodo Joe will have N. Oxide's head.
• Pinstripe will have Komodo Joe's head.
• N. Oxide has will have Papu's head.

Furthermore, saving a ghost replay will display the Japanese names of the racetracks and characters in the memory card data.

Japanese

Someone in charge of the Japanese localization apparently decided to have a field day and change just about everything in the game. As this version is based off the European version, changes from that version have been retained.

• The Japanese intro has an announcer reading out the messages before the start of the game, and the music is completely different.

Music	International	Japanese
Startup
Main Menu

• The theme songs are completely different, like most other Japanese localizations of the Crash Bandicoot series.
  • The international theme now plays in the character select garage.
• You can no longer skip the Naughty Dog box screen.

International	Japan

• The logo of the game featuring Crash holding a trophy has been changed to him sitting in his kart.
• Time Trial and Arcade options are switched.
• Ripper Roo speaks in an actual language now, rather than his crazed laughing, which also means he no longer needs subtitles.
• The "TNT" label on TNT crates has been replaced with an image of a bomb, and the "Nitro" label is written in Katakana.
• When selecting a track in Arcade mode, there are now Wumpa fruits next to the minimap indicating how difficult the track is. It goes from 1 fruit (easy) to 5 (hard).
• There is a turbo counter on the HUD that appears when you chain 3 or more turbos during a race, and displays your highest turbo chain at the end of a race. This feature can only be activated in the international versions via cheat code.
• Trophies are localized as "Winning Cups".
• Since the game is called Crash Bandicoot Racing, the tokens now sport that acronym as well, and the second letter in their respective challenges is now a B instead of a T.
• You must have two boss keys and also open the Gem Cups door in order to access the CBR/Crystal Challenges.
• The trophy girls all have brown eyes as opposed to light-blue for Isabella, green for Ami, red for Megumi and purple for Liz. Their eyes are in their original colors in the credits, though.
• The scrapbook is also different in this version, featuring a few pieces of art not found in the other versions, mainly from Japanese promotional material and the bonus videos found in the Japanese versions of the Crash games.
• Fake Crash's eyes textures are now fixed in Time Trial mode.
• All track preview videos were updated due to the start banners now displaying the CBR acronym. However, that has also caused the camera to follow a different path on tracks that contain split-paths (for example, the camera now goes to the left split-path in Mystery Caves, and takes the shortcut in Sewer Speedway).
• A glitch where each track on the Arcade Cups could have 5 or 7 laps depending on which option was highlighted in the level select has been fixed.
• Character epilogues have been completely changed.
• Polar's raw icon has an extra pixel of graphics of his body out of the frame, although it is still cropped as the previous releases when rendered in-game.
• The title of the ghost replay data retains the slashes from the PAL version, but now adds back the character info initially displayed in the NTSC-U version.

Characters Icons

Character	International	Japanese
Crash Bandicoot
Coco Bandicoot
Dr. Neo Cortex
Fake Crash
Penta Penguin
Pura
Dr. N. Tropy

Some character icons were changed to resemble the rendered 3D artwork style used in promotional media for the Crash Bandicoot series in Japan. Interestingly, Polar's icon in the international versions is consistent with these, implying that his final icon is actually from his Japanese counterpart that was adopted by the developers.

Bonus Video

Like with the Japanese versions of the previous two Crash games, a hidden video has been added and can be viewed by holding L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 at the PlayStation logo during startup. Again, you have to reset your console after the video has finished playing.

(Source: Hacc)

Cheat Codes

Almost all cheat codes were changed. For example, a different code is required to unlock Penta Penguin, and to access the Spyro 2 demo, you have to hold a specific button combination during the PlayStation logo (much like the bonus video), rather than entering a code at the main menu. Most inputs require fewer buttons to press, but have different holding patterns according to the type of cheat.

• The only cheat code that didn't change was the turbo counter display, which is completely pointless in this version as the counter is already enabled by default. The code was most likely left behind unintentionally.
• Icy Tracks cheat code has been removed.

Cheat	International	Japanese
Ripper Roo	L1+R1 Right, Circle, Circle, Down, Up, Down, Right	L1+R1 Up, Down, Triangle, X, Circle
Papu Papu	L1+R1 Left, Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Circle, Left, Left, Down	L1+R1 Up, Left, Triangle, Circle
Komodo Joe	L1+R1 Down, Circle, Left, Left, Triangle, Right, Down	L1+R1 Up, Triangle, X, Down, X
Pinstripe	L1+R1 Left, Right, Triangle, Down, Right, Down	L1+R1 Right, Square, Up, Down, X
Fake Crash	L1+R1 Circle, Down, Down, Up, Circle, Circle, Down, Left, Right	L1+R1 Up, Triangle, Down, X
Dr. N. Tropy	L1+R1 Down, Left, Right, Up, Down, Right, Right	L1+R1 Up, Down, Right, Square
Penta Penguin	L1+R1 Down, Right, Triangle, Down, Left, Triangle, Up	L1+L2+R2 Left, Up, Right, Square, Triangle, Circle, X, Square, Right, Down
Unlimited Wumpas	L1+R1 Down, Right, Right, Down, Down	L2+R2 Up, Down, Triangle, Circle, X
Unlimited Masks	L1+R1 Left, Triangle, Right, Left, Circle, Right, Down, Down	L2+R2 Up, Triangle, Square, Up, Down
Unlimited Turbos	L1+R1 Triangle, X, Right, Left, Left, Triangle, X	L2+R2 Left, Right, Down, Triangle, Circle
Unlimited Bombs	L1+R1 Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Up, Triangle, Left	L2+R2 Up, Down, Right, Triangle, Circle
Invisibility	L1+R1 Up, Up, Down, Right, Right, Up	L2+R2 Triangle, Up, Left, Up, Down
Super Engine	L1+R1 Up, Up, Left, Right, Triangle, Down, Right, Down	L2+R2 Up, Triangle, Down, Square, X
Super Turbo Pads	L1+R1 Triangle, Right, Right, Circle, Left	L1+L2+R1 Down, Right, Square, Triangle, X, Circle
Extra Tracks and Arenas	L1+R1 Right, Right, Left, Triangle, Right, Down, Down	L1+L2+R1 Up, Down, Left, Square, Circle, X
Scrapbook	L1+R1 Up, Up, Down, Right, Right, Left, Right, Triangle, Right	L1+L2+R1 Left, Right, Triangle, X, Square, Circle
1-Lap Races	L1+R1 Down, Up, Down, Down, Right, Up, Down, Right, Triangle, Down	L1+L2+R1 Left, Right, Square, Circle
Super Hard Mode	L1+R1 Down, Right, Left, Up, X, Right	L1+L2+R1 Left, Up, Circle, Triangle, Down, Up
Spyro 2 Demo	L1+R1 Down, Circle, Triangle, Right	Left+Circle when the PlayStation logo appears.
Easy Adventure AIs	L1+R1 Right, Up, Down, Up, Right, Circle	L1+L2+R1 Right, Down, Square, X, Triangle, Circle

Anti-Piracy

Some PlayStation games released after 1998 (especially in PAL regions, like Europe, Oceania and South Africa) contain the LibCrypt protection system developed by Sony, in order to curb modchips and illegal copies on the system.

The LibCrypt functions on the software level in two ways: by detecting a modchip upon bootup of the game and by detecting an illegal copy through a 16-bit key located in the subchannel data of the disc. The first check is to see whether or not a modchip is installed on the system. As earlier modchips are active by default, all that is necessary to detect one is for the program to return data from a modchip. If it detects it, the game crashes immediately. This was mitigated by pirates with so-called "stealth" modchips, which turn off immediately when loading disc region data during boot-up. However, the second check now comes into play. The second part functions as a part of the game. It decrypts the 16-bit LibCrypt data key stored in the subchannel of the disc and stores it in the coprocessor of the system. If the data is incorrect, the game implements its anti-piracy measures. As most CD burners cannot properly replicate subchannel data on the disc, a pirated copy, whether burned directly to another disc or as a disc image, trips the anti-piracy measure by default.

A modded system allows for a backup, a pirated copy, or a legitimate copy of the game from a region different than the console, to start normally. However, with LibCrypt, the game can crash, freeze or perform tricks to prevent pirates, depending on the title.

In this game's case, the game starts out normally. However, it will always crash at the loading screen if the player selects any of the levels. In Adventure mode, the player can drive around the hub level, but the game will crash on the loading screen when the player enters any of the available levels. This also includes the attract mode if the player does not select any of the options in the main menu, except for the attract mode cinematic. Note that this copy protection is not present in the NTSC-U/C (North American) and NTSC-J (Japanese) versions of the game; they use anti-modchip protection instead. Unfortunately, LibCrypt prevents the European version from being played on a PlayStation 3 due to the software emulation setting off this measure.

(Source: Copy Protected PlayStation games list, MVG's video about copy protection schemes on PS, tested through Mednafen emulator)