This right here, is one of my favorite games ever.

The original Crash Team Racing was a beloved game that was heavily requested for a remaster as soon as the Crash revival was known. And the task would eventually be given to the studio Beenox. So how did they handle it?

Well, first of, they remade the original game, obviously, but as soon as the first trailer, revealed a twist: you can actually choose your kart and customise the color of the classic kart. It was also assured very quickly that Oxide and his kart would make their playable appearance in the base game instead of being unobtainable, at least for some time. This was a sign of things to come for later.
The tracks were shown to have a lot of pleasant reimagining, expanding on the already great environment of the original and using the assets of N. Sane Trilogy to bring a lot of details and visual gags to make the tracks feel more alive.

It was then revealed, almost out of nowhere, that the entirety of the content of Crash Nitro Kart would be included and reimagined too. This underrated sequel then got to have all of its content getting a second life with an amazing art direction making them stand out more, as well as the previously unplayable bosses making their main console playable debut.

And closer to release, we got to know just how big the customisation will be. Recolors for every character, costumes for most, lots of vehicles from not only the originals, but Crash Tag Team Racing as well, customisable colors and decals, wheels and stickers.

And then, grand prix was revealed to be free seasonal content adding brand new tracks and a lot of new characters and customisation. By the end of it, we got every requested trilogy character who missed their chance from the original, and adding to the Nitro Kart cast, characters from all across the series with fan favorite Nina, the Tag Team racers with Chick and Stew, the previously silent bandicoot ladies, underused spin-off characters Rilla Roo and Yaya Panda, and even a brand new character Hasty, based on a long-time internet legend of a cut character.

The game has some issues. For instance, some of the costumes and customisation items don't look the best for some, and it would've been nice to have some sort of toggle for the elements picked by the AI.
And the only big issue is the way you unlock things with the randomised shop, and especially Activision putting MTX in after release, which I do not defend. If you have money to spend, you really should use it for an online subscription to have more fun with this game and get better coin payouts in the process.

Beenox didn't have to go this far in celebrating the entire history of Crash's franchise, but they did and as the first time I've ever heard of them, they became one of my favorite studios.

I would give 6 stars if I could.
This is childhood game remastered+
It is more than I could ever hope for. I am so lucky that I am living in this timeline.

CTR + CNK + Bonus tracks so much replay ability!

I have completed everything apart from dev ghosts. I did some of them but just few.

This game requires skills, so back of and go play Mario Kart if you are not up for a challenge. Me and my friends we love to band together and destroy people online, so if you ever meet us, expect to not finish the race. Thank you!

I am still not bored of paying this game, but I want to experience other stuff. I can always come back to this GEM :)