*----------------------------------------------* 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. #----------------------------# 4.10 More Single Player Tips #----------------------------# + Keep an eye out for big red buttons on the ground. Belly-flop them to activate something. + Use the free-look mode to get your bearings and look for power crystals. + Press square continuously to stay spinning. + Ninja penguins... aren't really a threat. + Keep an eye out for buttons/signs/people/anything out of the ordinary. Chances are you can interact with it. + When doing Missions to unlock more cars, you can always return to the character that gave you the "mission" to get clues. Mission items aren't hard to find anyways, but the clues make it even easier. *==============* 5. Closing *==============* #------------------# 5.1 Next Update(s) #------------------# I know, the guide is far from complete right now. Due to other personal projects, the rest of the guide might take me a bit more time to finish. So rather than have my work go undespised until that time, I thought I might as well post it now anyways, especially since there aren't any other more general FAQs. Coming up I will cover areas of interest in the single player mode, so that you might complete it 100% with greater ease. We'll also work on a section to give details on all of the tracks, from hazards to secret shortcuts. Mini-game details and tips will also be yours, and after all of that I'll work on a power crystals section/checklist to help you find ALL of them in the game. Just sit tight, eh? #-----------# 5.2 Credits #-----------# Myself - Because I wrote the thing! spongedude49 - Assistance trying to figure out just what the heck N-Gin is saying in his quote. Still aren't sure we got it, but at least he helped. CTTR PS2 board - They're some splendid guys, ResidentEvilOut especially as he is helping pave the way to informatizing the CTTRers. Gen2000 - My old friend, if he didn't help guide my blind ass through the steps to making an FAQ you wouldn't be reading this right now! ~ thEnd ~