Designing For is a series which looks at one specific level, character, or idea in gaming and breaks down the central theme to that element to figure out what it’s, well, designing for! In this episode, we look at the BEST Kart Racing track of all time. What makes a track the best? What can other tracks learn from its example? Why is it cute polar bear stage and not Waluigi Pinball my beloved? Come on in and let’s learn!
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Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/designingfor
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/pyrrhickong.bsky.social
Discord: https://discord.gg/bAwJkXP
Director/Writer/Voice Over: Tommy Eyler/Pyrrhickong
Video Editing/Additional Direction/Footage: Exellock (https://bsky.app/profile/exellock.bsky.social)
Intro Animation By: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb4-84eJw6K6Ij7EIsIBJpA
Intro Theme By: https://soundcloud.com/phil-thej/tracks
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14:41 Megalomania cameo!
cool vidya
💯 excellent content
7:58 Yeah okay I spit out my drink. You owe me a new drink. That destroyed me.
12:18 KUWANGER HEARD
Only fitting that the best Crash character gets the best track.
Yeaaaah
Let's get this video to a lot of views in the first hour so that it gets love from youtube
Algorithm bless this video which i liked even before watching it because it's that good
Seriously, sometimes i end up pissed off because i can't like it again after watching it, fix that youtube
Lots of words lots of engagement, yadda yadda
Baby Park!
7:58 LOL i was expecting something silly but wasn't expecting that!!!
the ammount of time you made a beaker throw and actually hits someone is insane
9:12 this is the best explaination for the difference between Mario Kart and CTR
Mario Kart is a Cartoon playing on a go-kart
CTR is a Cartoon stuck inside a go-kart
Hypnoshark spotted: Dingodile Time
You can skip the U turn over the water in the remake too. In fact a great strat is to cover the landing area for it or in the air during the shortcut in beakers and TNT/Nitro to punish players following you.
I have a fun memory of Polar Pass in the remake.
Online race, 1st lap, 1st place. Powerslide Boosting along the docks.
Warp orb warning pops up, no power up that can help.
Because it's the first lap, 2nd place isn't far behind.
So at the long left turn before the seals and the wall shortcut, I brake suddenly and just in time let 2nd place overtake me.
He gets zapped by the orb and I work on getting my boost back so I can jump the wall.
To add insult to injury, I throw my powerup, a bowling bomb, backwards as a deterrent to anyone catching up and end up hitting 2nd place again.
I agree with you and many others who highly praise this racing course.
Polar Pass is truly brilliant, and also one of (if not) possibly my absolute favorite CTR track too.
Peak track, peak design, peak music, peak looks, peak everything!
God I miss Nitro Fueled being a new game. When the game was still getting updates and a few months after, I was fairly """good""" for my skill level, especially being a Balanced Main. I beat a handful Developer Times and could hold my own fairly solidly on the Switch servers.
I just find it really sad that I no longer have the muscle memory or game understanding that I did a couple years ago. Every time I try to boot back up and play against CPU's I just can NOT hang. I'll get like 3 or so turns that feel amazing like I remember and then immediately I'm completely out of control on the next turn.
14:41 IS THAT MEGALOMANIA FROM THE HIT JRPG LIVE A LIVE, AVAILABLE ON NINTENDO SWITCH, PLAYSTATION 4, PLAYSTATION 5 AND STEAM?!
I am so glad that someone else realised that CTR is pasically a platformer game masquerading as a kart racer.
CTR games feed the thriller junkie in me. High speeds. Tight execution. Brutal competition. Mastery reward. And of course, giving you the tools to break the game apart. The first time I kept my speed off road was so exhilarating. I’m so happy to have experienced this series.
Edit: my goat what an edit to showcase this later in the video!
I'm surprised you didn't mention the shortcut over the frozen lake, it's definitely one of the best examples of skill based driving in this game!
I'm so glad you included Aku Aku's most iconic line in this video
God i love CTR.
Why do you call him Pol-arr? Are you stupid?
A Bug Fables reference in the intro? Fastest subscription of my life.
the timer having 12+ minutes of your boomerang attempts earned a like from me
on top of the great editing!
This video was really well made and funny. Reminds me of early game theory bit with your own personal touch. I hope you grow. Gained a new follower
Polar Pass, N.Gin labs and Oxcide Station had the best music
Ah yes the track rainbow road wishes it was
That last point when comparing both versions is what I love most from Nitro Fueled
Blue Fire is a amazing teaching tool for players that want to become better in the game. In tracks that feature that level of speed at the end (e.g. Polar Pass or Tiny Temple), you need to maintain your boost as always in the first lap by doing mini turbos, jump tricks and driving through speed boosters.
However, in the last jump/boost ramp of the track you'll receive the blue flame instead of the normal red one, making the player feel like the game is saying: "oh you finished one lap with your boost intact? Great! Now do it again but with the highest boost and speed possible in the game…oh and if you lose this blue fire (which is really easy) you're going to be in a BIG disadvantage against racers that could keep it for themselves…GOOD LUCK!"
Crash team racing was honestly Naughty dog undisputed masterpiece,the greatest Crash game,its a pity that the series following racing spin off title (Nitro kart) never reached that quality due tò having slow movement and pretty forgettable tracks