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Crash™ Team Racing Nitro-Fueled: Power-Up Planning!
What’s in those boxes? A number of different power-ups but knowing when and how to use them can be vitally important to your racing victories! Check the following overview and advice to help you out!
June 27, 2019
In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, the difference between first and second place isn’t always about speed and steering skills – power-ups also play a huge part in who gets the trophy at the end of a race! Successfully nabbing and deploying (and defending against) power-ups can shake up the rankings over the course of a race, so be sure you know exactly what each power-up does and how to best use it against your rivals!
Wumpa Fruit: Grab These To Go!
Wanna “juice” up your power-ups? Then don’t neglect the Wumpa Fruit crates on the tracks. Each Wumpa Fruit you collect increases the potency of power-ups. If you collect 10 Wumpa Fruit, your power-ups are transformed into super power-ups with even more devastating effects! Go nab those fruit whenever you see them!
Bowling Bomb
Bowling Bombs are massive explosives you can either push out in front of your kart or drop it behind you. They aren’t nearly as fast as the Tracking Missile and they don’t home in on enemies, but the blast radius is big enough that you can take out multiple rivals if they’re in a tight grouping. You can detonate the Bowling Bomb early by pressing the power-up button again.
If you have 10 Wumpa Fruit, the Bowling Bomb blast radius is much larger!
Tracking Missile
Tracking Missiles are potent projectiles that target the racer directly ahead of you. (You know when you’ve been targeted by a crosshair appearing on the back of your kart.) But even with their tracking ability (which allows your missile to sometimes hit foes not in your line of sight), if you have the racer ahead of you in your line of sight, the odds of the missile hitting them is even higher.
If you’re targeted by one, thwart it by dropping a TnT Crate, Beaker, or Bowling bomb behind you right before a missile hits you. And if you don’t have one of these power-ups handy, try taking a sudden, tight turn – if you time it just right, the missile will slam into the wall.
nT Crate
When you deploy a TnT Crate, you essentially lay a time bomb for your rivals. When a rival hits a TnT Crate, it hovers above their kart for three seconds before it explodes. (When you have 10 Wumpa Fruit, the TnT Crate turns into a Nitro Crate which explodes upon impact!) If you have a Bowling Bomb or Tracking Missile, you can use them to blow up TnT Crates on the track, but should you roll into one, you can try to shake it loose by bouncing around (repeatedly tap the shoulder buttons).
Be a super-sneak by dropping TnT Crates in the middle of or directly behind Power-Up crates. You might trick an opponent into rolling into the TnT Crate!
When you’re in the lead, hold on to TnT Crates, Beakers, and Bowling Bombs – you can deploy these if you’re ever targeted by Tracking Missiles.
Beakers
Beakers are green phials that can either be dropped behind or launched ahead of your kart. When a racer runs into a Beaker, they spin out of control, losing precious time. But if you have 10 Wumpa Fruit before dropping a Beaker, it turns red. Now victims of the Beaker not only spin around, but they must deal with a little storm cloud that slows them down for a few seconds – and whatever power-up they were carrying is replaced with a random new power-up.
Power Shield
Power Shields protect your kart from incoming power-ups for a few moments, such as Missiles, as well as traps laid on the course, like Beakers and TnT Crates. You can also use the Power Sheild offensively by running into rivals while its deployed or throwing it forward as a weapon by pressing the power-up button again. When you have 10 Wumpa Fruit, the Power Shield turns blue and doesn’t run out until you either crash into a rival kart or a power-up, such as a Bowling Bomb or Tracking Missile.
Aku Aku and Uka Uka Masks
Aku Aku Masks are awesome power-ups that not only give your kart a speed boost, but also render your racer temporarily invincible. While the mask is swirling above your kart, you cannot be damaged by a power-up and unlike the Power Shield, it doesn’t disappear when you hit a power-up or bash an opponent. The Mask lasts a few moments longer when you use it while holding 10 Wumpa Fruit.
Pssst! Aku Aku Masks are for hero characters, such as Crash. Uka Uka Masks appear for villains, such as Cortex.
Turbo
Trigger the Turbo power-up to roar ahead with a sudden, short burst of speed. Unfortunately, it cannot be combined with Turbo Boost chains to bank Boost Reserves, but if you punch it before rolling over a Turbo Pad, you’ll get an extra burst of speed!
N.Tropy Clock
The N.Tropy Clock is a dastardly power-up that gives its user a temporary advantage – when triggered, every other racer on the course spins out and loses serious speed. While affected by the clock’s damage, racers cannot use or pick up Power-Ups. The version of the N.Tropy Clock juiced by 10 Wumpa Fruit increases the speed reduction period for rival racers.
Warp Orbs
You’re in first place. The wind in your face. Nothing can stop you now, right? Not unless one of your rivals deploys the Warp Orb power-up. This pulsing blue orb rockets all the way up to the player in first position and blasts them right off the track, giving the rest of the racers a few moments to play catch up. And if you think that sounds powerful, wait ‘til you unleash a Warp Orb with 10 Wumpa Fruit… it targets all of the rivals ahead of the player that used it!
Super Engine (Battle Mode Only)
The Super Engine is a Battle Mode-only power-up that’s not entirely unlike the Turbo power-up, except it lasts longer. And like Turbo, using it while holding 10 Wumpa Fruit extends its duration by a few extra moments!
Invisibility (Battle Mode Only)
Invisibility is another Battle Mode-only power up. When deployed, your racer and kart become temporarily invisible to the other racers. (And, as you can imagine, this power-up lasts longer with 10 Wumpa Fruit.) While invisible, you cannot be targeted with Tracking Missles. However, you are not invincible – you can still be hammered with Bowling Bombs or roll into TnT Crates.
Power Player Bonus Tip
Finally, a little tip for power players: You can effectively stop the power-up “roulette” over your racer by pressing the power-up button while it’s spinning through items. Because it takes a few moments for the roulette to stop, immediately locking down a power-up can give you an advantage, especially if it’s something you can use to knock other players aside!
Start your engines now that Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has launched – and begin mastering these techniques right away, especially with the first Grand Prix season* right around the corner on July 3rd!
— Fletcher Black at Activision
Source: Activision Blog.
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