Crash, Cortex, and the rest of the crew must race for the chance to challenge Nitros Oxide, an alien with an insatiable need for speed, and save the world from enslavement!

The satirical story sets the scene for a deep kart racer exploding with fan service in the classic Crash Bandicoot style. Learn how to master every shortcut, swerve, and secret technique in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled’s Adventure mode.

The Survival of the Fastest: Adventure Mode

Select your favorite character and joy ride through five unique overworld areas. Every section contains courses to conquer. Finish first to win a trophy. Winning every trophy in a hub world earns you the right to race a familiar face.

Bosses like Ripper Roo and Pinstripe Potoroo originated from earlier entries in the series. Smash these solo showdowns to gain keys. Gather all four and go fur-throttle against Oxide for the fate of the planet.

The ABCs of CTR: Introduction to Speedruns

Speedrunning Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is as simple as crossing the credits as fast as possible with any% completion. That means you only have to win every trophy and defeat all of the bosses. CTR challenges, Relic Races, and Gem Cups are optional and should be ignored.

All characters, driving styles, and difficulties (pick Easy) are allowed, however, cheats, glitches, and lap skips are not.

Wondering what all of the “whoa” is about? U-Turn into this speedrun introduction!

Drivers, Driving Style, and Decals

Every character can switch classes, so pick a favorite regardless of stats. Select a cute character like Yaya Panda, a racer with eggcellant lines like N. Trance, or a character you want to be blasted by bombs, such as Baby Crash.

Driving styles contain three stats: Speed, Acceleration, and Turn.

Speed increases top speed, Acceleration increases how fast characters speed up, and Turn impacts handling.

Most speedrunners set their driving style to Speed or Acceleration. Speed goes faster than every other style at the cost of turning, but skilled players still excel in flawless runs. Acceleration benefits from the constant need to pick up speed from dead stops in the hub world.

Other classes cost runs precious seconds. Drift sacrifices speed and acceleration for extra turning, making it less desirable than speed. Turn greatly reduces speed for a lot more handling and above-average acceleration. However, the low speed is detrimental to fast times. Balanced is less used because neither speed nor acceleration is maxed out.

Karts and stickers can provide additional Nitro Points and improve your aesthetic. This has no impact on your run, although why wouldn’t you want to speedrun in style?

The Key to Victory: Boss Race Guide

You’ve won every race in an area and zoom to the next boss portal. What foul fiend awaits? These eccentric characters shine in cutscenes. Unfortunately, you need to skip all of them, including the opening cut scene when you start Adventure Mode if you want the best possible time.

Boss races are similar to normal races. These one on one face-offs take place on familiar tracks, except bosses shamelessly spam items as if they’re perpetually spring cleaning.

Stay ahead and keep an item, such as a shield, crate, or bomb, ready to block any offensives. Win to unlock the bosses as playable racers!

Nitros Oxide and the rest of the big bads don’t have specific strategies. Successful speedrunning is more about mastering tracks and the many shortcuts throughout the game.

Roadmap to Every Shortcut in CTR

The word shortcut contains the phrase short for a reason. Shortcuts drastically reduce lap times. Practice every track’s twists and turns outside of Adventure Mode before diving into dedicated runs to save time both in-game and reality.

Handle with Care: Power Slide / Drift Guide

The slightest difference between drifts every lap adds up and can be the difference between new personal bests and fitting in with the rest.

Turn up the Heat: Blue Fire / Ultimate Sacred Flames Guide

Access N. sane shortcuts with this versatile speed boost technique. Super Tuber Pads provide Blue Fire or Ultimate Sacred Flames (USF). Perform “Perfect” power slides to build reserves and extend the duration of the Blue Fire when landing. The more you drift, the longer it’ll last.

Turn, Turn, Turn: Air Brake and Ultra Turn / U-Turn Tips

All of this speed can be tricky to handle. Let go of the acceleration while in mid-air and hold the brake button, down arrow key, and the direction you want to go. Now press the acceleration once you’re facing the correct direction to perform an Air Brake and continue to complete the course at top speed.

Are corners too tight to turn? Try Ultra Turns (U-Turn), also known as Sharp Turning or Sharp U-Turns to avoid walls and better position yourself to handle curves and swerves. Press the jump button plus the same buttons used to perform the Air Brake.

Don’t forget to let go of the brake when landing to maintain your Blue Fire and speed!

How to Boost at the Start of the Race

Timing the boost at the start of the race is important because Speed characters circumvent their lack of acceleration. Plus it is an easy way to improve all of your track times.

The timing is different than Mario Kart. Accelerate at least three times to max out the meter. For the best boost, time your meter with the countdown so that it is full when the race starts. Press the button as fast or as slow as you’d like based on your preference.

A Wumpa Fruit A Day Keeps Last Place Away

Collect ten Wumpa Fruit, found throughout the track and in Wumpa Fruit Crates, to increase your top speed and juice up your arsenal. Juiced Up weapons are more powerful in the case of offensive items and last longer in the case of defensive ones. Picking up ten is critical to optimizing runs.

Race and Destroy: Items

Race smart and know your arsenal to win by force when necessary!

Freeze for the Finish: Relic Race

Relic Races aren’t required to complete any% runs of Adventure mode and are accessible once you obtain an area’s key. Drive through time crates scattered throughout the track to freeze time for several seconds. Take shortcuts and power slide your way to Sapphire, Gold, or Platinum Relics depending on your time.

Spell Victory: CTR Challenges

CTR Challenges are also optional in any% runs of Adventure mode. They are available after defeating an area’s boss, just like Relic Races. Collect all three hidden CTR letters on every track, then finish first to earn a token. Some letters are even tucked away in harder to reach shortcuts, inadvertently teaching you new ways to master the game.

Straight to the Point: Gem Cups

Gem Cups are another optional portion of the Adventure mode. Gem Cups feature four courses from throughout the Adventure. Points are distributed per placement. Earn the highest total by the end of the final race to earn a Gem.

The fifth and final Gem Cup is a rematch with every key boss at the same time. Double down on victory to unlock Fake Crash and the purple Gem.

Free Seasonal Content Updates and Challenges: Grand Prix

Additional racers, skins, tracks, and other customizations are ready to rev their engines. Complete challenges for Nitro Points, race to earn Wumpa Coins, and check out the Pit Stop to cash in your winnings.

Wonderful 101: Adventure Mode 101% Completion

For those interested in going beyond any% completion, here is a 101% run by ProsafiaGaming.