10 Video Games That Blatantly Ripped Off Iconic Franchises
9. Crash Team Racing
The Game: Crash Bandicoot is traditionally a platformer about an anthropomorphic bandicoot who spins to defeat his foes. That all changed when Naughty Dog decided that they wanted to make a kart racer.
Crash Team Racing was released on 30 September 1999 for the original PlayStation. It put Crash and all his colorful friends in karts and had them race each other on at least 16 courses. Driving through one of the series' signature crates would reward the racer with a powerup.
The Game It Ripped Off: Mario Kart/Diddy Kong Racing.
By the time CTR released in 1999, Super Mario Kart had already released in 1992, and Diddy Kong Racing had released in 1997. Kart racing games had existed before either of them, but those two were the most popular in their genre at the time. During development, Naughty Dog even rebuilt a track from Diddy Kong Racing called "Crescent Island" to see if the PlayStation could handle something like it.
While CTR is based on the other two kart racers, it's actually far from a cheap knockoff. CTR did a good job of being different enough to set itself apart from the other two. It's amassed its own following of fans that believe it to be better than the other two kart racers. The fact that it's getting an HD remake in the form of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is proof of its popularity.