10 Shameless Video Game Rip-Offs (That Were Actually Great)
6. Crash Team Racing
You need only take one quick glance at Crash Team Racing to appreciate that the racing spin-off was heavily indebted to Mario Kart, which was of course itself a vehicular spin-off from a beloved mascot platformer.
Though the Mario Kart franchise began with 1992's Super Mario Kart, it was Mario Kart 64 which truly made it a household name in its own right, releasing in 1996 - the very same year that Crash Bandicoot made his debut.
CTR hit the market in 1999 and was very clearly cribbing from everything that Mario Kart got right - namely an ingenious fusion of slick racing gameplay and brilliantly infuriating combat mechanics. Hell, it even included a dead-similar Battle Mode too.
And while so much of CTR simply re-skinned Mario's gameplay for the Crash aesthetic, it nevertheless had a far more outgoing, anarchic personality, ensuring that it appealed to rebellious kids far more than the dignified safety of Mario Kart's comparatively humourless, earnest style.
They're both great games, obviously, though in recent years there's been a growing sentiment that CTR actually surpassed Mario Kart.