CTR: Nitro-Fueled Hands-On - 7 Ups & 2 Downs

4. Beenox Have Replicated Naughty Dog's 90s Animation Style

Something I picked up on as the camera swooped around the gorgeously remastered levels: Beenox have tapped back into the sorts of background details and character animations that made us fall in love with Naughty Dog in the first place.

On Papu's Temple for example, you'll see one random NPC forever trying to row his boat directly up a waterfall, never getting anywhere. Another is a hunter taking aim at the racers as they line up, only for his gun to go limp and him to get frustrated fixing it. In Sewer Speedway, a massive docile crocodile now hangs out a grate on the first corner, and various betting potoroos (Pinstripe's race) cheer you on as part of the tournament.

These animations speak to a higher degree of care with the restoration project overall - one that makes me think of the level backgrounds in Crash 3, and that height of Naughty Dog's platforming career almost 20 years ago.

If Naughty Dog were to make CTR today, it would look like this.