Nitros Oxide was first seen in Crash Team Racing when he came to Earth to challenge the planet's people to a racing contest he called "Survival of the Fastest". He said that if Earth's inhabitants won the contest then he would leave Earth alone, but if he won he would turn Earth into a giant concrete parking lot and enslave the inhabitants of the planet. Earth's champion racer (who could be one of the following chosen characters: Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex, Tiny Tiger, Coco Bandicoot, Doctor N. Gin, Dingodile, Polar or Pura) was able to defeat Oxide and then again after collecting the time relics. He went back to Gasmoxia in shame. As stated in the credits, after years of therapy, Nitros Oxide began to race again, but he chose the unicycle as a vehicle and apparently wound up in a gruesome accident. His hovercraft is neon green. Crash Team Racing (commonly referred to as CTR) is the first racing game in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, released on the PlayStation in 1999. It was the 4th installment in the Crash Bandicoot series and the last one to be developed by Naughty Dog. Crash Team Racing became a 'Greatest Hits' title in 2000 in the US, a 'PlayStation, The Best' title in 2000 in Japan and a 'Platinum' title in Europe and the overall PAL region late 2000. For the Japanese localization, the game was renamed Crash Bandicoot Racing.