CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars is our favorite cat-driven cart-crafting explosive battle arena released so far this year. We spent a lot of time playing with its extremely detailed and responsive physics engine (a lot) when it first came out, …
CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars is our favorite cat-driven cart-crafting explosive battle arena released so far this year. We spent a lot of time playing with its extremely detailed and responsive physics engine (a lot) when it first came out, building dozens of vehicles that won battles, lost battles, and sometimes rocketed straight off the battle screen. While our cart creation efforts have slowed recently, CATS has earned a permanent home on our devices, and we’re excited to see even small updates added to the game.
This week’s update introduces two features that may seem minor, but add a lot of value for veteran players. The first is a garage expansion that now lets you save three different cart builds at one time. Previously, you only had one car to work on, and any change you made would automatically be applied to your one car. This made testing and comparing different builds a bit of a pain point since you’d have to constantly be making changes to the same vehicle, reverting weapons or wheels, and trying to remember what you liked on a previous version. With three separate cart slots, it’s easy to swap between them and try out different builds in battle. We will note that you can’t use the same items on different carts—once an item is used on one cart, it’s unavailable for use another until it’s unequipped from that first cart. We’re not really sure why this is the way ZeptoLab decided to implement this feature since you can only have one cart in battle at any time (and the one-cart-only rule even applies to stickers) but it’s still a huge improvement over the single garage slot.
The other big addition is the ability to customize your cat driver with different appearances and accessories. Different colors and patterns of fur give you the option of a two-toned brown cat, a serious-looking Siamese, a gray cat with a battle scar, and a variety of other looks. Since you only see your driver’s head peeking out of the cart in the majority of the game, the accessories available are all hats or glasses. But there are plenty of each to choose from, with new items unlocking as you reach higher stages in the Championship. Your Kitty Knievel can have an Elvis pompadour, a “Catinator” cyborg eye, or even a slice of pizza plopped on his head. Although your cart is much more prominent visually in battle, being able to stylize your driver offers the added benefit of locking his looks in place: previously, the cat that drove your vehicle was randomized each match. Now you’ll see the same cat each time—or, at least, whichever cat you’ve created each time—giving a sense of continuity and ownership to both cart and driver.
And in case you haven’t checked in since the game’s initial launch, a few small changes have also been made to the UI and elsewhere in the past two updates. There’s now an auto-scroll button on the garage item menus, making it much easier to reach the end of those ever-increasing lists of gear you’ve collected. A few more ways to earn supply boxes have also been added, including bonus rewards for watching short videos, which is a small price to pay for lasers.
The CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars update that adds slots for two more carts as well as driver customization options is out now on iOS and Android.
