Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy – How to beat the hardest Bosses and Levels
Key tips
In the first two games there are Aku Aku crates which once broken the Aku Aku will appear along side the player’s side. The Aku Aku can take one hit for the player before disappearing. Hits do not include falling into holes and being brutally crushed by boulders, your witch doctor can’t save you then.
The Aku Aku crates can also release a translucent version of Aku Aku which can aid the player as a lighted guide in the dark levels such as ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Fumbling in the Dark’ however the light guide is only temporary and after a certain amount of time the Aku Aku will disappear and no longer light the path. If the player has the translucent version of the Aku Aku and takes a hit the Aku Aku will disappear leaving the player without light so be careful in the dark levels not to get hit or else you will be up a dark creek without your flashlight.
If you have a translucent version of the Aku Aku and you pick up another your original Aku Aku the time that you have the Aku Aku is extended.
The TNT crate is an explosive crate that appears in the Crash games and is filled to the absolute top with TNT ready to explode. These crates are very dangerous but necessary to break in order to getting all the crates in the levels. To destroy these crates you will, need to either jump on them or headbutt them underwater or in space. If you run into the crate it will cause the player to lose a life or Aku Aku mask. After you do this, the crate will count down form three to one and then explode. These precious seconds give you the chance to escape.
In the polar riding levels of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back the TNT crates start the timer automatically without Crash touching them which means you will have to speed run these levels in order to survive.
The nitro crates are very powerful explosive crates that are extremely sensitive and should not ben touched at all even while you are in the ground unless you are invincible. Otherwise go on right ahead!
In the Cortex Strikes Back and Warped the nitro crates do occasionally hop up into the air proving passing them difficult. In the Bee-Having level there is a staircase made out of tougher nitro crates that you can touch without being harmed, which then leads to a secret passage and evidently the Purple Gem. These stronger nitro crates never explode because it would then be impossible to access the Purple Gem without them.
If Crash touches these nitro crates they will instantly explode and crash would lose on of his Aku Aku masks or lose a life if he has none and if Crash loses a life like this then if you are above ground an angel will appear playing the didgeridoo but if you are below ground then a grave will arise out of the ground.
To destroy the nitro crates at the end of the level Crash must press the nitro switch crate, which instantly detonates all the nitro crates in the level.
Doctor Neo Cortex is your average psychopathic villain/evil scientist that you will be fighting because he is the main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot.
Wumpa fruits are Crash’s favourite food and a very common object in all the Crash Bandicoot games, If you collect 100 wumpa fruits you will receive one extra life. Fun fact about the strange wumpa fruits, if Crash is left standing for a while then he starts juggling wunpa fruit or pull one out of his ear. I wish I could do that! I would never have to buy a snack again and all I would need to do is pull one out of my ear and get on with the day!
If crash spins wumpa fruits then they will fly away but if Crash slides into wumpa fruits then he will collect it normally.
Crash Bandicoot
Toxic waste – This is the twenty-first level, fourth level of the third island in the first game. This mission consists of Pinstripe’s minions throwing barrels of toxic waste to stop Crash. Some of these barrels bounce whereas others roll on the ground proving it a difficult level. The blue gem in this level is obtained by breaking every single crate which total adds up to 26 crates.
The barrels that bounce are brown with the radioactive symbol on the side of them. The ones that roll on the ground are yellow with red and white stripes on the top and bottom of the barrels. These will help you to distinguish the barrels and help to complete the level.
Sunset Vista – This is the sixteenth level in Crash Bandicoot and it is the final non-boss level on the second island and is littered with tricky jumps and obstacles. Also in this level are three Cortex tokens to unlock a rare Cortex bonus round.
The level contains many traps and obstacles that require Crash to time his jumps, which can be very tricky. Some of these obstacles are flaming platforms and blocks that strive to push Crash off his path and kill him. As well as this to make your life even harder there are bats and lizards that are parts of the puzzle in different areas of the level. Great!
The level requires you to traverse three levels of horror in this level before Crash reaches his portal to complete the level.
Slippery Climb – This is the twenty-fourth level of the game and is the seventh level of the third island in Crash Bandicoot. This levels requires Crash to traverse the outside walls of the Cortex Castle whilst avoiding a volley of traps and very tricking jumps and to make matters worse there is only one checkpoint crate in the whole level or two if you enter the N. Brio bonus round.
This is the only level in the game to have the castle exterior type of gameplay of Dr Cortex’s castle.
Cortex power – This is the nineteenth level from Crash Bandicoot and is the second level on Cortex Island. In the level you are in Cortex’s power plant, run by Pinstripe Potoroo and his many minions. The level is full of toxic waste and dangerous machines but holds a precious blue gem path. The level has three routes to the end with all of them needing to be discovered to get the gem. Falling into the toxic waste on the level will cause instant death so good luck jumping endlessly from platform to platform for the dreaded blue gem.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Piston it away– This is the twenty-first level and the first level of the fifth warp room. This level is set in the evil Dr Cortex’s space station and you will need to avoid various pistons in the level that has the soul purpose of flattening Crash as thin as a human hair, or bandicoot hair.
In the level there are also Robot Walkers that walk back and forth along Crash’s path. To defeat these foes you need to slide into them much like the Sparky Tentaclebot Units when their arms are up. If the arms are down you only need to jump on their heads to defeat them.
The last obstacle you will encounter on this level are the Barricading Lab Assistants that carry tall shields which they try to push Crash off with. These deathly foes can be defeated by spinning or sliding them back until they fall or crash into a nitro crate and KABOOM! Problem solved.
With backtracking, many minions and nitro crates Piston it away is definitely one of the hardest levels in the game. Good luck with that.
Unbearable – This is the fifteenth level and is the final level of the third warp room. This level is quite similar to Crash Dash but this time Crash will be chased by a giant polar bear ready to gobble little Crash up for lunch. However this level does contain a secret warp to the sixth warp room thus unlocking Totally Bear, another excruciatingly hard level.
This level is littered with obstacles and pits ready to have you die multiple times but fear not because in this level there are some large tunnels that provide as cover for Crash and renders the polar bear immobile but there will usually be another polar bear at the end of the tunnel ready to eat Crash.
There is a secret area in this level, which is in the pit where the first polar bear drops-into. Follow the polar bear down and here you have a secret area filled with extra crates and new enemies to defeat such as turtles with razors strapped onto the back of them.
Before jumping down be sure to use the nitro switch crate situated just after the pit because this makes the secret are considerably easier because you do not have to deal with nitro crates. Your welcome.
Totally Bear – This is the twenty-sixth level and it is the first of two secret levels that are in the game. You unlock this level by finding the secret warp mentioned above. This is the hardest bear riding level in the game according to some people (they may or may not be me,) because this is a night level and you have to ride your lovable creature Polar.
This level is the same type as Bear it and Bear Down with the only difference being that some crates are in midair which means all you need to do is perfectly time your jumps so you hit all the midair crates.
As well as the level being at night there are also killer whale sharks hopping out of the darkness ready to eat Crash. Oh, and did I mention that the area of sight for crash is very small so most obstacles and crates will appear at the last second so the level will take a few tries to complete so I hope you have lives at hand ready to burn through.
N. Gin – This is one of the hardest boss battles in the game where you need to shoot your precious fruits at Dr N. Gin’s mech destroying his arms, missile shoulder pads and then Dr N. Gin shoots a massive green laser destroying the platforms crash is on. Just shoot the wumpa fruits where the green laser is coming from and then you have defeated the big bad boss.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Things to know before you get into the game.
In Crash Bandicoot: Warped there is the Uka Uka which is a tiki mask and the younger brother to Aku Aku. Clearly Aku Aku got the good genes as Uka Uka acts in the complete opposite way and is the second antagonist in the game. He is an evil tiki mask that works with Dr Neo Cortex on evil schemes and is more than often upset with Dr Cortex for his failures and blames Cortex every time he fails.
In this installment of the franchise you can play as Coco Bandicoot as well as Crash Bandicoot such as in the level Hot Coco where she is operating a jet ski.
Hot Coco – This is a secret level in the game and can be unlocked by hitting an alien sign in the fourteenth level called Road Crash. This level is quite similar to other levels such as Makin’ Waves and Tell No Tales but there is a sunset this time and the level itself is one big circle and Coco starts right at the exit.
The exit is blocked off by nitro crates so the only way to complete this level is to find the nitro switch crate and free the exit.
Mad Bombers – This is the twenty-fourth level overall and the fourth level of the fifth warp room. This level is extremely difficult as you need to shoot down Cortex’s five red double-winged airplanes and shoot down his minions in smaller red planes as well as yellow balloons that hold crates and white balloons with red crosses on them which restores health and also holds crates.
If you think that shooting down five red planes, a handful of minions in other planes and shooting the balloons down to get crates all at the same time is easy then keep in mind that the planes are constantly on the move proving very difficult to destroy. Thanks Naughty Dog!
Tell No Tales – This is the eighteenth level and it is the third level of the fourth warp room. This is the first pirate themed level since Makin’ Waves in the first area and once again features Coco cruising on her futuristic jet ski cleverly avoiding pirate lab assistants and bombs as she searches for the special crystal.
Watch out for the pesky pirates shouting cannon balls trying to knock Coco off her jet ski and ready yourself for the many jumps that lie ahead in this level.