The June 15th, 1997 prototype of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a demo build showcased at E3 1997 dated around four months before the final NTSC-U release version. It was released on May 1st, 2021.
In the warp room, three button combinations can be inputted:
Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Down, Circle, Square, Triangle = Turn on the elevator.
Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, X, Circle, Circle = Bring up the Cortex hologram by holding R2.
Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Down, Circle, Triangle, Circle = Turn off active cheats.
General Differences
Startup
The intro slideshow, Universal, and Naughty Dog screens are mostly identical to Crash 1.
An extra splash screen presenting Mutato Muzika - the game's composers - is displayed after the animated Naughty Dog screen.
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Final
The title screen uses an earlier pre-rendered variant of the Crash 2 logo, with a considerably different lighting and choice of font colors. The logo is static, centered and accompanied by a black background. The title screen also lacks menu options and instead has "Press Start" in a basic font.
The attract mode shows Sewer or Later, Hangin' Out, Ruination, and Rock It. Rather than returning to the title screen when a demo ends, it will play indefinitely, cycling between a splash screen after each gameplay.
The first attract will transition to the Universal logo, the second one to Naughty Dog, the third one to Mutato Muzika, and the last one to the title screen. Splash screens will then repeat, but now starting from the Sony Computer Entertainment screen.
There is no "Demo" notice flashing onscreen during the gameplay.
The Rock It and Ruination demo inputs will occasionally desync.
Skipping the attract will put the player into the warp room, rather than returning to the title screen.
Gameplay
The font and text color in the HUD are placeholders from Crash 1.
The pause menu is identical to Crash 1, except it was updated to read "Push select for warp" instead of "Push select for map". The original lettering is repurposed, with the W being the M flipped.
Crash's moves are slightly more limited: during the landing animation after a high or long jump, Crash has no movement control until the animation finishes.
Similarly, if dying while performing an extra-high jump, you won't be able to take control of him until the "touching the ground" animation ends.
You can perform a slide move while spinning, which results in the spin move being cancelled.
The camera zooms out inside the warp passages when Crash is looking at the camera.
Aku Aku still uses his model from the previous game, featuring an orange nose and different feathers.
The game does not remember destroyed crates, collected Wumpa fruits or defeated enemies when the player respawns in checkpoint crates or returns to the main level after losing in a bonus round.
Aku Aku lacks an invincibility theme. Additionally, defeating enemies while invincible plays no sound effects.
When Crash takes damage, his invincibility frame shares the same flashing visual effect as Aku Aku invincibility state, rather than becoming invisible.
Like in the previous game, Aku Aku flashes when Crash takes damage as well.
There are no specific music tracks for bonus rounds and alternate routes - the main path music is always used in both instances instead.
The dynamic difficulty system has not been implemented at this point.
Crystals are smaller and more transparent, have a different shape, lack a shadow, and don't shine. They will fly away upon collecting it rather than going offscreen after a second to the HUD.
The crystal object will not appear onscreen when pulling up the HUD either.
If you collect the crystal and leave the level prematurely, the crystal won't be present in the level the next time you enter it. They will act as permanently collected, similar to extra lives.
Gems do not exist at this point. As such, there is no reward for breaking all boxes.
Consequently, there is also no box counter at the end of the levels.
The Nitro detonator wasn't implemented at this point.
The box tally is only displayed in bonus rounds instead.
Each Wumpa fruit in bonus rounds is worth two fruits instead, except when it is automatically picked from inside a crate rather than being dropped, such as when bouncing on a bounce crate.
Extra lives are also worth a fruit.
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Final
The "Bonus" notice uses a thinner font and flashes normally, rather than also blinking the letters B, O, N, U, and S in sequence.
A ticking sound effect plays when the Wumpa fruits being added to your total after completing a bonus round.
If Crash dies while in a bonus round, the bonus platform will lock out when Crash returns to the main level. The only way to retry is to lose a life.
On the other hand, dying on the main level, even after completing a bonus round, will make it accessible again upon respawn.
If you collect an extra life in the bonus round but fail before completing it, the crates will no longer drop life pickups the next time you enter it.
A lot of animations are not present at this stage of development:
Crash only has the sigh idle animation.
Whenever Crash walks into a warp vortex, he does not display his usual animation where he is sucked into it. Rather, the screen simply turns white as soon as he touches the portal.
Warp transitions for spawning/leaving a level.
Retrieving a collectible into the levels' slots.
Dance after retrieving a collectible or defeating a boss.
Giving the thumbs up or pointing the finger down while using the elevator.
The blown up death animation where Crash leaves behind his sneakers, eyeballs, and nose.
Scratch his head when a hologram is being projected.
Sliding over a TNT or locked crate will make you get stuck inside it.
TNT crates cannot be exploded by external factors while counting down, such as the player's attacks, Aku Aku invincibility, and nearby explosions.
Triggering a TNT crate before the full countdown and moving too far away from the camera will not explode the other adjacent crates or objects.
Crash turns into ashes when blown up by a TNT crate.
He turns to face the camera before disintegrating, just like in Crash Bandicoot.
The yellow particles around the exit portals are missing.
Locked crates always provide a single Wumpa fruit which is also picked up instantly, rather than dropping the pickup out of the box.
They are immediately counted when the crate is broken, rather than moving to the HUD.
Locked crates cannot be instantly destroyed with Aku Aku invincibility.
Iron crates that are placed together do not make a clanking sound when you spin on them.
Crash can get stuck inside locked crates after sliding on a regular crate under the locked one.
There is a smaller gap between each didgeridoo sound effect when Crash turns into an angel, causing it to play three times as opposed to two - sometimes it will even play just once instead.
Even if you leave a level prematurely, the game will keep the Aku Aku masks you have collected within that level.
Crash won't spoil the crystal to the level's slot after returning to the warp room. Instead, he will just leap out triumphantly of the portal as if he has earned nothing.
TNT crates will not be added to the box tally if they explode after Crash has stepped onto the bonus exit platform.
Dying on your last life will never result in a game over - the data is also missing from the disc.
Quitting the game will return to the startup intros instead of the title screen.
The game will automatically crash in the warp room after one day.
Warp Room
The demo puts the player in the second warp room, with access to four levels and a boss fight. Three additional levels can be accessed in the first warp room using a cheat code. Sewer or Later, Hangin' Out, and Ruination are only available in rolling demos, but can be played normally by hacking.
Saving is disabled for showcase purposes. As everything related to the save UI (fonts, icons, etc.) is missing from the files, it is possible this feature was not complete at the time this build released.
Snow Go, Rock It, Hang Eight, and Tiny Tiger levels were rearranged for demo purposes, so the item slots don't match the levels as they aren't in their intended locations.
The yellow particles around the warp portals are missing.
The elevator is stuck out of the hole in the middle.
The elevator has a different behavior: stepping on it will automatically go down if you are in the second warp room, and go up if you are in the first warp room.
The platform does not rotate when ascending or descending.
Body-slamming on it will automatically go up or down.
Snow Go's portal (which belongs to Snow Biz) has a different shape, being wider around the portal frame and with different icicles.
Rock It's portal (which belongs to Air Crash) is missing a clear gem.
There is an extra collision step on the Rock It portal, so you have to jump in order to enter it.
Polar is not sitting next to Bear It.
Tiny Tiger boss fight is the last level in the demo warp room and features its own portal. The level has slots for a green gem, a clear gem, and a crystal, which is result of the level order that has been swapped around. For obvious reasons, you can't collect these items in a boss fight.
Tiny was originally called Taz Tiger. This name can still be seen in the pause menu as an oversight in the American version of the game.
The portal has a different shape, which is very similar to the Snow Biz portal in the final game. It lacks the round pipe texture around the warp as it originally held Cold Hard Crash, rather than The Eel Deal.
In the first warp room, the level order was also rearranged for showcase purposes, so Cold Hard Crash and Air Crash aren't in their original locations.
Originally, the colored gems for Turtle Woods and Snow Go were switched, as noticed by the red gem on the Turtle Woods item slot, and the blue one on the Cold Hard Crash (Snow Go portal) slot.
Air Crash's portal (which belongs to Hang Eight) is missing a clear gem.
Air Crash and The Pits are not accessible in this version, therefore the warp portals are blocked off by an invisible barrier for showcase purposes.
You can fall off and die in the Crash Dash portal if you walk slowly into it.
Warp room files contain Crash's animation data for ice skating and water wading - the player would be able to interact with the ice and water surfaces of the second and third warp room at some point, and the former is further evidenced by a pre-release screenshot of an earlier build.
Cortex Hologram
Although the model and assets, minus dialogue, for Cortex's head and cutscene are in the files, they are disabled in this build. By inputting the aforementioned cheat code, pressing and holding down R2 toggles between bringing up the head and returning the camera back to Crash. The game runs slower during the holographic projection.
Cortex is displayed with a static facial expression and doesn't have any dialogue at this point. Clearly this feature was still incomplete, and didn't have a solid purpose yet.
Warp portals won't disappear while the hologram is being projected.
However, warp triggers are disabled, as if Crash attempts to enter a portal while the hologram is active, he will fall and die. Crash will lose a life and respawn either in front of the last level he was in, or at his default spawn point if no levels have been entered, and will regain his lives upon entering a level - unless they have been reduced to zero.
There is no sound from the projector.
Crash is free to move around.
Level Differences
Snow Go
The secret path is not present.
Sometimes the bonus round may not be triggered when falling into it, causing Crash to lose a life as the game treats it as a regular pit.
Main Level
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Final
The first Aku Aku crate is placed before the Nitro and TNT crates. In the final game, it was moved further ahead.
The first ice-skating segment has a different crate layout - the three iron crates with the life crate on top were moved into the ice patch for the final game.
Crash floats when he is on the top of those three iron crates.
The first checkpoint was moved further to the left in the final game.
A stack of a basic and a ? crate is missing after the first stone crusher.
After the second checkpoint, there is an iron arrow crate with a bounce crate, which was replaced by a seal in the final game.
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Final
The level layout differs in the red gem area. The floor segment is larger, and there is an ice mirror with a seal on it. This was altered later on, because it would be possible to get the gem by high-bouncing on the seal and belly-flopping in mid-air.
The second Aku Aku crate is placed in the gem area instead, which was moved further ahead in the final game.
A ? crate is missing right before the bonus round hole.
The final stack of crates changed the middle crate from a basic crate to a ? one in the final game.
Two ? crates are missing in the final icy segment. The ice floor is also larger.
The second to last pit has a slightly different shape.
Bonus Round
There is a blue crystal cluster next to the three suspended crates that was removed in the final game.
Rock It
This level features an entirely unique theme, never heard in the final game. See the Soundtrack section for more details.
Aku Aku is banned from this level. Even if the player has an Aku Aku when entering the level, the player loses the mask.
There is no pad options in the pause menu, but you can invert the jet pack controls by pressing Select during the gameplay.
Spinning on a TNT crate will just trigger it instead of instantly exploding it.
The game won't let you exit the level via the pause menu while floating on the jet pack because it acts like Crash is not touching a surface, just like in Crash Bandicoot.
There is no crystal in the level.
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Final
The "WARNING" sign placed along the map's scenery has a more metallic texture.
Main Level
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Final
A hot pipe was removed in the final game, and a basic crate hidden behind the wall in the top right corner was replaced by a ? crate and moved to the middle, right after the first door.
The life crate right before the first electric lab assistant section was replaced by a ? one and moved further to the left.
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Final
Right after the second checkpoint, the bottom hot pipe was removed and the pulsing balls was added. Also, the crate formation was changed: the Nitro crates on each side were removed and four Nitro crates surrounding a life crate were added to the right spot. Consequently, some Wumpas were removed.
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Final
Right after the third door, a ? crate was added, the right hot tube was removed and a burning current was added to the middle.
After the fourth door, a wall was added on the top right before the lasers, and a ? crate was added further on.
June 15
Final
Right before the final door, a hot pipe and a burning current were added.
On the last electric lab assistant section, pulsing balls were added.
Bear It
All scenery textures are blue here. In the final game, some decorations have greenish textures.
The bear is silent.
The animation of Crash diving into the bear plays slower.
There is no invisible barrier preventing Crash to jump across the bear before riding him.
There is no galloping sound. It plays the snow footstep sound instead.
There is also no sound effect for landing out of a jump.
Jumping over ? crates will make the bear bounce on them.
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Final
You don't twirl on a checkpoint after respawning. Crash respawns rolling on the bear instead.
Breaking crates while sprinting do not automatically give you the contents within, causing you to lose them when running towards one. In the final game, this behavior is present only upon breaking bounce crates.
Crash shouts "Whoa!" after smacking into a totem statue.
The bear's walking sound effects will play when he approaches Crash after they trip over a fallen totem.
Main Level
The basic crate before the first ice segment was changed to a ? crate in the final game.
The bounce crate after the first orca pond was changed to a ? crate in the final game.
There is a glitch where the player can fall through the ground while going uphill, right after the second checkpoint.
A ? crate is missing after the third orca pond.
The first basic crate after the Nitro section was changed to a ? crate.
A ? crate is missing right after the second to last orca pond.
There is no sound effect when the bear launches Crash across the giant chasm.
Hang Eight
The timer that automatically starts just before Crash makes it to the first jet board is missing.
The jet board hitbox is smaller, making the player fall in the gap if walking slowly enough.
The jet board doesn't sink when Crash is defeated by a water mine. It just disappears during the explosion instead.
Main Level
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Final
The first segment is very different here. There are two bounce crates on the left, then a path on the right leading to the sinking platform.
The first stack of crates is missing an Aku Aku crate, and two basic crates were replaced by ? crates in the final game. The bottom left crate contains an extra life, which was moved to the top one.
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Final
The left sinking platform goes up and down but won't sink into the water, while the right one does. This behavior is never seen in the final game.
The ? indicator on the bonus platform is sideways. The same applies to the bonus exit.
There is no collision applied to the platform on the sides, thus allowing the player to access it without having to jump onto it.
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Final
Three small platforms were added on the left side, and a larger one was added to the right side, which is where the blue gem platform would be present in the final game.
There are three piranhas instead of one.
A ? crate is missing right before the crystal.
The second crate of the final river section was changed from a bounce to a ? crate.
The third crate before the final ramp was changed from a basic crate to a ? crate.
Bonus Round
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Final
There is an extra Nitro crate and a floating platform leading to a removed ? crate with either an extra life or a single Wumpa fruit.
The Nitro explosion sound effect is missing from this level, and so the generic explosion sound effect will play if it's destroyed.
Tiny Tiger
You can carry masks into the boss fight.
Tiny doesn't have a health bar.
Spinning on Tiny will pass through his body.
After Tiny is defeated, Crash will just leap up in joy, then the level will immediately end.
Crash takes a while to start celebrating.
Turtle Woods
Crash doesn't spawn in the center of the landing pad.
Armadillos are missing entirely from the level.
The rain sound effect is missing.
There are no dropping tree leaves in the scenery.
The sky has a orange tone as opposed to blue in the final game.
Swallows sound effects are missing.
The stone face trapdoor leading to the secret area cannot be opened. The secret area is not present in this build.
Moles don't make sound effects.
Crates placed in mud puddles are static.
The insects throughout the level are in a different order here.
Main Level
The three swallows before the first mud puddle are placed differently.
A ? crate is missing right after the first mole hole.
The three swallows next to the bonus trapdoor are in different positions.
A ? crate is missing right after the bonus.
The moths that come out after opening the bonus trapdoor are yellow instead of blue.
The position of the bounce crate was changed on the stack of crates after the second checkpoint, most likely because attempting to complete the level without breaking a single crate would be much harder.
Two ? crates are missing before the second mole hole.
There are two swallows missing at the end of the level.
The ground before the exit passage door has a low relief.
Bonus Round
The initial segment has a single platform containing a suspended bounce crate.
Cold Hard Crash
The warp passage is from the second warp room, meaning it was originally the 10th level of that floor, before being replaced with The Eel Deal.
Falling icicles have a unique sound effect when hitting the ground, whereas in the final game they share the Nitro explosion sound effect.
Falling icicles also do not trigger TNT crates.
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Final
The porcupine lacks shading on his spines.
The blue crystal clusters are not present at all.
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Final
Falling planks and platforms re-use the sound of the falling planks from the Bridge levels of the first game. The final game uses the same sound as when the boulder starts rolling in the first game.
Rollers have no sounds.
The death route is not present.
Sometimes the bonus round may not be triggered when falling into it, causing Crash to lose a life as the game treats it as a regular pit.
Main Level
The first pit has a different shape in the border.
A ? crate is missing right after the third pit.
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Final
There is a pit behind the first checkpoint that was covered in the final game.
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Final
An ice mirror next to the second checkpoint segment was removed. The floor is shorter, and the death route platform is missing.
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Final
Before the sideways section, there is a long empty segment above that was removed in the final game. It seems it was originally intended to take Crash back inside to the interior portion of the level from the death route.
Two ? crates are missing right before the three log crushers section.
There is another porcupine right before the iron arrow crate leading to the third checkpoint.
There is a missing ? crate after the second platform with a Nitro and a penguin together.
After the second alcove with Nitros and a life crate behind, the wall scenery across the pit has proper vertex coloring, whereas it is not colored in the final game.
The pit before the Nitros at the beginning of the final segment is larger.
A ? crate is missing right after the TNTs with a crate.
The pit before the first roller has a slightly different shape in the border.
Two crates are missing right after the third roller.
Crash Dash
The boulder sound effects are the same as in the first game.
Tree trunks placed on the right side of the scenery features a different root flare.
If you stand still on the wooden bridges during the chase, the boulder won't be able to crush Crash.
Boost pads only trigger if you run or stand on them - spins and slides make them useless.
They also don't have any sound effects.
Static electric fences don't emit the buzz sound effect.
Crates in the chase sequences don't give you lives or Wumpas automatically when destroyed by the boulder.
Main Level
The first checkpoint is placed further ahead.
The crystal is placed in the first small wooden bridge.
The Nitros were moved to the left side of the path.
A basic crate was replaced by the crystal in the final game.
A ? crate is missing right after the final checkpoint.
The stack of crates behind the second electric fence had a bounce crate, which was changed to a ? crate in the final game.
The final stack of crates was all bounce crates, which were changed to ? crates in the final game.
The final crates behind the electric fences will be automatically broken by the boulder.
Bonus Round
Most of the red tree platforms lacks an invisible wall in the edges facing the screen to prevent the player from falling.
A Nitro crate under two basic crates was removed.
Sewer or Later
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Final
There is no music in this level.
There is no bonus round.
The warp passage is from the first warp room.
There are two crates inside the warp passage.
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Final
Welder lab assistants used to have their glasses textures displayed properly, something that the final version seemingly got it wrong mid-development.
You have to hit welder lab assistants twice in order to defeat them.
Spinning on a welder lab assistant will make the same sound effect of the spinnable wooden platforms from the native levels of Crash Bandicoot.
Welder lab assistants will immediately despawn from the screen when the player goes slightly forward.
Crash turns into an angel rather than turning into ashes when killed by the fire of the welder lab assistants.
The water has a blue color instead of dark green.
There are no electric eels, spike rats, or rolling barrels throughout the level.
It's hard to jump over the platforms while wadding in the water, as Crash clips through them and cannot jump high enough to reach the top.
Main Level
There are two crates inside the warp passage.
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Final
The first section of the level features four extra crates. The floor was removed in the final game.
Then ahead, there is a single scaling-pipe scrubber. In the final game, a pair of scrubbers walking in circles were added.
A path of Wumpa fruits ahead is missing.
There is an extra TNT crate just afterwards.
Two ? crates are missing, a life crate was changed to a ? crate and there are two extra bounce crates next to the door.
After the first door, two bounce crates and a TNT were removed in the final game and the platform was placed backwards.
June 15
Final
An Aku Aku crate and a checkpoint were added. Further ahead there are two rows of a Nitro and TNT with a life crate in between right after the hard path hole. This crate formation is never seen in the final game.
Two more ? crates were added next to the door.
The yellow gem path was originally a hard path which the player can simply fall into it. This was changed in the final game by using a gem platform to enter.
In the second welder lab assistant section, an Aku Aku crate was moved to the first checkpoint and the two crates were moved backwards, and in their original position a spike rat was added.
A locked crate and a life crate were replaced by two basic crates. They were also moved backwards.
A scaling-pipe scrubber was replaced by a pair of scrubbers walking in circles. A spinning fan blade was removed, and a barrel and two scrubbers were added instead.
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Final
This entire water section was moved further in the final game. It features two zig-zag platforms and a rotating one in the middle, and three crates, two of them needing to be activated with a ! switch placed in the ceiling.
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Final
After that, an Aku Aku crate was later added, and a checkpoint crate was added in place of a ? crate.
This section is longer, having two spinning fan blades to destroy instead of one. Sometimes two scaling-pipe scrubbers could spawn instead. The second part was moved further in the final game.
June 15
Final
The water section of three platforms was placed here in the final game. The prototype goes to the final segment before the split-path.
The wall of crates was three crates high instead of four. Nitros were replaced by basics and locked crates in the final game.
A small hole is present in the middle, which would work as the exit of the "hard" path. Falling in the hole will freeze the game.
A scaling-pipe scrubber was present further ahead.
The path of Wumpa fruits leading to the left path are missing.
In the left path, the platform was moved to the middle, and two crates were removed.
Four scaling-pipe scrubbers were replaced by a pair of scrubbers walking in circles.
June 15
Final
The final section of the left path reveals a totally different layout. A small bridge leading to three life crates covered by three Nitros and a TNT on each side. The crystal is also missing.
June 15
Final
In the right path, a bounce crate was replaced by ! and Nitro switches. The platform was also removed, and the floor extended.
Three scaling-pipe scrubbers were replaced further ahead by a path of six Wumpa fruits instead.
June 15
Final
The final section of the level had four platforms, and two crates on the right side.
"Hard" Path
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Final
The beginning of the path features wooden and locked crates instead of iron arrow crates in the final game.
June 15
Final
The next section leads to a split-path. In the final game, the right path was entirely scrapped, while the left path was turned into the main one.
The left path leads to a long water section featuring two zig-zag platforms and two rotating ones, then another door leading to the end of the hard path. The final room features a non-functional elevator, with another uncommon crate formation next to it.
The right path was removed from the final game since it leads to a dead-end. However, the water section is very similar to the final game's one, except the platforms have a different behavior, and there are two bounce crates.
The final segment that leads to a dead-end is never seen in the final game. There are four life crates, covered by a welder lab assistant and two Nitros on each side.
Hangin' Out
The level was completely re-done from scratch, and only some segments and ideas survived as recycled chunks in the final level design. The original layout resembles a labyrinth puzzle, forcing Crash to navigate wire meshes suspended above red-hot pipes and generally avoid sewer mechs, taking the level name more literally. It features lots of split-paths leading to dead-ends, which most of them contain ! crates. These switches would activate an outline bridge that would unlock an alternate passage to a secret path at the end of the level.
Overall, the level is in a primitive state. The ! crates don't seem to activate anything, and you can't complete it since Crash clips through the exit portal.
Crash doesn't spawn in the center of the landing pad.
The warp passage is from the first warp room.
The level uses the warp room theme as a placeholder.
There is no bonus round.
Navigating wire meshes doesn't make a sound effect.
The level starts with three untextured red hot pipes, an iron arrow crate, two basic crates ahead, and a long upward mesh. There are 15 Wumpas upwards, but the last three ones at the bottom right cannot be collected in the mesh. During the segment there will be some crates placed on the ground, and next to the end of the segment, six sewer mechs will be next to each other.
After that, there will be the first split-path. The right one will lead to a small segment containing an upward mesh, four crates, and two sewer mechs. What follows is another upward mesh, two iron arrow crates and the first ! crate. To reach the ! crate, you will need to slide over an iron crate and jump. After activating the ! crate you will be stuck, so you will need to quickly move forward to reach the iron crate again.
The left path will lead to a small segment containing an upward mesh and a sewer mech. There is a platform in the middle. After the small segment, there will be another but longer upward mesh, containing some crates and many sewer mechs.
After that, there will be the second split-path. The left one will lead to a small section containing a wide upward mesh with the second ! crate.
The right path will lead to a small segment containing an upward mesh, four basic crates, an iron arrow crate, and three sewer mechs.
After that, there will be the third split-path. The left one will lead to a small section containing a large rotating platform with three horizontal meshes above holding a basic crate and a single Wumpa fruit on the sideways. It is then followed by an even longer section containing a wide upward mesh with the third ! crate. It is actually impossible to reach the mesh in the first section though, forcing the player to lose a mask in order to reach the middle of the segment and hang the mesh.
The right path will lead to a small segment containing an upward mesh, three cyborg rats, and three sewer mechs. This cyborg rat enemy does not exist in the final game, and features red eyes, metallic armor, and spikes over the body. It can only be defeated by spinning or sliding on it. Overall, it resembles the ones present in dark levels of Crash Bandicoot.
Finally, there will be the last split-path. The left one will lead to a small segment containing an upward mesh and an outline bridge of crates. The bridge which doesn't seem to spawn even if activating all ! switches would open up an alternate passage at the end of the level - similar to Cortex Power in Crash Bandicoot. The path contains a long lava pool leading to a dead-end. It ended up being the secret path in the final game that leads to a warp to the secret warp room.
Contrary to the other levels in the demo, the camera does not zoom out inside the warp passages when Crash is looking at the camera, and thus this is the only level of the demo that doesn't zoom out the camera in the warp passage.
The level uses the warp room theme as a placeholder.
The warp passage is from the first warp room.
There is no bonus round.
Possums and lizards are missing.
The level takes place on a clear night as opposed to during a thunderstorm.
The falling square platforms from bridges lack sound effects.
The logs thrown by gorillas lack a sound effect.
Moving pillars use the default color texture used elsewhere.
There are no Wumpa fruits, crystal, crates and almost no enemies throughout the level.
Crash turns into an angel rather than turning into ashes when touching the fire of the tiki statues.
The floor right after the start passage door is not linked to it, so if Crash falls on the edge or walk backwards, he'll fall.
June 15
Final
The fire-breathing tiki statues used to have their textures of the nose, teeth, and ears in their correct spots, something that the final version seemingly got it wrong mid-development.
A fire-breathing tiki statue is missing at the beginning of the level.
Main Level
June 15
Final
This segment was completely changed in the final game. Single platforms were removed in favor of a more easier layout containing a checkpoint.
The level features a stone signpost, which rose from the abyss, denoting an "easy" and "hard" path throughout the level where is actually the green gem path in the final game. The green gem replaced the platforms leading to the "Hard" part.
An extra platform before the rotating platforms was removed in the final game.
The ground where the bonus is located in the final game was replaced by two platforms.
Right ahead, an extra platform as added in the right side in the final game, which contains two crates.
June 15
Final
A moving pillar was later replaced by a bridge with two TNTs and a lizard.
The prototype features a bridge with a moving pillar then a falling platform. Everything was replaced by two moving pillars instead.
June 15
Final
The two moving pillars were replaced to a rotating platforms leading to the Nitro detonator.
June 15
Final
From this point onwards, the level design was totally changed. While in the final game there would be a final section of platforms on the right, containing a gorilla leading to the end, in the prototype the level will keep going forward for a certain point, until it goes to the left side leading to a set of rotating platforms. After that point, the level will change the perspective to face the camera for a small segment, until it turns to the left again, leading to another set of rotating platforms. Finally, the end will be located afterwards.
"Hard" Path
The first bridge with the fire-breathing tiki statues is placed higher.
Right before the second section with the gorilla, the square platform was changed to a hexagon one.
After the second gorilla section, the hexagon platform was changed to a square one.
The first square platform before the third gorilla section was changed to a hexagon one.
The last hexagon platform before the third gorilla section was changed to a square one.
The bridge after the third gorilla is higher from the third falling platform onwards. The square platform right ahead was changed to a hexagon one.
The last square platform was changed to a hexagon one.
Rock It features an entirely unique and previously unheard theme. A "pre-console" version of this track was first revealed in 2019 by composer Josh Mancell in a podcast interview, who referred to it as "Out Spaced". According to him, the song was rejected, thus the theme for the level was re-composed from scratch in a more orchestral and less chaotic direction.
Tiny Tiger
Unused Content
No Memory Card Textures
There are unused textures that reads "No Memory Card Found" for both warp rooms.
Sewer Platform
Sewer or Later contains an unused large green platform, and two buttons that would be featured on either side. Stepping on the buttons would move the platform forwards or backwards.
Hologram Scanline
There is an unused visual effect on Cortex's hologram of a purple scanline constantly surrounding his hologram. It can be seen in earlier pre-release screenshots.
Space Station Sign
The texture data for Rock It contains an unused, crude sign that reads "Space Station" and has antennas sticking out of it. This sign can be seen in pre-release footage.
Ruins Exit Sign
This "EXIT" texture was meant to be used for the hard path in Ruination, most likely for telling you where the hard path ends.
Alternate Splashing Noises
Found in the data for Sewer or Later and Turtle Woods respectively, these sound effects are not used anywhere in those levels. They were most likely used as a second splashing noise that played when Crash went in the water.
This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.
