So, you’re looking for some help for the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy?
It can be tricky old game, can’t it?
Well, have no fear because we’ve got a bag of tricks, tips, secrets and cheats to get you through the remastered PS4 trilogy as smoothly as possible!
Want to achieve the coveted Platinum trophy for each of the games in the Crash Trilogy?
Don’t we all…
Well, whether you need help collecting gems, some tips to obtain those tricky trophies, or some hints on how to master the time trial runs then you’ve come to the right place.
In this Crash Bandicoot guide, we’ll be covering the following in this order:
1.Crash Bandicoot
- Trophy tips
- Time trial tips
- Bonus tip: Bridge Levels
- Gems
- Secret levels
2. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
- Trophy tips
- Time trial guide
- Gems
- Secret levels
- Trophy tips
- Race levels tips
- Power-ups
- Time trials tips
- Gems
- Secret levels
- Crash Bandicoot
- Crash Bandicoot 2
- Crash Bandicoot 3
Okay, let’s begin…
Crash Bandicoot trophy tips
- Unlock the No Holds Barred by killing 5 enemies with her spinning attack.
You can unlock Coco after you’ve completed the first boss fight, Papu Papu. You’ll unlock an extra side path where you can decide whether you want Coco to join your team or not. After unlocking Coco, you can earn the trophy.
- Unlock the On Cloud 99 trophy for getting to 99 lives
Get the green gem and enter the level on the last island called Castle Machinery. You can jump on the gem instantly, which will bring you to a cross-over higher up which is filled with around 30 lives. Run on and you’re instantly at the end of the level. After this, save the game (if you’re not using the automatic saving system), quit and restart. Do this a few times and you’ll have 99 lives in no time.
- Unlock the The Box That Broke the Bandicoot’s Back by missing a lot of crates
This trophy can easily be earned; just run through one of the levels purposely missing most (if not all) of the crates. Complete the level and the trophy will pop while Crash gets his back broken by falling crates.
- Unlock the Feeeed Meeeee! Trophy by getting eaten by a plant
This one is easy! Head to the Jungle Rollers and get eaten by a piranha plant.
- Unlock the I See London, I see France trophy by getting electrocuted by a fence
Another fairly easy trophy, but remember to do this in Cortex Power on the third island.
Crash Bandicoot time trial tips
Do you want to earn the platinum trophy?
Then you need to finish the game beyond 100% and earn all the gems and (at least) gold relics. Those relics can be tricky, but here are some useful tips for going through them:
1. Patience; in the first game, Crash has no more abilities than run, jump and spin, unlike the next two games in the franchise.
2. Relax, take a deep breath and just run through the levels. For the biggest part of the time trials, the difficult part is staying alive, not beating the time for a gold relic. Remember how the enemies and surroundings interact with one another and you’ll be able to run through fluidly in most cases.
3. Sometimes it can help to wait a moment before starting the time trial by retrieving the clock token. It can give you a chance to let the environment move a little bit to your satisfaction, which can sometimes help get an easier run through without being stopped as often.
4. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to get a difficult time crate that might be a little out of your way or a bit difficult to get to! There’s a good chance it can take more time to get than it’ll give you back.
5. The extra bonus levels that can be unlocked by earning a key (which is explained later) also contain a relic, so don’t forget about these if you want to get platinum!
6. Use the aku masks to your advantage. If there are three masks available in the level, try earn all three of them as invincibility can help you loads as it speeds you up a little and you can avoid paying attention to enemies and surroundings that kill Crash (except for pits!).
If you cannot earn three masks, don’t be afraid to use them to your advantage. If there’s a difficult spot, just sacrifice (one of) your aku mask(s).
Crash Bandicoot bonus tip: Bridge Levels
The bridge levels “Road To Nowhere” and “The High Road” can be very tricky to surpass as they require precise jumps and control of Crash. If you’re having issues, you could always jump onto the rope to get through them. Take your time for this as you can slide of quite easily.
If you’ve made your way through and are now going on a time trial run, don’t forget that you can die as much as you want, you won’t lose any lives! With this in your mind, you could start the time trial run and take as much chances and time on mastering the jump onto the rope so you can use it in time of need (e.g. when running through time trial for the second bridge level). If you are using the ropes, keep in mind that you can jump over the stone pillars that are along the way if the fence continues.
For the time trial of the first bridge, “Road To Nowhere”, you do not need to jump onto the ropes to earn the golden or even the platinum relic. It’s best not to risk it, as there’s a big chance you’ll slide off the rope or miss a jump; instead, concentrate on the precision of the jumps. It takes patience and might take a while, but in the end this will pay off.
For the second bridge level, “The High Road”, the rope isn’t mandatory either, however there are véry few people who’ve gotten through, earning a golden relic, without running across the rope. Some recommend to use small jumps and ‘tapping’ the rope, others jump onto it and run across. Try what you think sounds best and good luck!
Gems and secret levels
So, it’s fairly easy to collect all the clear gems just by destroying all the crates in the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy, right?
But, what about those secret colored gems tucked away among each level?
There’s hidden paths and tasks, secret levels and areas to find if you want to get them all.
Throughout each game you can collect gems if you want to complete the games. There’s clear gems, which you receive by destroying all the crates in the level and there are coloured gems which you can retrieve through certain hidden paths or tasks. Read on as we explain how to retrieve the coloured gems in and where to find the secret levels or pathway
Crash Bandicoot gems
In the first title of the trilogy you can earn the coloured gems by finishing the levels without dying and breaking all the crates. Some levels will require you to earn a certain coloured gem as they will take you to a special area where you’ll find the rest of the crates.
The levels, in chronological order:
- The Lost City – green gem
- Generator Room – orange gem
- Toxic Waste – blue gem
- Slippery Climb – red gem
- Lights Out – purple gem (yellow gem required)
- The Lab – yellow gem
Crash Bandicoot secret levels
Whole Hog
To unlock the “Whole Hog” level, you have to earn the key in the level “Sunset Vista” on the second island by collecting the three Cortex tokens to access and complete the Cortex bonus level.
After completing the level and earning the key, you can access the new level on the first island.
The first token can be found when you get to the top of the ruins and run to the left behind the pillars.
The second token can be found above moving walls on your path, which you can reach by jumping on crates and onto the moving wall.
The third and last token can be found near the teleporter to the Cortex bonus level. Jump from the moving platform to the platform in the back and run to the left to collect the last token.
Once the level is unlocked, you can find it right after the first bridge level on the second island.
Fumbling In The Dark
Unlocking this level requires you to earn the key in the level “Jaws of Darkness”. After collecting the three Cortex tokens and earning the key in the Cortex bonus level, you’ll receive a key that will unlock the level on the third island.
You can find the first token on your path when you are jumping across platforms towards the screen. There’ll be a fire and 2 pillars with arrows coming out. Once you come across platform with a TNT crate on top of two other crates, break the bottom crate to earn the first token.
The second token can be found on your path as well, where you have a few spikes and a snake with on the next platform a few crates with a TNT crate in between. Don’t use spin, as this most likely causes the snake to fly into the TNT and blow up the token. Jump on the snake and jump on the two crates on the right of the TNT crate.
The last token can be found right after the second one. Jump across the few platforms and the last platform (where you start moving away from the screen) will have floating wumpa fruit in the air on the left. Just run left and you’ll cross a few platforms (which will disappear after you crossed them). You’ll find the token and entrance to the bonus level on the next platform.
Turn over for the Crash Bandicoot 2 guide.
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Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back trophy tips
- Unlock the Boom Shakalaka trophy by defeating 5 enemies with Coco’s Double Leg Drop
To play with Coco, you have to defeat the first boss fight, Ripper Roo. You can find Coco in the second world and decide whether or not you want her to join your team. If you want to get a platinum trophy, you’ll have to play with her to get a few kills with Coco’s equivalent of Crash’ “Body Slam”, the “Double Leg Drop”.
- Unlock the 99 Percent Perspiration trophy by earning 99 lives
You can use an exploit (that has not been patched at the time of writing) in the level ‘Bee-having’, after the first checkpoint, run past the beehive and once the bees pop out, run and use a slide and spin combination to kill all the bees. This will grant you an extra life. Within 10 minutes you should have your trophy.
As you can see in the video below, you have to kill all the bees at once. You can see a failed attempt when Crash killed the bees in two turns once.
- Unlock the A Helping Paw trophy by jumping over the bear many times
From the classic game, this has been brought over to the N-Sane trilogy; jump on Polar (the ice bear) in the second world for a while and you will earn a bunch of lives.
- Unlock the Crash Cubed trophy – Fly, then die
When running through one of the levels with Polar, there are enemies that hold up a bar that you either jump over or cross under. Some of these are placed in front of water. To get the trophy, make sure you jump, hit the bar and fall into the water. The trophy should pop in no time.
- Unlock the Buzz Off! trophy by getting stung by a bee
Buzz Off! is easily earned in one of the bee levels. Just get stung by the bee and the trophy should pop up.
- Unlock the Cortex N.Furiated trophy – Just forget it!
This trophy can be confusing, as you don’t really come across Cortex throughout the game, only in the last boss fight. For this trophy, (turn off auto-save if you don’t want to lose your save,) start a new game and enter the first level. Don’t collect anything, just leave the level. Do this three times and the trophy should pop.
Crash Bandicoot 2 time trial tips
If you’re looking to run for the platinum trophy, then you need to finish the game beyond 100% and earn all the gems and (at least) gold relics. Those relics can be tricky, but here are some useful tips for going through them:
1. After finishing the game once, after beating Cortex, you get special speed boots. These are needed to get proper time trial runs.
2. There’s 27 relics in total; the five warp rooms you ran through all have five relics to earn and two of the bonus levels (accessed throughout secret entrances in other levels) also have to be ran through for a relic.
3. Sometimes it can help to wait a moment before starting the time trial by retrieving the clock token. It can give you a chance to let the environment move a little bit to your satisfaction, which can sometimes help get an easier run through without being stopped as often.
4. You can slide with both the circle button and R1. However, if you’re used to slide with R1 and you’re having a hard time getting through the level when using the speed boots which are assigned to R2, try setting up a control switch between R2 and L2 in the PS4 main settings; this helped me personally get through the levels a lot easier and it was a lot more comfortable.
5. When running, sliding and spinning instantly only slows you down a very tiny bit but does not stop momentum.
6. You can traverse some obstacles by using the slide and jump combination throughout the levels such as the pits and some fences (not all of them! The electric fences will still electrocute you, despite being high enough with your combination).
7. If needed, you can use a little spin right after the slide and jump combination to give you that little extra height to reach some spots (faster).
8. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to get a difficult time crate that might be a little out of your way or a bit difficult to get to! There’s a good chance it can take more time to get than it’ll give you back.
9. Use the aku masks to your advantage. If there are three masks available in the level, try earn all three of them as invincibility can help you loads as it speeds you up a little and you can avoid paying attention to enemies and surroundings that kill Crash (except for pits!).
If you cannot earn three masks, don’t be afraid to use them to your advantage. If there’s a difficult spot, just sacrifice (one of) your aku mask(s).
As you may know, the three games differ in the abilities that Crash has to get through the levels; whereas the first game only contains the jump and spin ability, the next two games in the series contain more abilities. Besides the speed boots, the key abilities to use for speedruns to complete the Time Trials are the slide and jump abilities. As seen in the Time Trial example underneath this paragraph the fifth, sixth and seventh point in the list above.
Crash Bandicoot 2 gems
Whereas in the first game you could earn them by destroying all the crates without dying, in Cortex Strikes back, to earn the coloured gems, you have to perform a set of tasks.
- Turtle Woods – blue gem
To earn the blue gem, you have to get through the level without breaking any crates. If you aren’t sure how to get past the wall of crates; use the bounce crate to get over it by only bouncing on it once without destroying it.
- Snow Go – red gem
Further in the game, in the level ‘Air Crash’ there’s a hidden portal which will send you to a secret path which will earn you the red gem.
- The Eel Deal – green gem
This gem can be found further into the level; there’s a room filled with nitro on the right of a split. Get through this room and walk through the wall at the end.
- Plant Food – yellow gem
When getting through this level, you’ll suddenly see a little timer pop up. This is not a time trial run; however, you have to finish the level within this time to earn the yellow gem.
- Bee-having – purple gem
There’s a staircase of nitro crates, which will not kill you if you jump on them. At the top of this staircase, you will be teleported to a secret route.
Crash Bandicoot 2 secret levels
Totally Bear
Make your way through the level “Un-Bearable” which can be found in the third warp room. Once you’ve finished the run, after Polar has thrown you across the big pit, turn around and run back to the pit. Jump over it keep running back until you find Polar. Once you’ve reached the bear, you’ll be teleported to the “Totally Bear” level. Good luck, it’s a tough one!
Totally Fly
In the fourth warp room, enter the level “Hangin’ Out”. Play through until you drop down into water with in front of you a checkpoint and the bonus level. Run towards the screen and drop down the hole. It’s a tough part you’ll have to get through, so having one or more Aku masks is always useful. Traverse the climbing bit and you’ll reach the exit. This will bring you to the secret warp room, where you can find the portal for “Totally Fly”.
Air Crash/Go Snow
Enter the level “Air Crash” in the second warp room and make your way through until you reach the jet ski but do not get on it. Instead, make your way across the crates to the platform ahead in the water. Once you reach the platform, you’ll be teleported to a secret area of the level “Snow Go”.
Bear Down/Air Crash
Make your way through “Bear Down”, which is the thirteenth level and can be found in the third warp room. After Polar throws you over the cliff, walk back and jump across the platforms to the floating piece of ice. Once you reach it, it’ll teleport you to a secret area of the level “Air Crash”.
Diggin’ It/Road To Ruin
Diggin’ It is the second level in the fourth room of the game and contains the teleport to the secret area of “Road To Ruin”. You can find this teleport further into the game, where there’s a big pit with a plant on a small platform. Body slam the plant (be sure you’re in the middle, else it will kill you instead) and you will be taken to the secret area of “Road To Ruin”.
Sixth Warp Room
Don’t forget the sixth warp room! In the first room, stand on the circle and go down and you will move down to the sixth warp room, which contains the secret levels such as “Totally Bear” and “Totally Fly”.
Turn over for the Crash Bandicoot 3 guide.
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Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped trophy tips
If you’re on a run for the platinum trophy, we suggest to have a run through the game first without paying too much attention to any of the gems nor the relics. The power ups you unlock will be very useful getting through collecting the gems and relics.
- Unlock the Category Five trophy – Defeat 5 enemies with Coco’s Savage Hurricane Spin
Playing as Coco can be done right away from the start. Coco’s standing at the big monitor with her laptop, walk up to her and the game will prompt you whether or not she can join your team. You don’t have to beat any levels or boss fights to unlock this option. You can earn the trophy by playing with Coco and killing five enemies with her Savage Superspin, which is her equivalent of Crash’s Death Tornado Spin.
- Unlock the Warts and all trophy – Die
Earn this trophy in the sixth level, “Gee Wiz” or the fifteenth level “Double Header”. In these levels, there are wizards who’ll cast a spell which will be visualised by a small pink electric orb that locks onto you. Get hit by the orb and you’ll be transformed into a frog, which will make the trophy pop.
- Unlock the Keeping Crash Under Wraps trophy – Die
This trophy can be earned in the Egyptian levels. You’ll encounter a bouncing sarcophagus. Hit it once so the mummy pops out and let the mummy attack you. After the attack, the trophy should pop.
- Unlock the Trigger Clickin’ Good trophy – Shoot 5 of them in a single level
Do you remember that chicken in the very first level? Did you also try to kill the chicken but couldn’t get to it? This is your chance! After unlocking the Fruit Bazooka, you can earn the trophy by going into the first level and shooting the chicken five times with the Bazooka. Before you rush in and kill it; get the clock token to start time trial. This way you don’t have to finish the full level, quit and restart it, or die on purpose; you can just quickly restart the level and you’ll earn the trophy within no time.
- Unlock The Riddle of the Sphynx and Your Moment of Zen trophy
In the ninth level “Tomb Time”, you can earn two trophies. The first trophy can be earned right at the start. Enter the level and get your bazooka out. Aim your bazooka to the left or the right of the mouth of the sphinx and you’ll see your reticle turn red. Shoot and you’ll earn a life as well as the trophy The Riddle of the Sphynx.
The second trophy that can be earned within the same level (“Tomb Time”) is called Your Moment of Zen. When traversing through the level, just past the bonus level, you’ll come across monkeys in vases who’re throwing projectiles at you. Dodge these until they stop throwing. Once they’ve stopped, break all the vases and one of the monkey’s ghost will rise from the vase, unlocking the trophy.
- Unlock the Shoot the Imposter trophy
You’ll need to have all the crystals and gems within the game, which in it’s turn means you’ll also have to get at least all the sapphire relics (might as well go for gold while you’re at it!) as you’ll need the relics to get the last gems.
When all of this has been acquired, go through the boss battle with Cortex and Uka-Uka again. After finishing this, enter the first level of the game, “Toad Village”, get through it until you reach the bonus and keep an eye out on the right side besides the running path. You will see a Crash look-a-like standing in front of a door. Shoot him with the Fruit Bazooka and the trophy will unlock.
- Unlock A Stitch in Time Saves 99 trophy
This is the third trophy in the trilogy where you are required to reach the 99 lives mark. Despite the other two games having an easy way of reaching this, the third game does not have a direct help for this. If you are going for platinum, collect all the gems and crystals first, as likely you’ll stack up a bunch of lives already doing this. With that in mind, most people who’re going for it recommend either one of two methods;
1. Simply running through the level Orient Express in the first warp room; the level is short and quick to run through and should earn you around four or five lives each run through. As the crates will turn into question mark crates instead of life crates after getting them once, you’ll have to quit the game and restart it, which will generate the life crates again.
2. You must have completed the second and third warp room first as you’ll need the Double Jump and the Death Tornado power up.
Load up the sixteenth level, “Sphynxinator”. Run towards the camera to collect the first life. Head forward and take the left path. Use your Double Jump and the Death Tornado spin to cross the big gap in the floor. It’s a short run, but at the end of this path you’ll earn an additional four lives. After earning them, quit the round. Open the save menu with L2 and reload the save you’re playing on. Repeat this method over and over and in due time, the 99 lives are yours.
Crash Bandicoot 3 race level tips
The race levels in the game can be a bit tricky to get through as you have to finish first as well as avoid police cars, pits and your opponents. Here’s a couple of tips:
- Press X or R2 to accelerate right before the lights hit green. It’ll give you a little boost at the start which can be very useful.
- Stay closer to the edge of the road if possible, as this will grant you less chance of a collision with your opponents.
- You can use the Death Tornado Spin to glide a bit through the air and thus reach certain areas that are otherwise not accessible without (for instance) a gem.
Crash Bandicoot 3 power-ups
After defeating a boss, you unlock a new power up. As there are five bosses, you earn five power ups towards the end of the game. Some of these power-ups are necessary to get through the game’s Time Trial runs (i.e.Crash Dash and Double Jump).
Super Charged Body Slam: The standard body slam is now more powerful. This power up is earned by defeating Tiny Tiger, the first boss in the game.
Double Jump: With this you can jump again on top of your jump, creating a double jump that allows Crash to jump higher and further. This power up will be yours after defeating the second boss, Dingodile.
Death Tornado Spin: Crash’ spin is now longer and faster by repeatedly pressing the button. This power up will be added to your repertoire of abilities after defeating N.Tropy, who is the third boss.
Fruit Bazooka: This power up can be used to shoot wumpa fruit at crates and enemies. After you beat Dr. N. Gin, you will earn this power up.
Crash Dash: These speed boots allow Crash to sprint, which is necessary for time trial. You’ll earn these boots after defeating Cortex, the fifth and last boss in the game.
Crash Bandicoot 3 time trial tips
If you’re looking to run for the platinum trophy, then you need to finish the game beyond 100% and earn all the gems and (at least) gold relics. Those relics can be tricky, but here are some useful tips for going through them:
1. Sometimes it can help to wait a moment before starting the time trial by retrieving the clock token. It can give you a chance to let the environment move a little bit to your satisfaction, which can sometimes help get an easier run through without being stopped as often.
2. There are 30 relics to earn throughout the game; the five rooms each have five relics. With these 25 relics, there’s an additional sixth warp room that contains another five relics and there’s two extra bonus levels (“Hot Coco” & “Eggipus Rex”) that also contain a time trial run.
3. You can get a small head start on the time trial runs by using your bazooka from distance. Shoot the clock and start running!
4. In the water levels, you are faster by swimming and spinning around (square button) than when you are using the submarine scooters.
5. In the future levels towards the end of the game, you have big tank enemies who shoot three rockets, turn around and show a target for you to hit. You can bypass these by using your Double Jump and Death Tornado Spin.
6. When you are going for time trial runs on the racing levels, start the level but wait before firing off. Let your opponents get far ahead so you can drive across the course without having to worry about any collisions.
7. Sometimes it’s not worth trying to get a difficult time crate that might be a little out of your way or a bit difficult to get to! There’s a good chance it can take more time to get than it’ll give you back.
8. Use the aku masks to your advantage. If there are three masks available in the level, try earn all three of them as invincibility can help you loads as it speeds you up a little and you can avoid paying attention to enemies and surroundings that kill Crash (except for pits!).
If you cannot earn three masks, don’t be afraid to use them to your advantage. If there’s a difficult spot, just sacrifice (one of) your aku mask(s).
9. The Egyptian levels have places where there’s oil on the floor. Get through these parts fast by sliding across them (R1 or circle button).
10. Do not use the power ups (besides the speed boots) when going through time trial runs. Unless you’re trying to get across or past certain sections quicker, you can use the Double Jump and Death Tornado ability if necessary.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped gems
Just like in the second game, you have to go through a some tasks to earn the coloured gems.
- Hang’Em High – yellow gem
For earning the yellow gem, you will have to complete 10 time trial runs and earn a relic on each of those. Once you’ve done this, the sixth warp room will open and the gem can be earned by running through the alternative entrance to the level there.
- Deep Trouble – red gem
The red gem can be earned by completing the secret course, a little before the end. A split path is seen where you can go either further to the right or move upwards. Move upwards to get to the end of the level. At the very end, before you reach the teleport back to the warp room, an iron crate can be found with an exclamation mark on it. Activate it and swim back until you reach the split again. Now you can go to the right and complete the secret course. At the end o fthis course, the gem will be waiting.
- High Time – purple gem
Just as in the second game, there are three levels that contain a death route. This means you cannot die until you reach this point of the level. Jump onto the platform and it will move you to a secret path where, at the end, you’ll earn the gem.
- Tomb Wader – blue gem
The second level containing a death route; just as High Time, make your way through the level without dying until you reach the platform which will bring you to a secret path where, at the end, you can find the blue gem.
- Flaming Passion – green gem
The third and last level containing a death route. Just as the other two levels, make your way through alive until you reach the platform. Get through the secret path and earn the green gem at the end.
Crash Bandicoot 3 secret levels
Eggipus Rex
Enter the eleventh level in the game, “Dino Might”. Work your way through the level until you reach the yellow gem, which will bring you to a new area. Continue until you are being chased by the Triceratops; avoid the first Pterodactyl, but make do not avoid the second one, on the left side. The second Pterodactyl will take you to this bonus level.
Hot Coco
During the racing level “Road Crash”, on the left side of the screen not too far into the level, you can find an alien head on a yellow sign. Crash into it and you will be teleported to the level “Hot Coco”.
Sixth Warp Room
The sixth warp room contains an additional five levels. To unlock this warp room, you’ll first need to collect five relics by completing five time trial runs. For each new level, you will need an additional five relics. This means for all five levels, you will need 25 relics.