Crates
Crates or boxes are the most common collectibles and a recurring element to the Crash Bandicoot games. Boxes come with various markings, and these markings usually represent what can be found within them.
Boxes usually (but not always) count towards an unlockable gem for which you have to break all of them within a level. However, as simple as it may sound, this is not always simple task, as sometimes they are hidden in hard to reach spots. Crash Bandicoot has always been notorious for its single missing box in a level, which Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time has definietly taken to the next level.
Anyway, it's time to learn about the crates and their unique features.
Note: Most of these crates do not have an official name, so these are just names I heard them being referred to as.
Boxes usually (but not always) count towards an unlockable gem for which you have to break all of them within a level. However, as simple as it may sound, this is not always simple task, as sometimes they are hidden in hard to reach spots. Crash Bandicoot has always been notorious for its single missing box in a level, which Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time has definietly taken to the next level.
Anyway, it's time to learn about the crates and their unique features.
Note: Most of these crates do not have an official name, so these are just names I heard them being referred to as.
Basic Crate
The basic crate is a simple wooden box always containing a single piece of wumpa fruit. They can be broken almost any possible way (e.g. spinning, body slamming, sliding in, etc...). These crates made their debut in the very first installment of the series and has since then appeared in almost all mainline Crash games with the exception of CTR and CNK.
Surprise Crate
The surpires crate, indicated by a question mark ("?") painted on the sides, is made of wood, and is a variation on the basic crate. These boxes usually contain 1 to 10 wumpa fruits. They are introduced in the first Crash Bandicoot game as well.
- In CTR, CNK, CTR: Nitro-Fueled, and other racing games, these crates always contain weapons instead of wumpa fruit.
- In Crash Bash, these crates are painted purple.
Bouncy Crates
Bouncy Crates have vertical stripes on them and they can be bounced on 5 times to get a total of 10 Wumpa fruits.
- In Crash 1 and 2, they could be bounced on 10 times, which was changed to just 5 from Crash Bandicoot Warped onwards.
Arrow Crates
Arrow crates have an upwards facing arrow painted on their sides. They can be made of either wood or iron, but the latter is unbreakable. The wooden ones are breakable and count towards the total box count in a level. They always contain a single piece of Wumpa fruit. They can be used to get to hard to reach spots that are high above the ground. Before breaking them, it's best to make sure, that there's nothing high above them in the air!
TNT Crates
TNT crates made their first appeareance in the very first game and has since then appeared in almost every installment of the series. TNT crates are harmful. You can touch them on their sides, but as soon as you hit their top, they will start a countdown and then explode, breaking nearby boxes, killing enemies and also hurting Crash, given, he stands too close to the explosion. They also immediately explode when spun or bellyflopped into.
TNTs can also appear in other forms.
TNTs can also appear in other forms.
- For example, in the Ripper Roo boss fight in Crash 2, there are flat TNTs which countdown is six seconds instead of the usual three seconds of their crate versions.
- There are also BIG TNTs, that are only present in the boss fight against Ripper Roo in Crash 1.
- In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, there are TNT barrels on Dingodile's leveles which doesn't explode when he grabs it with his leafblower.
Nitro Crates
Nitro crates made their debut in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. They are similar to TNT crates, however, are even more dangerous. Just by the slightest touch, a Nitro crate will immediately explode and kills Crash if he does not have an Aku Aku mask to protect him. So it is best to avoid these crates at all.
- That being said, some exceptions do occur. For example in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex you can walk on them using the Tiptoe superpower,
- Another exception is in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, in which some puzzles require you to jump on them for a split second and then bounce off safely using Kapuna-Wa's time slowing powers.
Time Trial Crates
These crates only appear during Time Trial sessions and replace some of the normal crates in a level. They are painted a distinct yellow color and have a marking of either 1, 2 or 3. These numbers represent the seconds you gain by breaking them. A successful time trial run requires you to break as much of them as possible.
- In CTR and CNK, breaking all of these crates in a level reduces your total time by 10 seconds.
Invisibility crate
Breaking open one of these crates turns Crash invisible for a short while, making it possible to dodge all kinds of attacks from weapons and deadly laser beams. Invisibility itself was first introduced in Crash Team Racing, with which the player could dodge the hoaming missilies. The crate version however, made its first appearance in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The crate is slightly translucent.
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash of the Titans (GBA)
- They are also present in the Game Boy Advance version of Crash of the Titans, where these crates are made of wood.
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash of the Titans (GBA)
Pants Crate
This obscure crate has only appeared in Crash Bandicoot: Fusion to this day. Their usefulness is questionable. It appears on the crate breaking bonus-round style mini-games. Upon breaking this crate, it gives Crash's pants a new color, which can either be red, yellow, orange, green, black or white, which is purely a cosmetic touch and can't be kept when you leave or restart the level. Welp, the only thing this crate is good for is to avoid... going out of fashion!
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot: Fusion
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot: Fusion
Magic Carpet Crate
This crate gives Crash a snake-charmer look, a turban and a magic carpet to fly on, along with the ability to shoot spheres forward. The effect wears off after reaching a certain point in the level. This crate makes its first and only appearance in the GBA spin-off game, Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
World Crate
These boxes are responsible for the autosave feature in Crash Twinsanity, and also double as checkpoints. They are automatically broken by proximity of the player. They are quite rare, usually only found at the start of a new level. They are also present before some but not all boss fights.
Appears in: Crash Twinsanity
Appears in: Crash Twinsanity
Ammo crate
Ammo for Cortex's Ray Gun. Only appears in Crash Twinsanity, in Cortex levels.
Flamethrower crate
The flamethrower crate is similar to the crate minions from Crash of the Titans and Mind over Mutant. These crates periodically blow fire out of all of its six sides to hurt the player. They made their first and only appearance in Crash Bandicoot 4 this far.
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Appears in: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Removed crates
Some of the crates were scrapped druing development of the games.
Time Trial Activation Crate
In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, time trial mode was originally planned to be entered by hitting a crate instead of running into a stopwatch. This crate was metal and therefore indestructible. This is so that this crate would not have counted toward the box gem in the level.
Proximity Crate
There is a type of removed crate from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex called Proximity crate, but their purpose remains unknown. They can be found in the game with the use of cheat codes. Breaking them does not trigger any action. These were probably used to change the course of Crash's minecart in some levels. One theory suggests that they were supposed to activate platform lifts. This is because there's an activator for moving platforms with a name that starts with "proximity". However. it doesn't work when you get close to it. Another theory implies that they could be one of the elemental crates that have been mentioned in several articles before the game's release.