Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Development Info Prototype Info Prerelease Info Bugs

Unused Animations#

The Dingodile boss fight contains an unused animation (Ci13V and Ci23V), depicting Crash's tongue getting stuck to ice.

In the Medieval levels, there is an unused animation depicting Crash's bottom half tapping his foot (Cs3bV), which would have been played before his legs walked away from him after being cut in half by the knight lab assistant's sword. This animation was used in the E3 demo.

Gee Wiz contains an unused animation of a trapdoor opening downwards (HG2bV). This is a leftover from an early futuristic bonus round located underground, which can also be seen in the E3 demo.

Edited versions of Crash's head-scratching animation that would play during hologram projections in Crash 2 exist in the data for the warp room (Cw32V and Cw42V). These animations are rendered unnecessary to the game as they were replaced by a very similar animation (CC20V) that became one of his new idle animations in the game.

Unused Textures#

Death Route Platforms#

In the Future and Prehistoric levels, textures for a death route platform are loaded into VRAM, but are never actually used.

The textures can be seen in Dino Might! and Future Frenzy in the July 17th, 1998 prototype.

Road Signs#

In the Highway levels, there are textures for three more road signs that are never seen in the levels.

• The first sign reads "PIT" and was possibly intended to warn the player of pits that are close or ahead. Interestingly, this sign appeared in a Japanese artwork of Crash riding his motorcycle in Hog Ride.
• The second sign is a two-way sign. All levels have the yellow line indicating that it is a two-way road, although only Area 51? has police cars driving in the opposite direction.
• The third sign depicts an arrow passing over a hill with a gap in the middle, possibly to instruct the player to take the ramps near large pits.

Flying Bomb#

Among the texture data in the Baron levels there is a texture of a bomb (sharing the cannonball sprite from the Jet Ski levels). Originally intended to appear in Mad Bombers, these were flying bombs attached to a propeller that would be thrown from airplanes whenever the player flew behind them, although they were ultimately scrapped in place of the pilot lab assistants. However, a similar idea would appear a few years later in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure. An early version of the level featuring this concept can be found in the July 17th, 1998 prototype.

UFO Stripes#

Leftovers of an earlier texture set for the UFOs, featuring red light stripes flashing around them, still exist in the final game. These textures are used in the August 26th, 1998 prototype.

Early Load/Save Monitor#

The texture data for the warp room includes a texture used for an early iteration of the Load/Save monitor background seen in many pre-release screenshots, as well as in the E3 demo.

Red Eye#

This eye was meant for use on N. Gin's cutscene model, but his eyes are pitch black in the final game. Removing the model's vertex coloring shows that this texture is actually used, but the UV mapping does not correctly fit the eye.

Unused Intermission Cutscene#

The intermission cutscene level data includes an unused variant of Aku Aku's dialogue from the opening cutscene, in which he explains how to access the Warp Room portals. This version features the Time Twister sound effects before and after his speech, and lacks the baked-in background sound effects and music. This appears to be an earlier implementation before the actual cutscene was created. The audio is named A0, signifying it is the first Aku Aku dialogue.

An unused configuration that enables this cutscene also exists. Notably, it reuses Aku Aku's animations from the opening cutscene.

Unused Warp Room Spawns#

Upon exiting a level, Crash appears at the portal of the level you entered if memory address 0x00069104 is set to 03. However, there are two additional spawn values ​​that are never used.

Value 00#

The old spawn point, which puts Crash in front of the fourth chamber gate. It can be seen in early footage and the E3 demo. This spawn can be set by setting the 4 bytes of memory at address 0x00068F48 to 0.

Value 01#

This spawn point is the default one when respawning, although it is very unlikely for Crash to die in the warp room. It can be seen in the August 14th, 1998 prototype when exiting a level without a proper spawn point set, such as the secret chamber levels.

Unused Hot Coco Portal#

Level 31, Hot Coco, has an unused button and portal located in the secret chamber. The game is programmed to support six buttons per room, so the secret chamber was no exception. At one point in development, Hot Coco was intended to be unlocked through a portal hidden in Dino Might!. This was discovered by adding back the exit portal seen in the August 14th, 1998 prototype to the August 26th, 1998 prototype.

In the final game, the secret chamber behaves like the regular chambers: whenever the number of crystals reaches a multiple of five, the buttons disappear, leaving only the boss button visible until the boss is defeated. Since no boss button exists for this area, all buttons disappear instead. However, obtaining one more crystal will make them reappear, revealing button 31 for Hot Coco. The only way to trigger both of these effects is by retrieving more than 25 crystals using the combo item exploit.

Unseen Future Traffic Objects#

In Gone Tomorrow, there are entities for objects that are placed way out of bounds that represent short wavy paths. If moved back to a visible portion of the level and set to spawn, we can see that these objects are randomly picked flying "car" sprites following the path on a loop continuously.

The flying cars sprites.

Debug Mode#

Like in the previous games, this game also contains similar hidden debug features that can be enabled by changing a GOOL global variable, such as the use of various buttons and button combos.

80069008 0100

800691B8 0100

80069458 0100

Cheat Menu#

Inputting Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Circle on the pause menu while in the warp room or in some other levels will bring up a new menu with options such as:

• GET ALL: Gives 25 crystals and 25 Sapphire relics, as well as all colored gems and all abilities for Crash.
• GET RELICS: Gives 30 Gold relics.
• OPEN LEVELS: Unlocks all areas of the warp room. (Only available in the warp room).
  • CLOSE LEVELS: Locks the unlocked areas. This replaces the "OPEN LEVELS" option when enabled. (Only available in the warp room).
• P and R: Adjusts the sound effects. P modifies the global sound pitch (the R option cannot be modified).

Activating both GET ALL and GET RELICS will instead give 31 relics (24 Platinum, 6 Gold and 1 Sapphire).

Startup#

• Each intro screen can be paused by pressing Start (although this freezes the game).
• Pressing R2 in the title screen will launch the next level demo.
• Pressing Circle in the opening cutscene will skip to the next scene.

Memory Card#

• When accessing the Load/Save screen, there will be an option to unformat the Memory Card. If the Memory Card is already unformatted, you will be prompted to format it instead.

Pause Menu#

• L1: Set lives to zero.
• L2: Get all 5 colored gems and Super Powers.
• R1: Get all crystals and gems ("all" meaning all 64 possible ones), all Super Powers, and enable the Spyro the Dragon demo option on the title screen.
• R2: Has two effects:
  • Get the crystal for the current level you are on. This also works in areas without a crystal, such as the warp room and boss fights.
  • Max out the box counter at the end of the levels (breaking a box after using this feature will revert it to the actual value).

Player#

If the player is not moving the character, two button combinations can be inputted:

• L1 + Select: Set debug invincibility (invulnerable to most hazards, including bottomless pits).
  • As with mask invincibility, some enemies will not attack and some hazards will not trigger. These include lions not spawning during the Tiny Tiger boss fight and Cortex not firing projectiles.
  • Activating this during mask invincibility will keep it for the rest of the level.
  • This effect cannot be disabled directly, but can be cancelled under certain conditions, such as obtaining mask invincibility while it is active.
  • Debug invincibility behaves differently depending on the character or vehicle in use:
    • Crash (on foot): Immune to enemies and most hazards and can walk on bottomless pits.
    • Coco (on foot): Can walk on bottomless pits (note that she cannot be hurt by enemies by default).
    • Jet Sub: No protection is applied; taking damage immediately cancels invincibility.
    • Pura: Can walk on bottomless pits.
    • Jet Ski: Fully invincible to all hazards.
    • Baby T: Immune to Nitro crate explosions if landing directly on top and can walk on bottomless pits.
    • Motorcycle / Bi-plane: Cannot be used.
• L1 + Up: Gain an Aku Aku mask - prone to crashing in certain levels where Aku Aku is not normally allowed.
  • Some level types do not allow obtaining a third mask (Atlantis, China, Jet Ski). Boss fights normally allow it, though some will freeze the game (such as N. Tropy and N. Cortex).
  • This cannot be used in the Highway or Baron levels either.

Holding R1 before Crash respawns after dying will immediately revive him and act as if he had been hurt instead. You will still lose a life and can game over, though. Note that this only works properly in regular platforming levels.

Levels#

• Warp Room: Press Triangle to disable the electric barriers.
• China Levels: Press Triangle to despawn Pura.
• Prehistoric Levels: Press Triangle during the chase sequence to despawn the triceratops.
• Highway Levels: Hold Triangle while moving to unlock backward driving. Interestingly, going past the starting line in most Highway levels reveals a normally hidden line of roadblocks that prevents the player from driving further back (apart from Road Crash, which is a full circuit).
• N. Gin: Press R2 to destroy every mech part.
• Neo Cortex: Press Triangle to knock Cortex off his hoverboard.

Unused Text#

UNKNOWN

A level name string that is displayed whenever an empty/unnamed level slot is loaded.

NO CHEATS

A cheat menu function that has been replaced by the "CLOSE LEVELS" option. As well as closing the warp room areas, it would also turn off the free camera mode when enabled, a feature available in earlier builds that is no longer present in the final game.

Object's Internal Names#

Much like the previous games, Crash 3's code contains internal object names used by the developers to identify them better.

• Crash's spawn position in each level is marked by an object named obj_willy, a reference to the name Willy the Wombat which was used during development before the name Crash Bandicoot had been chosen.
• Checkpoint crates are internally called obj_box_continue.
• The stopwatch is internally referred to as obj_box_clock, as it was originally an iron crate with a clock graphic on it, seen in earlier builds.
• The warp room object that generates portals, the load/save screen, etc. is internally known as obj_monty_hall, likely a in-joke referring to the late former host of the U.S. game show "Let's Make a Deal", where, in an analogue to what you have Crash do, contestants could choose from a set of doors, to choose what could be real or fake prizes, in some of its games.
• The lab assistant enemies in the game include "ass" (standing for assistant/lab assistant) as a lone word as part of their internal nomenclature. As a result, many of them have very profane names as developer in-jokes, such as obj_asshole (lab assistant hiding under the ramps), obj_stonedass (lab assistant lifting a brick), or obj_ass_stroker (sailor lab assistant), to name a few.
• Pura is named obj_bear, which was Polar's object in the previous game.
• Crash's object in Road Crash is also profane (obj_willy#you_fuck), but not in other levels.
• One of the iron bounce crates in Hang'em High that is located next to the bonus platform is called obj_box_spring_iron#mother_fucker.
• Pot-carrying monkeys in the Arabian levels include the "ass" initials in the name (obj_vase_ass), despite being a real animal and not a lab assistant.
• Mini-volcanoes in the Prehistoric levels are named obj_tar_bubble.
• Whirlpool machines in Deep Trouble are named obj_laser.
• The pair of sliding blocks on the oil floor before the third checkpoint in Sphynxinator are called obj_block#mother and obj_block#fucker.
• Spiked mummies in Tomb Wader and Bug Lite are strangely called obj_jump_gator. The actual crocodile enemies are internally known as obj_croc instead.
• Spiked shells in the Future levels are called obj_spinner. An early version of the enemy that can be found in the July 17th, 1998 prototype reveals that the original design featured spinning spikes around it.
• Death routes are internally referred to as hard paths.

Red Gem Path#

Bone Yard's red gem platform is called obj_elevator#to_secret, suggesting it was initially neither a gem path nor a hard path but a secret third thing.

Green Gem Path#

The green gem path in Gone Tomorrow was originally a purple gem path, as evidenced by the gem platform being named obj_elevator#purple_gem. The purple gem platform could be seen in action in the August 14th, 1998 prototype.

Purple Gem Path#

Tomb Time's purple gem path was originally a "hard" path instead, as the name for the purple gem door is obj_hardpathdoor. Earlier builds had a timer controlling the door, which would open only if the player reached it within a certain time limit.

Yellow Gem Path#

Dino Might!'s yellow gem path was originally a death route, as the names for the yellow gem platforms are obj_elevator#to_hard, obj_elevator#hard_back_to_main, obj_elevator_catch#hard_from__main, and obj_elevator_catch#hard_from_hard.

Blue Gem Path#

Sphynxinator's blue gem path was originally a death route, as the name for the blue gem platform is obj_elevator#to_hard.

Bug Lite Gem Path#

The internal names of the gem platforms in Bug Lite reveal that the order of the gem colors was originally reversed (red, purple, yellow, green, blue). The original order can also be seen in earlier builds.

• The blue platform is referred to as obj_elevator#red_gem and obj_elevator_catch#red_gem.
• The green platform is referred to as obj_elevator#gem_purple.
• The purple platform is referred to as obj_elevator#green_gem.
• The red platform is referred to as obj_elevator#gem_blue and obj_elevator_catch#gem_blue.

Future Frenzy Secret#

Future Frenzy's secret path was originally a death route, as the name for the platform that takes the player back to the main level is called obj_elevator#hard_back_to_2D and obj_elevator_catch#hard_going_to_hard.

Oddities#

Backwards Road Sign#

In Road Crash, one of the curve signs is facing away from the road and can only be seen from the shoulder of the road.

Early Mine Model#

Explosion Model	Early Model

The mines found in the Atlantis levels feature an explosion animation upon contact. A closer look reveals that the exploding model is actually based on an early version seen in pre-release footage and screenshots.

Early Missile Robot Palette#

Death Animation	Regular Animation

The missile robots in Gone Tomorrow have a darker color scheme when they are destroyed. This is actually an earlier version of the palette, which appears in the August 26th, 1998 prototype, as well as in the Gone Tomorrow save file icon in the retail releases.

Regional Differences#

Excluding language, there are some minor differences between the different regional releases of the game:

European#

• There are various physics differences as a result of retiming the game to run at 25 frames per second. These include:
  • Crash runs slightly faster & jumps a little bit higher.
  • The attract mode demos have been rerecorded.
  • The relic times are different. American times are rounded to the nearest 30th of a second and end in 0, 3 or 6 always. European times are rounded to the nearest 25th of a second and thus, the hundredths are always divisible by 4 (except when they end in 2) and are never odd numbers.
    • As a result, developer times have been omitted from the credits.
  • It takes slightly more time to skip some logos at the beginning.
  • The intermission vortex cutscenes are slightly slower (even if it's almost unnoticeable).
• An anti-piracy warning splash screen is now displayed before the game starts, similar to the European release of the previous games.
• There is a language option at the title screen, or in-game via the options menu. Languages available are English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The characters are fully dubbed, but the level names stay the same.
• Many Aku Aku crates have been transformed into regular ? crates that transform back into Aku Aku crates if the player dies enough times.
• Players now receive a relic if they match the exact time requirement. For example, finishing Hog Ride in 0:45:00 still grants the Sapphire relic, while the American version requires at least 0:44:96.
• When the chronometer in Time Trial mode reaches 10 minutes in the American version, the clock disappears and the level returns to normal; in the European version, the clock freezes at 9:59:96 and changes color to a greenish color, and the level stays in Time Trial mode.
• There is now a confirmation prompt for quitting the game from the pause menu.
• Pura's sprint stays consistent, instead of getting an acceleration all of a sudden after a few seconds.
• Crash now shouts "Whoa!" for more death animations, such as when kicked by goats, caught by triceratops, carried away by pterodactyls, eaten by lions, etc.
• The header strings of the memory card and name entry screens are no longer displayed in large font. This is due to the lack of texture space to allocate additional letters for the large font, as well as limited space in-game to display longer strings in other languages.
• The memory card save icon is no longer animated.
• The Spyro the Dragon demo lost the magazine quotes at the beginning.

Level Changes#

• There are more lab assistants in the China levels (which then disappear if you die enough times).
• There are more bomb obstacles in the Jet Ski levels.
• The countdown is slightly faster in the Highway levels.
• The Crash-fish enemy in Dino Might! is smaller.
• A flamethrower lab assistant was added after the first wall trap section in Tomb Time.
• Crash will automatically crouch jump if he is deep enough into the water in Tomb Wader.
• Besides appearing in Toad Village and Makin' Waves, Fake Crash also appears in Hog Ride now.
• The American and Japanese versions will give you two Aku Aku masks if you keep dying on a level. The European version will never give you more than one, which is how it was in the second game.

Enemies#

Some enemies are tougher in the European version:

• The wizard lab assistants take two hits to defeat. After the first hit, they'll lose their beard and robes, exposing their underwear. This still occurs in the American and Japanese versions if you hit them with the bazooka, but otherwise they go down in one hit.
• The knight and giant lab assistants swing their weapons at a faster rate.
• The UFO lab assistants take less time to charge up their beams.
• The missile robots shoot four missiles instead of three.

Bug Fixes#

Some of the bugs that existed in the American version were fixed in the European version:

• The oversight where Crash didn't do his dance after defeating Tiny was fixed. On the other hand, you can no longer hear N. Tropy's dialog after you defeat him unless you quickly make your way back to the first platform, or else you'll get sucked out of the level, as Crash doesn't do his dance there.
• A bug that prevented the level stats from showing up after retrieving an item from the secret chamber was fixed.
  • Ski Crazed's character icon was also appropriately changed from Crash to Coco.
• A bug that had relic times in Hot Coco and Eggipus Rex the same as Road Crash and Dino Might! respectively was fixed.
• The music now plays in the attract demo of Tiny Tiger boss fight.

Japanese#

Much like the previous two games, Crash 3 also has many Japanese-exclusive differences. All of the bug fixes and some added features in the European version have been retained (apart from features that increased the game's difficulty).

International	Japan

• The title screen is different. The logo is replaced with the Japanese logo, with an according logo animation featuring the globe bouncing towards the screen from the background. Crash also appears on the bottom-right side of the screen performing an extended version of his signature dance.

• The opening theme was changed to the CRASH banji-kyuusu theme song, featured in most Japanese media and promo material associated with the series.
• When having all 30 relics as Platinum, the saved profile shows Platinum color at the relic amount icon, instead of Sapphire color.

International	Japan

• Crash's icon in level stats has been changed to a higher-res version of the life icon.

• The "TNT" label on TNT boxes has been replaced with an image of a bomb, and the "Nitro" label is written in Katakana.
• Crash and Coco now make exclamations in various situations when riding the motorcycle and jet-ski respectively. Pura and the Baby T also make exclamations.
• Tiny's pupils are bigger during the intermission vortex cutscenes.

International	Japan

• The snake tiles in the Egyptian levels all have the letter "N" instead of spelling out "NEO". This makes sense because "N" is still Cortex's insignia in Japan.
• The giant lab assistants in Double Header have one less head, which was also changed for the save file icon.

International	Japan

• Dingodile and N. Tropy's health bars share the same palette as the Komodo Brothers' health bar in Crash 2.
• Relics are localized as "Trophies".
• When Uka Uka is on Cortex's face, both voices are heard in unison.
• Two cutscenes are slightly different so the lip-synching would match the character's lines: the Cortex fight (if you have at least 100%) and the good ending.
• The Spyro the Dragon demo is not present.
• Loading times are slightly longer in the Japanese version.
• Fake Crash's cameos can now only be unlocked via the PocketStation feature. See the section below for more details.

Aku Aku Hints#

When Aku Aku is collected, he will inform the player about various aspects of the game in a tutorial-like manner, like in the previous two games. This does not happen in Time Trials.

Bonus Videos#

The Japanese version comes with five bonus videos. The first four are unlocked after you defeat each of the first four bosses.

The fifth video can be viewed by holding Down + Triangle + L1 + R2 as the game is booting, similar to Crash 2. And also like Crash 2, you must reset the console after it ends.

Watch on YouTube

PocketStation#

The game adds support for the PocketStation, a Japan-exclusive peripheral similar to the Dreamcast's VMU. This portable device is connected via the PlayStation's memory card port, featuring a small monochrome LCD screen and allowing players to download and play minigames. By connecting the game with a PocketStation, a Tamagotchi-esque game known as Crash Anywhere (どこでもクラッシュくん) can be accessed.

The Japanese version has an additional option on the title screen that opens a menu with several options related to this feature:

• ポケットステ〜ション ("PocketStation") - Opens a sub-menu with various options:
  • あたらしくダウンロード ("New Download") - Prompts you to download the Crash Anywhere game.
  • ダンスのせんたく ("Dance Selection") - Allows you to download any of the 7 dance minigames for Crash Anywhere. Only the first dance minigame is unlocked by default, while the rest can be unlocked upon meeting specific requirements in the main game:
    • Dance 2 is unlocked after earning a gem or relic.
    • Dance 3 is unlocked after getting to the end of Hog Ride.
    • Dance 4 is unlocked after getting to the end of any level in the third chamber.
    • Dance 5 is unlocked after getting the crystal from Bye Bye Blimps.
    • Dance 6 is unlocked after getting to the end of Orange Asphalt.
    • Dance 7 is unlocked after unlocking Fake Crash's cameos in Makin' Waves and Hog Ride.
  • ぎねんびのとうろく ("Anniversary Registration") - A diary feature where players can record special dates. You can enter dates and add a message, either selected from a preset list or written manually. Up to 10 anniversaries can be recorded, although the first slot will be automatically filled when Crash Anywhere is downloaded.
  • おまけメニュー〜にもどる ("Return to Bonus Menu") - Sends you back to the previous menu.
• つかいかた ("How to Use") - A detailed manual for Crash Anywhere.
• おもしろム〜ビ〜 ("Funny Movie") - A collection of bonus FMV clips that are unlocked after defeating each boss.
• ゲ〜ムにもどる ("Return to Game") - Sends you back to the title screen.

You can also get some extra addons and features in the main game by completing some tasks within Crash Anywhere minigames, giving you an extra 5% added to your save file, reaching up to 110% completion.

• Play Crash Anywhere for the first time - Unlocks Fake Crash cameo in Toad Village.
• All 5 photos in the chase minigame - Adds 1% to game completion.
• All 6 photos in the puzzle minigame - Adds 1% to game completion.
• All 12 photos in dance minigames (1 to 6) - Adds 1% to game completion.
• All 4 Fake Crash photos - Adds 1% to game completion.
  • Get a photo of Fake Crash at noon (requires a Crash 1 save data on PocketStation) - Unlocks Fake Crash cameo in Makin' Waves.
  • Get a photo of Crash in front of a mirror at midnight (requires a Crash 2 save data on PocketStation) - Unlocks Fake Crash cameo in Hog Ride.
  • Get 2 photos of Fake Crash in the dance 7 minigame.
• All 90 photos - Adds 1% to game completion.

Additionally, Crash's yo-yo color may change when a PocketStation is connected. The color varies according to the PocketStation's ID number, with a total of eight possible color variations.

Relic Times#

Relic times have been changed between versions. The European version's times are mostly similar to the North American version's, with only a few adjustments in light of the lower framerate. In the Japanese version, however, the times are mostly unique, and Sapphire times are generally easier now.

References#