Prerelease:Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex.

To do: Document all other known builds of the game. Jon Burton's YouTube channel, GameHut, contains videos documenting early versions of the game.

Earliest Build

These screenshots were the earliest known build of the game released, appearing to be sourced from photo scans. This build is discernible by its lack of shading on characters.

• This section of Crash and Burn was cut from the final game. It was part of the original start for the level.
• Crash's idle animation is different.
• All shading on the models is missing from the level.

• This screenshot shows where the game leads to the main island in the final game. The skybox is much more blue.
• The row of crates is 2 blocks wide instead of 3.
• The TNT crates are on the top row of crates instead of bottom.
• TNT crates have the same brown texture as normal crates.
• The palm tree to the right of the dock has not been added.
• The water is flat, not using the final game's wavy ocean effect.
• A ring can be seen in a sky, its purpose unknown.
• Large piles of nitro crates can be seen to the right of Crash. The crates were moved to appear later on in the level and with less quantity.

• Coco is in the cage that appears in Crash and Burn. This is because, as explained in early storyboards for the game, the original story for the level would be that Crash had to rescue Coco from a tribe of monkeys and its gorilla leader that had kidnapped her. When this story was canned, Coco was removed from the level and her presence in this area was replaced with a skeleton.
• The area that can be seen in the background was replaced with the cave in the final version of the level.
• More of the early start area can be seen in the background.

• The level seen here was removed early in development and has no documentation outside of this screenshot. The outside area has a blue-green sky and is grassy with trees, stones, and a concrete wall on the right. The level then leads into a water-filled pipe looking similar to that of the sewer levels from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. From there, Crash would have walked to his right, into the unknown. The fence in the back of the pipe has a light blue background unlike that of the sky.
• Crash's jumping animation here is unlike any of the jumping animations he has in the final game.

Early Teaser Build

Sourced from old gaming internet outlets such as Gamespot, this is the earliest video footage of the game, showcasing two levels from a very primitive build. The video was released before Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was given a name. Despite its low resolution, the video contains many notable differences from the final game:

• The HUD uses 2D graphics instead of 3D models.
• The crate counter does not show how many crates are in the level, similar to Crash 2.
• Ice Station Bandicoot actually takes place on foot instead of being a Copter Pack race level.
• The footage of Crash and Burn shows many parts of the level that were cut from the final game, such as a section of the level involving jumping between small islands until you reach the island where you spawn in the final version of the level and another section containing a throne.
• Coco Bandicoot can be seen in Crash and Burn in a cage and later on in the edge of the volcano. Coco herself has no code other than standing in place, rotating to look where Crash is.
• Crash can't spin away Wumpa fruit.
• Wumpa fruit disappear after being picked up with no effect showing the fruit going from the level into the counter.
• When obtaining a life, the life counter will go up without the effect of the new life going into the counter.
• Arrow crates break after being jumped on.
• Life crates use the same 2D mugshot for Crash that is used in the video's early HUD.
• Crash's model appears different. The most telling difference is his brown ears.
• All of Crash's animations are different except for his tip-toeing animation. His running animation is notably less exaggerated.
• Crash's face is never animated to change from his default smiling face.
• Crash's spinning animation does not use a separate model that uses smeared textures for a blur effect, but rather simply uses an animation of Crash spinning with his arms and a leg out.
• The kamikaze parrots from Crash and Burn do not have their main "suicide" attack yet, as seen when Crash gets near them.
• The polar bear that Crash races in Ice Station Bandicoot also appears as an on-foot enemy.
• Crabs move faster, are capable of turning their model around 180°, and don't appear to have any animations at all.

Development Build #1

This video includes early versions of Jungle Rumble, Banzai Bonsai, and Crash and Burn.

• Bonus levels do not exist yet.
• Crates and Wumpa fruit are now animated in the HUD, and it tells you how many crates have been broken, but the font and life icons still use the early variants.
• Crash still uses his animations from the earlier builds, but now his face has been updated to be animated and he uses the final spin animation.
• The pause menu is a list of options over a still frame of the game similar to the final's debug menu. The options are "Continue," "Options," "Exit Level," "Restart Level," "Reset Level." Options only contains invincibility mode and coordinates, Restart Level is only available during time trials in the final, Reset Level's function is unknown. Exit Level gives you a second chance to reconsider whether you want to exit, which was only removed in the PS2 version.
• Coco's running animation is quicker and she does not move her arms around slightly as much.
• The "CHECKPOINT" message that appears when you break a checkpoint crate used to cover your entire screen and was part of the HUD.
• Jungle Rumble has 25 crates.
• Jungle Rumble uses a flat gradient for the backdrop.
• In Jungle Rumble, the crate pillars are all iron and it leads to another crate pillar to the right which has the reinforced crates. The iron crates were replaced with reinforced crates and the aforementioned second pillar was removed in the final.
• The jungle tribesmen have not been added to the game yet.
• Water uses flat textures instead of the dynamic effect the final product uses, and as a result looks very ugly.
• Crash does not jump into the jeep in Jungle Rumble. Instead, the game will swiftly switch his character model to the variant with the jeep as the rhinoceroses spawn. The game also removes his jeep in the same way.
• A giraffe can be seen in the horde of rhinoceroses.
• Banzai Bonsai has 28 crates.
• Banzai Bonsai is much more sparsely decorated with enemies and buildings. For one, the lizards, gong assistants, and cranes are all completely missing.
• Banzai Bonsai started off with a long platforming section down a garden, using lily pads, floating blocks, and corks to get to the other side.
• The labyrinth section of Banzai Bonsai doesn't position the camera above the maze.
• The last section of Banzai Bonzai was mirrored entirely.
• Coco has to jump across iron crates on the Cortex statue in order to get to the portal, which was moved to the center-front of the statue in later versions.
• Crash and Burn has 21 crates.
• This video uses a variant of Crash and Burn which is shorter than the earlier version but longer than the one in the final. The beginning 2D section of the level and the sinking ship were removed, but the enemies and particles related still remain in the final.
• The stone blocks that float atop lava are small circles. Crash does not move with them, so he will fall off if he does not try to stay on.
• A section of the bridge in the cave in Crash and Burn has no collision data.
• The boulder has not been added to Crash and Burn.
• There are much more monkey enemies spread throughout Crash and Burn.
• The warp teleport is actually a portal made out of stone in this version.

PlayStation 2 Trailer (Version 1)

This is the more publicized version of the PlayStation 2 trailer of the game. It was filmed before E3 2001, putting the recording date somewhere in early 2001.

• The dragon in Wizards and Lizards starts chasing Crash earlier than in the final level. Wizards and Lizards is also missing the bonus level pad.
• Wizards and Lizards has a green and white checkerboard texture used throughout the map for the floor.
• Arctic Antics has a section missing that looks like it would have been near the start of the level by its decorations. There is an ice water pit and another bottomless pit with ice blocks that seemingly toppled once they were walked upon.
• The beginning of Compactor Reactor situated Crash inside of a jeep instead of a minecart. There are no minecart tracks and the crate placement is also different to accommodate for the jeep controls.
• In Tornado Alley, the Crash glider was dropped from a plane and not a blimp.
• Crash controlled the glider in That Sinking Feeling instead of the Firefly.
• Fahrenheit Frenzy has Crash spawn further back inside the beginning cave.
• The machines from the beginning of Fahrenheit Frenzy emit bubbles instead of green waves.
• Crash was meant to take control of the mech at one point in Compactor Reactor.
• Crash doesn't turn blue when he turns into an angel or freezes into an ice block.
• If Crash dies in his glider, the camera would follow him down all the way until he crashed into the ground before restarting.

PlayStation 2 Trailer (Version 2)

This is a rarer alternate version of the PlayStation 2 trailer which features some different footage, filmed later than the original version.

• All flight levels are missing the mini model HUD next to the object count, only showing the numbers (for example, the tornado generators that show up in the bottom right corner of the HUD in Tornado Alley are missing).
• Coco's projectiles from Crashteroids were bright red fireballs instead of green lasers.
• There were 6 objects to destroy in Crashteroids instead of 3.
• Tsunami has a much plainer floor texture.
• Crunch doesn't have a model in Ghost Town, so Crash races a clone of himself instead.
• There were 2 wizards and 5 bats in the beginning segment of Wizards and Lizards (however, the bats aren't coded to move anywhere.)
• A giant version of each elemental mask appeared above the warp room section that it belonged to. The game also showed the name of the warp room section as if it was a level.
• The background of the warp room shows that the game used portals that could be walked into like Crash 2's warp room.