N. Sanity Beach

Are you ready to start the adventure to save Tawna? - Level description.

N. Sanity Beach (めざめの ビーチ lit. Awakening Beach in Japanese) is the first level of the first island in Crash Bandicoot, the first game in the series. It is the only beach type of level in the game.

Level design
Crash washes up on the shores of N. Sanity Beach after plunging from the window of Doctor Neo Cortex's laboratory. He then shows a mischievous grin, followed by a single spin, informing the player of Crash's basic attack, and the level begins. The sandy path is relatively simple and introduces the player to wumpa fruit, crabs, turtles, bottomless pits, lives (but not inside a Crash crate), basic crates, ? crates, bounce crates, arrow crates and Aku Aku crates (Crash starts with an Aku Aku mask in the NTSC-J version of the game informing of his hints, thus the first Aku Aku crate is not present). At the end of the path, there will be a stone wall that the player must scale which contains crates and many wumpa fruit. There is also a single iron crate which serves no apparent purpose.

At the top, the player will see their first checkpoint crate, and will come to another short sandy path that eventually forks in two. The left path contains two crates, but the right path contains a long crate bridge, the main challenge of the level. The bridge is made up of outline crates, the first in the series, and are "filled" using a nearby ! crate, also the first seen in the series, turning each crate into a basic one, except the penultimate crate turns to a Crash crate. This introduces the player to the concept of backtracking, as the player is required to head down one path then head back for the other if they seek the gem. This concept is revised in a more extreme, difficult fashion later on in Cortex Power. After the paths join back up, the player will see the exit.

Gem
There are 49 crates in this level. No colored gem is required to get the gem, so this will likely be the first (or one of the first) gems the player will find. Like all levels on the first island, a regular clear gem is the player's reward for breaking every box without dying.

The gem is a fairly easy task, as the path is very simple. A fork in the road is present, but both paths are short so this doesn't create many problems. However, on the right path, there is a crate bridge that complicates matters. Breaking each box on the bridge, one by one, is not an easy task. However, running straight across the bridge with Aku Aku invincibility (conveniently there are three Aku Aku crates in this level, all before the bridge) will break each box as you run, making this hard task easy.

Types of crates

 * Aku Aku Crate
 * Arrow Crate - wooden
 * Basic Crate
 * Bounce Crate
 * Checkpoint Crate
 * Crash Crate
 * ! Crate
 * Iron Crate
 * Outline Crate
 * ? Crate

Stage parameters

 * Aku Aku Crates: 3 (2 in NTSC-J).
 * TNT Crates: None.
 * Other Crates: 46 (69 in Beta).
 * Tawna Bonus Round Crates: None.
 * Brio Bonus Round Crates: None.
 * Cortex Bonus Round Crates: None.

Tips and strategies

 * There are three Aku Aku crates in this level. With the 3 Aku Aku power up, it is possible to run straight to the crate bridge and cross it before the power up wears off. The power up will cause all of the crates to break as you run across them, avoiding the difficult task of breaking them one by one. If Crash stops running on the bridge with the power up active, he will fall as the crates beneath him break.
 * Crash should move a little bit up each time he breaks a box on the bridge.

Password
This corresponds to the save file with only the gem on N. Sanity Beach and no other progress in the game (1%).

Appearances in other games

 * The beach itself is also featured in Crash Team Racing as the very first area visited in the game's Adventure Mode. It houses the tracks Crash Cove, Roo's Tubes, Mystery Caves and Sewer Speedway. The champion racer of them is none other than Ripper Roo. The entrance to Ripper Roo's challenge is on the other side of where the racing podium is. The beach also has the crystal challenge, Skull Rock.


 * It appears in the "non-100% ending" of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, as Crash and Coco lie on the shore (along with a crab) and wonder whatever became of Cortex, with the Cortex Vortex coming into view as the end credits appear.


 * In Crash Twinsanity, the beach is where the game starts at on N. Sanity Island.

Translation of Aku Aku Hints in the Japanese Version

 * I'm Aku Aku, the magician who protects this island. Brutal things are happening in this island, due to Cortex's schemes. Tawna is also captured. Hurry to rescue her.
 * If I'm attached to your body, I can defend you once from enemies. If you collect two of me, I become shiningly bright and look cool. If you collect three of me, mysterious power will burst out!
 * Do you know that you can jump on wooden boxes and enemies to destroy them? You can get good things if you try to jump. If you only spin, you eyes will become dizzy.
 * Note that you don't get the hint if you gain invincibility from that mask.

Trivia

 * In the prototype version of the game, crates are more abundant and are less intrusive in the path (meaning most will be hiding in the sides).
 * In the E3 version, there was blue wood.
 * The level's name is a pun on the word "insanity".