Bonus Round

Bonus rounds are optional, side-sections of a level. They are typically free of enemies and provide the opportunity to earn extra lives.

Unlike other alternate paths, such as death routes and gem paths, dying in a bonus round does not cost lives. It will still recalculate Crash's Aku Aku masks, however. All bonus rounds use a side-scrolling camera perspective.

Crash Bandicoot
Hidden in ? crates throughout most levels are tokens shaped like a character's face. Collecting three tokens of the same face instantly transports Crash to that character's bonus round.

Tawna bonus rounds are the most common and take place in a jungle canopy. Completing them saves the player's level progress, either by saving to the memory card or by generating a password. Gem and key collection are not recorded by these rounds. Tawna bonus rounds are found in:
 * Jungle Rollers (saves to itself)
 * The Great Gate (saves to Boulders)
 * Upstream (saves to Papu Papu)
 * Rolling Stones (saves to itself)
 * Native Fortress (saves to itself)
 * Up the Creek (saves to Ripper Roo)
 * The Lost City (saves to Temple Ruins)
 * Road to Nowhere (saves to Boulder Dash)
 * Sunset Vista (saves to Koala Kong)
 * Heavy Machinery (saves to itself)
 * Generator Room (saves to itself)
 * Toxic Waste (saves to Pinstripe Potoroo)
 * The High Road (saves to Slippery Climb)
 * Jaws of Darkness (saves to Castle Machinery)
 * The Lab (saves to itself)

Nitrus Brio bonus rounds take place in a cave. Each one contains exactly six life crates. They do not save any type of game progression. Brio bonus rounds are found in:
 * Rolling Stones
 * The Lost City
 * Heavy Machinery
 * Slippery Climb

Neo Cortex bonus rounds appear to take place in a dungeon. Completing one earns Crash a key, used to open locked levels. It also prompts the Key Save, which records that the key was collected (but not level progress or the gem count). Cortex bonus rounds are found in:
 * Sunset Vista (opens Whole Hog)
 * Jaws of Darkness (opens Fumbling in the Dark)

Crates in bonus rounds do not count towards the level total. Failing a bonus round does not cost lives, but the player must retry the level to enter that round again.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Starting with Cortex Strikes Back, the token system from the previous game was done away with. Bonus rounds are now accessed from a special bonus platform, marked with a question mark, somewhere in the level. Destroyed crates are added to the level's total crate count once the round is successfully completed. Failing a bonus round puts the player character back on the main level, next to the bonus platform. They can be retried at any time until they are completed.

Saving is no longer tied to bonus rounds in any game.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
In games after Cortex Strikes Back, completing bonus rounds may require the use of super powers. Bonus rounds are inaccessible while in Time Trial mode.

In The Huge Adventure and N-Tranced, completing a bonus round creates a checkpoint at that spot.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
In the remastered version of the original Crash Bandicoot, bonus rounds were reworked. Collecting three matching tokens no longer instantly teleports the player character to the bonus round; it instead creates a small portal nearby, allowing it to be retried until it is completed. Crates in the bonus round now count toward the level's total crate count. Saving the game is no longer tied to bonus round completion. A Brio bonus round was added to Stormy Ascent.

Entering a bonus round in any game in the N. Sane Trilogy creates a checkpoint near the bonus platform. Bonus rounds in the remastered versions of Cortex Strikes Back and Warped otherwise function exactly as they did in the originals.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
In It's About Time, bonus rounds only exist in main path levels (i.e., levels only playable as Crash or Coco). Entering them creates a checkpoint near the bonus platform.

Nitro switch crates can now appear in bonus rounds, destroying only the nitro crates within the round. The bonus rounds for Draggin' On and Cortex Castle contain enemies for the first time in the series.

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
 * Crash Bandicoot: Warped
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
 * Crash of the Titans (Nintendo DS version only)
 * Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Trivia

 * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is the only game with bonus rounds that are played from right to left.
 * In the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot, new Tawna bonus rounds were added in Temple Ruins, Slippery Climb, Cortex Power and Castle Machinery.