Stormy Ascent

Stormy Ascent is a cut level from the original Crash Bandicoot and a downloadable level in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. The level consists of fast retracting steps, vertically and horizontally-moving birds, vial-throwing Lab Assistants, many iron spikes, and moving platforms in complicated patterns.

Background
Stormy Ascent is not accessible through normal means in the original game, but it can be played by using a GameShark code. Naughty Dog removed this level due to its extreme difficulty as it is essentially a harder version of its counterpart Slippery Climb (which is already considered one of the hardest levels in the game), and also due to the numerous bugs that Naughty Dog could not fix before the final game was shipped. It is also the last level of the Crash Bandicoot prototype. Collecting Cortex Tokens in this level increases the frequency of split-second freezing; collecting the three tokens causes the game to crash in the retail versions of the game because no Cortex bonus round corresponds to Stormy Ascent, and the game does not assume a default bonus round (unlike in the prototype). The clear gem in this level does not count towards completion, nor total gem count.

In response to a question that was asked on a blog article, some Naughty Dog members explained their thoughts about this level being cut. Andy Gavin said, "Stormy Ascent was just cut because it was too long and too hard and we ran out of time. I wish we had put it in as some kind of easter egg, as it was an awesome level, one of my favorite in the game. Long, a bit brutal, but it looked great, and had a real rhythm to it." Jason Rubin said, "There was never anything sadder than dropping a level that close to completion. The work that went into making a level like that is incredible. To see it on the cutting room floor was always a tragedy."

Stormy Ascent was eventually added to N. Sane Trilogy as DLC for the remastered version of Crash Bandicoot in July 2017. The original game designer of the level and former Naughty Dog employee Taylor Kurosaki commented how at the time he was still learning about difficulty curves and hence why the level ultimately had to be cut. When Vicarious Visions was tasked to remaster the trilogy, they challenged one of their best Crash players in the development team to play the original Stormy Ascent as part of their work to remaster the level. The level contains a new bonus round that can be accessed by collecting 3 N. Brio Tokens, instead of Cortex Tokens like in the original. Completing Stormy Ascent and obtaining its clear gem will raise players' save file percentage by 2%, changing the file's total to 102% (without relics) and the total number of gems to 27/26.

Types of crates

 * ? Crate
 * Aku Aku Crate
 * Basic Crate
 * Bounce Crate
 * Checkpoint Crate
 * Crash Crate
 * Iron Crate (bonus round only)
 * ! Crate (remaster, bonus round only)
 * Iron Arrow Crate (remaster, bonus round only)
 * TNT Crate (remaster, bonus round only)

Hazard Count

 * Beaker-Throwing Lab Assistants: 6
 * Evil Hands: 4
 * Birds: 12

Stage parameters

 * Aku Aku Crates: 2
 * Checkpoint Crates: 3
 * Other Crates: 29
 * Tawna Bonus Round Crates: None
 * Brio Bonus Round Crates: 22 (remaster)
 * Cortex Bonus Round Crates: 5 (prototype)

Relic Times

 * Sapphire: 7:00.00
 * Gold: 4:30.00
 * Platinum: 3:10.00

Enemies/Hazards that appear

 * Evil Hands
 * Iron Spikes
 * Lab Assistant
 * Birds
 * Retracting Steps
 * Falls
 * Moving Platforms

Trivia

 * On the back of the PAL Crash Bandicoot case, one of the pictures has the level Stormy Ascent on it. Whether this was intentional or not has not been confirmed.
 * Two achievements can be obtained in this level in the N. Sane Trilogy listed under the Lost Treasures DLC; one for obtaining the gem, and one for scoring a gold relic or higher.
 * The Stormy Ascent DLC for N. Sane Trilogy can be downloaded free-of-charge during its first month on the Playstation Store.