Slippery Climb

thumb|500px|left ''Very good! You've managed to reach Cortex's castle, but can you climb to the top and find the Red Gem? ''-Level description

Slippery Climb is the twentieth level of Crash Bandicoot. Some consider it to be the hardest level in the game, taking place on the side of the thunderstormed wall of Cortex Castle. Crash climbs up the difficult wall facing birds, spikes, potion throwing lab assistants trained by Doctor Nitrus Brio, moving platforms and stairs, and other obstacles. There is a Tawna bonus round and a Brio death route inside it as well. The Red Gem is obtained if all crates are broken without death in this level. Stormy Ascent, a level in a similar style, was scrapped before the game came out.

Trivia

 * This level's title is a clever reference to the once-popular college frat boy sport called "slipper climb", in which extremely drunk kids would attempt to climb steep slopes, while wearing nothing but cheap slippers. As one can imagine, there was much falling, although it did not usually end fatally, unlike this level. The sport has sadly fallen out of favor in recent years with the advent of beer pong.
 * Despite the level's name, this stage's platforming mechanics are actually no more slippery than any other side-scrolling level in the game. Fans generally assume that Naughty Dog had originally programmed a slipperiness algorithm for this level, but scrapped it, as it made the stage too easy.