Red gem

The red gem is a rare type of colored gem in the Crash Bandicoot series. Like the other colored gems, the red gem is usually collected by completing a special task. Once it is recovered, the red gem will unlock special routes by activating a platform or platforms in certain levels, known as gem paths.

Crash Bandicoot
In the original game, the red gem is similar in shape to a clear gem; however, it is square-topped instead of octagonal-topped. It is a lighter shade of red than in the later games, and is sometimes called the "pink gem" as a result.

The red gem can be earned in Slippery Climb (or The Lost City in the Japanese release of the original game) by completing the level while breaking all the crates and without dying after the first checkpoint. Acquiring this gem unlocks gem paths on the levels Native Fortress and Road to Nowhere.

Walkthrough
 DM's Guide Crash Bandicoot 1 - Slippery Climb (Red Gem)-1 

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
The red gem can be found on the second level, Snow Go. Though the gem is visible from the normal level path, it is inaccessible through normal play; in order to acquire it, the player must find the secret warp exit in Air Crash which unlocks the hidden entrance to Snow Go.

A glitch in the original release of the game exists that allows the red gem to be collected early. It can be done by sliding and bouncing from the nearby arrow crate, doing a glitch slide jump and belly-flopping under the gem.

The red gem is required to obtain a clear gem in the levels Snow Biz and Spaced Out, the latter requiring all other colored gems as well.

Walkthrough
 Crash Bandicoot 2 - Snow Go Red Gem All Gems Walkthrough-0 

Crash Bandicoot: Warped
The red gem returns for the next game and can be found on the second underwater level, Deep Trouble. Towards the end of the level, there is a split path, one that goes up and one that goes right. The right path is blocked off by a mix of iron crates and TNT crates; the latter are not able to be triggered as they are blocked off by the iron crates. There is also a single outline crate at the upper left of the cluster. The player must head up to the end of the level, and trigger the ! crate. This changes the outline crate into a TNT crate. The player must then backtrack to the cluster and trigger the new TNT crate. When it explodes, the other TNTs will explode as well, the higher iron crates drop down and provide a pathway to a new section of the level. The red gem awaits at the end, as well as an alternate exit to the level. There are regular crates here too, so this path is required to get the clear gem for Deep Trouble.

The red gem is required to find the second clear gem in the level Bone Yard and is one of the five gems needed for the multicolor path in Bug Lite, in the same fashion as Spaced Out from the previous game.

Crash Team Racing
The five colored gems from the latter two games appear in Crash Team Racing, four of which also appear in the successor game, Crash Nitro Kart. There are five gem cups, one of each color, with the Red Gem Cup consisting of Crash Cove, Mystery Caves, Blizzard Bluff, and Papu's Pyramid, all of which are short races. The player must collect the four red CTR tokens to unlock the cup.

The player is awarded the red gem upon victory in the cup. This also unlocks Ripper Roo as a playable character.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
The red gem returns again, alongside the other four, and is found in the twenty-first level, Crash and Burn, in the death route. There are some tricky jumps involving lava and fire, and the last jump is very difficult; it requires the player to slide to the edge, double jump, then tornado spin to the other end, where the red gem and the alternate level exit lies.

The red gem is required to fully complete Banzai Bonsai, where the red gem path is located.

Walkthrough
 Let's Play Crash Bandicoot 4 The Wrath of Cortex Part 49 - Crash and Burn Red Gem 

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
In this game, the red gem is back with same appearance seen in Cortex Strikes Back and Warped. It is located in Star to Finish and unlocks a red gem path in Temple of Boom, which is necessary to get the second gem from that level.

Walkthrough
 Crash Bandicoot - The Huge Adventure (GBA) - How to get the Red Gem 

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
In this game, it is back along with the blue and green gems. Its shards are located in the Egyptian levels. Acquiring the four shards unlocks Wild Nile Ride, which contains the red gem.

Crash Nitro Kart
It has the same role as in Crash Team Racing, except only three races are featured in the Red Gem Cup. The three races are on Inferno Island, Meteor Gorge, and Assembly Lane. The player receives the red gem upon its completion. The red gem also unlocks Dingodile as a playable character.

Walkthrough
 Let's Play Crash Nitro Kart Part 35 - Red Gem Cup 

Crash Twinsanity
Like the other gems, a red gem can be found hidden throughout each level in the game, meaning there are sixteen in total. Collecting a red gem unlocks a storyboard gallery for its respective level in the game's concept art, accessible through the pause menu.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
The red gem reappears in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remasters of the first three games where it reprises the same role it had in the original versions of those games. However, in Cortex Strikes Back, it's placed higher up to avoid the player collecting it early. It has a custom-drawn icon on the pause screen and looks the same throughout all three games.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
The red gem reappears in Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled where it reprises the same role that it had in the original version of Crash Team Racing. However, it no longer unlocks Ripper Roo as a playable character.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
The red gem appears in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time as a gem to collect from the second level of the game. N. Sanity Peak, where you are getting close to Lani-Loli have a mini-map indicating what platform you have to jump and get the red gem.

Appearances

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
 * Crash Bandicoot: Warped
 * Crash Team Racing
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
 * Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
 * Crash Nitro Kart
 * Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (as a card)
 * Crash Twinsanity
 * Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
 * Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
 * Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Trivia

 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped, the Red Gem has the same shape as the clear gem.

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