Arctic Antics

Arctic Antics (つるつる つっぱしれ lit. Slippery Rush in Japanese) is the first level of the first warp room in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. It takes place in an icy village in the Arctic, filled with seals, penguins and skiers. There are also woolly mammoths that are located near the end of the level which if hit, give the player an extra life. The blue gem can be obtained in the death route. However, if Crash loses a life outside of the death route, he cannot go into the death route to get it, as is the case with all death routes. A way to make the death route less challenging is to hit the Nitro Switch before going into it. That way, the player can traverse it with no Nitro Crates. This can be done in most levels in the series, with the exception of Tsunami.

Trivia

 * Once Crash has the Fruit Bazooka, he can shoot the mammoths at the sides and get extra lives. However, it is also possible to jump on certain mammoths, though it is risky as they are standing in icy water, which will cost Crash a life if he falls in.
 * This level shares some similarities with Turtle Woods from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Firstly, they are the first levels of their respective games (the intro section of Crash 2 doesn't count as an actual level), and they are both the first level to contain a colored gem, which coincidently is the blue gem.
 * This is the first level in the game to have a death route.

Bandicoot on Ice Parti Per L'Artico