Un-Bearable

Un-Bearable is the fifteenth level in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. This level follows the premise of a previous chase, Crash Dash. This time around though, Crash will be chased by a giant polar bear while running through a snow covered jungle.

Level design
Un-Bearable takes place in a jungle that is covered with snow. In this level, Crash will be constantly pursued by a giant polar bear. The vicious polar bear will chase Crash throughout the level, in which Crash must avoid the ferocious beast at all costs. While running away from the bear, Crash must watch out for various pits and obstacles. Most of these obstacles will leave the giant bear unscathed, so they will only remain as a threat for Crash.

In certain parts in this level, Crash will come across large tunnels that will protect Crash from the giant polar bear. The tunnels will render the polar bear immobile, but Crash will usually come across a different polar bear waiting at the end of the tunnel. In one point of the level, Crash can find a secret route by jumping into a pit that the giant polar bear falls into. By doing this, Crash will come across a new section of the level that includes additional crates and new enemies. The nitro switch crate is just past the pit that leads to the secret area, and that area is much easier if Crash hits the nitro switch crate and then goes back to enter the secret area.

After the last tunnel, the final chase involves riding Polar at a speed higher than usual. At its end, Polar throws Crash over a giant pit, where the last giant bear falls into. That pit can be jumped across again, from the other side. By doing so, and reversing a bit of the track, Crash will find Polar sitting. If Crash stands in front of him, a secret warp will be activated and another portal in the sixth Warp Room will be revealed.

Walkthrough
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Enemies and obstacles

 * Salamanders - The salamanders will wander the path that Crash uses while in pursuit from the giant polar bear. Crash can easily avoid them by walking around them, or spinning them away once close to them. They are also capable of jumping over obstacles like fences and land mines, so Crash should also be careful of when they are airborne.
 * Land Mines - These land mines appear throughout Crash's pursuit with the giant polar bear. When Crash steps one of these mines, it will project him up into the air and stun him for a few moments. This will cause him to become immobile for a short period of time, and gives him a higher risk of getting stomped by the giant polar bear. The land mines will not kill Crash, only stun him for a brief moment.
 * Electric Gates - These electrical gates appear throughout the level, and Crash must avoid them by not running into the electric current. Crash can avoid them by staying away from their electrical barrier. At certain points in the level, Crash must slide or crawl under them in order to get by them.
 * Armadillos - These armadillos are a special version that are seen in earlier levels in the game. This form of an armadillo is filled with armor, making it harder for it to be killed. Crash can defeat these armadillos by jumping on them to make them immobile, and spinning them away afterwards.
 * Hunter Lab Assistant - These Hunter Lab Assistants appear in the secret section of the level, and attack Crash by firing shots of projectiles at him. Crash can avoid them by dodging them while being shot at him. This requires timing and studying the path of the bullets. The Hunter Lab Assistants can be defeated by spinning them away once near them.

Trivia

 * In the Death Route of this level, there are a pair of hidden 1-up boxes, and unlike every other 1-up boxes on the game, that after being collected, they turn into '?' crates if the player loses a life, these will always be 1-up lives, so the player can farm for lives with them.
 * The Polar Bears in this level can be touched when they are stuck in the passages and Crash won't be hurt.
 * This level is like the chase section of the Frostbite Cavern level from Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (In Europe: XS).
 * The bear chasing Crash is possibly an early version of the Bearminator.
 * As with the other chase levels in this game, Aku Aku is banned from this level, so even if the player has Aku Aku when entering the level, the player loses him. There are Aku Aku masks in the secret area, but Crash loses them shortly after returning to the main part of the level.

Name Origin
Un-Bearable is possibly derived from the word "unbearable", which is a word to describe someone that is too much to handle or hard to be around with.