Stormy Ascent

Stormy Ascent is a level that was cut from the original Crash Bandicoot. The level consisted of fast retracting steps, vertically and horizontally-moving birds, vial-throwing Lab Assistants, many iron spikes, and moving platforms in complicated patterns. It's not accessible through normal means, but it can be played by using a GameShark code. Naughty Dog removed this level due to its extreme difficulty, as it's essentially a harder version of Slippery Climb (which is already considered one of the hardest levels in the game), its counterpart, and also because it had many glitches that Naughty Dog couldn't fix in time. It's also the last level of the Crash Bandicoot prototype. Collecting Cortex Tokens in this level increases the frequency that the split-second freezes occur, and collecting 3 tokens cause the game to crash in the retail versions of the game because no Cortex bonus round corresponds to Stormy Ascent, and the game doesn't 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."

Types of crates

 * Aku Aku Crate
 * Basic Crate
 * Bounce Crate
 * Checkpoint Crate
 * Crash Crate
 * ? Crate
 * Iron Crate (bonus round only)

Stage parameters

 * Aku Aku Crates: 2
 * Checkpoint Crates: 3
 * Other Crates: 29
 * Tawna Bonus Round Crates: None.
 * Brio Bonus Round Crates: None.
 * Cortex Bonus Round Crates: 5

Enemies/Hazards that appear

 * Evil Hand
 * 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.