High Seas Hi-Jinks

High Seas Hi-Jinks (うみのうえのおおさわぎ lit. Fuss on the Sea in Japanese) is the eighth stage in Crash Twinsanity and the final level in the Iceberg Lab.

Description
This level features two boss battles and a chase level that takes place between them. It is opened up once players complete Slip Slide Icecapades. Only Crash is played in this level (because Cortex goes to the Psychetron to get things prepared for the flight to Academy of Evil). In this level, Crash is entering N. Gin's battleship to get a much needed crystal. It's a regular platforming section with many moving platforms and rocket springs. At the end there is a boss battle with N. Gin, a chase with Rusty, and another boss battle with N. Brio and N. Tropy. There is a crystal at the end of the platforming section, in a vent on the way to the N.Gin fight.

Pitfalls
Pitfalls appear in many of the rooms. If Crash falls in one, he will instantly die regardless of how many Aku-Aku masks he has. Due to certain glitches/bugs in the pits, the player can lose two lives at once.

Nitro Crates
Nitro Crates are placed in certain areas of the level, and usually need to be blown up with a Detonator Crate or a Rat.

TNT Crates
It is interesting to note that there are two different types of TNT in this level: 1: The normal TNT Crates that have a three second timer set off when jumped on. When caught in the explosion, the player will lose a life regardless of how many Aku-Akus they have. 2: These TNTs are encountered only in the N. Gin boss fight. The differences being: their timer sets off when they touch the ground, they don't explode if they are hit, and they don't kill Crash if he has an Aku-Aku. Furthermore, their explosion also looks different. They are thrown by N. Gin during his boss.

Spikes
On the crows nest where N. Gin is fought, there are spikes which harm Crash if he jumps on them or touches them. They can be stood on if the player jumps on them in the right place.

Barrel Throwing Rhino
This rhino throws barrels at Crash. He can be defeated but coming into contact with him will harm Crash. Getting too close will also make him punch Crash.

Barrel
These barrels are thrown by a Rhino (mentioned above) and bounce on a set of large stairs. Touching them will hurt Crash.

Swinging Pirate Rhino
Swinging Pirate Rhinos appear after Crash enters N. Gin's Battleship and swing over tilting platforms and attempt to knock Crash off. They cannot be defeated, meaning they must be merely avoided.

Water
Water appears outside of the battleship and in one room of it. If Crash falls into the water, he will drown and lose a life regardless of how many Aku-Aku masks he has.

Rockets
These are used as projectiles during N. Gin's fight. Touching them will harm Crash and knock him off N. Gin's crows nest if he is in the right position with an Aku-Aku.

Rats
Rats are common enemies while on the ship. Some can be jumped on or slammed, while others will harm the player if they do so. They can be defeated in one hit.

Rusty Walrus
Rusty Walrus, the ship's cook, pursues Crash after the defeat of N. Gin in his boss fight. Like most other chase scenes in the games, touching him will kill Crash instantly.

Gems
Blue gem: When you enter the second room of the ship with all the swinging rhinos, immediately go left. Jump over to the bouncy crate, and you will be bounced up into the gem.

Green gem: After climbing up to where the barrel throwing rhino is, turn right and bounce over to the side of the room using the spring-loaded rockets. Follow the path across the room and you'll see the green gem above some bouncy crates.

Clear gem: At the end of the room with the spinning palettes. When you spin the second one, jump off early to land on the gem's platform.

Yellow gem: In the room with the large turning thing. You must activate several detonation crates throughout the room before you can jump over and get the gem.

Red gem: In the second large rocket room, platform upwards using the spring-loaded rockets, then cross the room on more rockets and platforms until you reach the gem, suspended in the air but reachable using the bouncy crate underneath.

Purple gem: The purple gem is found during the Rusty Walrus chase segment. It's pretty hard to miss given the linear nature of the sequence. It's on the right side of the path after two steam vents.

Mini Boss fight - N.Gin
N.Gin is standing on a crow's nest with a ring shaped platform around it. The nest is held up by three supports connected to the ring platform. Crash must run around the platform, avoiding rockets fired by N.Gin.

After firing a barrage of rockets, N.Gin will shake his fist at Crash and throw a TNT crate at him. Crash must stand next to one of the supports, tricking N.Gin into blowing up one of the supports.

After all three supports have been blown up, the crow's nest will fall, N.Gin falling along with it. The hovering mechanisms holding up the ring platform will fall as well however, sending Crash falling into the next section, the Rusty Walrus chase segment.

Boss fight - Henchmania (N.Tropy and N.Brio)
The first phase of the boss consists of N.Brio in his frog monster form bouncing towards Crash on an iceberg. All Crash can do is run away and wait for the next phase. After a while, Brio will bounce off into the water.

N.Tropy will teleport in and shatter the iceberg into pieces, also generating a red forcefield around himself. Crash must jump around on the different pieces of iceberg, as the pieces sink into the water if you stand still on one for too long. N.Tropy will swing his tuning fork at you while this happens.

After a few seconds, the forcefield will disappear and Tropy will kneel, holding his head as if he has a headache. This is Crash's chance to attack. Upon hitting N.Tropy, he will lose 1 hit point and teleport away. The iceberg will reform and Brio will jump back out of the water.

This repeats for 3 hit points. When N.Tropy is defeated, it triggers a cutscene where Brio slams the side of the iceberg, tipping it and sending Crash flying back to the mainland.

Beta Elements
In an early build of the game from February 2004, the original was vastly different than the final version. Instead of having a mechanical battleship design, the level originally had a more traditional pirate ship design. Several of the enemies that were cut early on are present, but aren't programmed properly.

Almost all of the level was changed during development, save for a few sections. The level featured mechanics and gimmicks that were removed in the final game, including slippery tar, exploding barrel puzzles and valves that would make platforms rise.

The section where Rusty Walrus chases the player was initially before the boss against N. Gin and much shorter. It was also drastically different in design, and Rusty Walrus' AI wasn't programmed properly at the time.

The boss fight against N. Gin was also different. The original idea was that N. Gin would shoot rockets from a distance at Crash that could be spun back. After knocking back a specific missile, a larger rocket would be fired at Crash and launch him towards the fight against N. Brio and N. Tropy.

The N.Tropy and N.Brio boss fight was largely unchanged. However, a mechanic where the play would have to trigger and drop TNT's into N. Brio's mouth was removed, likely because it was unclear what the player had to do. In the early build of the game, the boss ended after just 2 hits, thus ending the level.

Trivia

 * This and Totem Hokum are the only levels that use classical songs, during the Walrus Chase (Hebrides Overture).
 * N. Brio and N. Tropy's boss fight is called "Henchmania".

High Seas Hi-Jinks Bon grain marin