Crash and Burn

Crash and Burn (あつあつ かざんとう lit. Hotty Volcano Island in Japanese) is the twenty-first level and is the first level of the fifth warp room in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. This level is set on an island with an erupting volcano. The level's death route contains a red gem that unlocks the red gem path in Banzai Bonsai.

Trivia

 * The level is similar to Crashes to Ashes.
 * This is the first level that was in development, it's design tracing back all the way to the demo pitch made by Mark Cerny's team.
 * The prototype version of the level was longer with a differing route, and had a more story influenced progression. Early storyboards and footage show Coco entering the level, only to get captured and held prisoner by gorilla tribesmen. Crash would then have to progress to the top of the volcano and face the tribe leader before Coco was sacrificed. Elements of the original pathway as well as data for the tribe leader miniboss can still be found in the final game.
 * The cave route has a face engraved into the wall, which heavily resembles the gorilla tribe leader miniboss from the prototype.
 * This is the only level in the game that contains an Aku Aku crate in the bonus round.  It is also the first such level in the series, although Aku Aku crates are also found in bonus rounds of various levels in the Game Boy Advance games.
 * Elements of this level were used as influence for the volcano island levels of Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.