Nitro Crate

Nitro Crates are powerful, explosive crates, filled with nitroglycerin, seen in the Crash Bandicoot series.

These explosive crates are extremely sensitive and should not be touched under most conditions (even while in the ground) unless supplied with invincibility. These are the most dangerous Crates on the Crash series. In Crash of the Titans for the DS they appear with only an "N" on them. In the GBA version of Crash of the Titans, they have a yellow explosion. To destroy them at the end of a level Crash must press the nitro switch crate. It is similar to that of the TNT crate except it does does not count down from three to one before exploding.

In Crash 2 and 3, the nitro crates occasionally jump in the air to make passing them more difficult. There is also a staircase of 'dud' (probably inactive) nitro crates in Bee-Having which leads to a secret stage, containing the purple gem.

If Crash touches them, they will explode and he will lose one of his masks or lose a life if he has none. If Crash does lose a life in this fashion in Crash 2 or 3, he will be shown as an angel, except he will also be playing the didgeridoo. However, while in underground, a stone (saying "RIP (Rest in Peace)") will pop up.

In Crash Team Racing and Crash Nitro Kart, they are one of the weapons available, as an upgraded TNT crate for racers with maximum wumpa fruit. As usual, if it is hit it explodes. The player loses three wumpa fruits as well. Any racer can get them at any time. Komodo Joe and Nitros Oxide also use them in boss challenges.

In Crash Bash, they appear in Crate Crush levels except Drain Bash.

In Crash Twinsanity, players will still be blown up if Crash touches them even if he has invincibility. Nitro crates will destroy enemies also if they're knocked them into them or if they run into them. The Nitro crates in this game appear very different to the versions in the previous games.

The only ways to touch a nitro crate and not be blown up are by using the tip toe power up In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, or having an Aku Aku mask.

Levels
Since their debut in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, nitro crates have been in nearly every level of the platforming games.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, they appeared in every level except for The Pits, Totally Bear, and the Intro.  However, in Turtle Woods, Hang Eight, and Road to Ruin, they did not appear anywhere on the main path on the level, and are only found in secret areas of those levels.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, they appeared in exactly half of the levels.  The levels that contained nitro crates are Bone Yard, Gee Wiz, Hang'em High, Dino Might!, Deep Trouble, Double Header, Sphynxinator, Future Frenzy, Tomb Wader, Gone Tomorrow, Flaming Passion, Bug Lite, Ski Crazed, Rings of Power, and Hot Coco.  In Gone Tomorrow and Flaming Passion, the nitro crates only appear in the respective bonus rounds of those levels, where they must be shot with the bazooka since there is no nitro switch crate.
 * In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, they appeared in every level except Tornado Alley, That Sinking Feeling, Smokey and the Bandicoot, and Crashteroids.
 * In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, they appeared in every level except Jungle Jam, Shipwrecked, Temple of Boom, and Sunken City.  Note that three of the four levels without nitro crates are the first three levels of the game.
 * In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, they appeared in every level except for Prints of Persia, Run from the Sun, and Water Logged.  However, in Pharaoh's Funhouse, they did not appear on the main path on the level, and are only found in the gem shard path.  Additionally, they appeared in the Evil Crunch boss fight.

Appears In

 * Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
 * Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
 * Crash Team Racing
 * Crash Bash
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
 * Crash Nitro Kart
 * Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
 * Crash Bandicoot: N-Tranced
 * Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage
 * Crash Twinsanity
 * Crash Boom Bang!
 * Crash of the Titans (Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions only)
 * Crash: Mind Over Mutant (DS version)