Box Counter

A Box Hologram is a feature first featured in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, usually located at the exit of a level. It consists of a three-dimensional hologram of a spinning box, also featuring a box counter. If all boxes are broken, the hologram will turn into an actual clear gem for the player to collect.

Box holograms are kept in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, however some non-platforming levels (especially the flying levels) don't feature a Box Hologram as they don't feature an exit either. Because of that, the clear gem is acquired automatically when the last box is broken.

When the box gem is already obtained on the level, the box hologram will no longer appear. An exception to this is in Turtle Woods, where if the player has obtained the box gem but not the blue gem, then the hologram will show X / 0 (where X is the number of crates broken). This is a hint that the player needs to break no boxes to obtain the blue gem.

When the player obtains a special gem on Hang Eight or Plant Food for beating the timer, the box hologram won't show, and is replaced by the gem.