Activation Crate

An Activation Crate is a crate used in Crash Nitro Kart to set traps, such as trap doors, obstacles, and magnets. It looks exactly like the ! crate, except wooden. Activation crates are found in eight of the thirteen race tracks (61.5%) in the console versions. In the original game, each track with an activation crate has only one such crate. Every activation crate from Crash Nitro Kart returns in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, where a second activation crate is added to Electron Avenue. The functions vary from track to track, and are described below.

Tiny Temple
The activation crate changes which torches breathe fire and which do not.

Meteor Gorge
The activation crate toggles a ramp between inactive and active.

Barin Ruins
The activation crate causes a large boulder to roll in the middle of the tube.

Out of Time
The activation crate is located very early in the lap, and can in fact be seen from the starting line. There are two ramps, side by side, and the activation crate toggles which is active and inactive.

Clockwork Wumpa
Breaking the activation crate will cause a square piece of ground shortly after the crate to open up into a hole and racers can fall in there. Unlike in most tracks, everything goes back to normal on its own, not by breaking the crate again.

Thunder Struck
The activation crate is located very close to the end of the lap. It toggles which of two nearby statues are actively hammering the ground.

Assembly Lane
Breaking the activation crate will cause a vacuum to travel to a new location.

Electron Avenue
The activation crate toggles which turbo pad is active and which is inactive. In Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, a second activation crate is added, toggling the active pad between a different set of turbo pads.