Road to Ruin

Road to Ruin is the fourteenth level and is the fourth level of the third warp room in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. It is somewhat similar to the ruin-themed levels from the first game, specifically Temple Ruins and Jaws of Darkness, though this time level takes place outside.

In order to gain this level's first gem, the player must break all the level's crates, which can only be achieved by using the secret warp in the level Diggin' It and entering through the 6th warp room. Although, with a bit of skill, it is possible to jump the gaping chasm via the standard entrance. The second gem can be collected along this level's death route, which again, with a bit of skill, can be collected via doing a glitched high jump and making it to the death route's exit.

Types of crates

 * Aku Aku Crate
 * Arrow Crate - iron (death route only)
 * Basic Crate
 * Bounce Crate
 * Checkpoint Crate
 * ! Crate - standard
 * Iron Crate
 * Nitro Crate (secret entrance area only)
 * Nitro Switch Crate
 * Outline Crate
 * ? Crate
 * TNT Crate

Trivia

 * The level's name might be a reference to the 1978 Ramones album of the same name.
 * As with Ruination, the third and final island from Crash Bandicoot 1 can be seen in the background of this level, an allusion to the 'ruination' of Cortex's empire, this island can be physically reached in Crash Bandicoot 2, albeit only in the form of a secret warp room, where the other two islands from the previous game can be seen also.
 * This level contains only four nitro crates, all of which are in the secret area of the level accessible from the 6th warp room.  However, unlike in other levels in the game where nitros are exclusive to secret areas, the nitro switch crate is along the main path of the level.  This is because nitros were originally going to appear along the main path of the level, and this can be seen in the released beta version of the game
 * This level and Air Crash are the only levels in the game which have two alternate routes.