Upstream

Rewards: Clear Gem—destroy all 36 boxes (Orange Gem required for three of the boxes).

Crash is in the middle of a river. You must jump onto logs, leaves, and even carnivorous plants to get to the end. Don’t fall into the water, or you’ll lose a life.

Though you need to head up the screen to reach the end of the level, head downstream to smash an Aku Aku box at the start. Then jump from the log to a small island, then onto a lily pad. Don’t stay on these too long, or they sink into the water. Be sure to pick up the first Tawna icon from a box on a stone platform.

Watch out for jumping piranha. They hurt you if they hit you. Wait for them to drop back into the river, then jump past them. Eventually you reach a leaf that moves back and forth. Wait for it to approach, then jump to it. Ride it until it gets close enough to a log for you to jump across. Keep jumping your way upstream, collecting Wumpa fruit and smashing boxes as you go.

Climb up a slippery log to reach the checkpoint box at the top of a waterfall. From there, keep going until you find a TNT box. There’s a Crash box with an extra life on top of it. Jump up next to it and perform a spin attack to release the life. However, jumping onto the TNT box activates the explosive, so jump forward onto a carnivorous plant. The red ones start to close shortly after you jump onto them, so jump off quickly and onto the next dry spot, where you find the second Tawna icon.

After jumping across a series of leaves and lily pads, you come to a purple carnivorous plant. These close periodically on their own, so wait for them to close and open again, then jump on and off before they close and take away one of your lives. As you walk up another log to a second checkpoint at the top of a waterfall, you see several portals below. You need the Orange Gem to activate these portals.

Get past more hungry plants after using the checkpoint to find a box with the third Tawna icon. Collect it to activate the nearby portal, and jump into a bonus stage.

After returning to the level, continue upstream by riding a leaf, and jump to the final platform where the portal awaits.

Time Trial

Time Requirements

Sapphire: 1:03:00

Gold: 0:49:95

Platinum: 0:46:51

This level requires careful jumps; rushing for time can lead to mistakes. Practice to make it through with few pauses. The only time you may have to wait is while riding a leaf. Watch out for jumping piranhas—moving quickly, you’re more likely to run into them. Use spin attacks to take them out as you pass them, rather than slowing down or stopping to let them pass.