Plant Food

Rewards: Clear Gem—destroy all 53 boxes. Yellow Gem—complete the level before the timer runs out.

Crash is back on the river. It’s difficult to get both gems on the same playthrough since collecting all the boxes tends to cause delays.

When you start this level, head out onto the platform and jump across to the moving pillar in the water. From there, jump across to the other platform. Spin-attack as you land to take out the carnivorous plant. Jump up the steps to reach the top of the waterfall, then move to the edge of the platform. Jump out onto a moving pillar, then to another one. From there, jump across a couple of hippos and onto a platform, watching for leaping piranhas. Jump across a gap and spin-attack a plant before reaching the checkpoint.

You come now to a surfboard section. Ride around the river, hitting boxes and maneuvering between two whirlpools. Continue past a couple of moving mines, then speed-boost over a whirlpool where a wall blocks the rest of the river. Continue past more mines, whirlpools, and nitro boxes. Use a jump to get over a whirlpool, then jump off the surfboard at the dock and use the checkpoint.

Follow the walkway along to a gap, where you either jump over to a hippo and then onto the next walkway, or try for a very long jump directly to the walkway. Jump on TNT boxes and go after plants. Jump onto the circular “?” platform to access the bonus stage.

Move along the walkway to reach the next surfboard stage. Break boxes and steer away from the small platforms with carnivorous plants. If you get too close, they reach out and bite you. Reach the next dock and grab the crystal. Jump across a gap, spin-attack a plant, and get to the checkpoint.

Before using the surfboard, follow the walkway on the right to the end and clear it of plants and boxes. Jump across to the left to deal with another plant, then head back to the surfboard. If you don’t clear out the plants ahead of time, there’s no way to get past them without being attacked. Ride the surfboard to break boxes in the water, and hit the jump to collect a box floating in the air. A plant appears on the platform near the dock as you approach, so give it some clearance.

Once you’re back on your feet, jump across a series of nitro boxes and hit the switch by the door to the portal room to get rid of all those nitro boxes. Continue inside to pick up the Clear Gem and complete the level.

Time Trial

Time Requirements

Sapphire: 1:59:00

Gold: 1:03:31

Platinum: 0:57:28

To get a good time on this level, you need to find ways to bypass unnecessary steps. Taking one long jump across a gap saves time over two jumps. There aren’t many time boxes here, so it’s important to get them all. When you’re on the surfboard, reach the next dock as quickly as possible without getting hit. When you face the gauntlet of plants, you don’t have time to clear them out first, so rush past them before they can bite. Keep going all the way to the portal to earn a relic.