Up the Creek

Rewards: Clear Gem—destroy all 48 boxes.

If this level looks similar to Upstream from N-Sanity Island, that’s because it is, except it’s more difficult. Some of the leaves move around in a funky pattern, and you have to deal with monkeys as well as plants that want to eat a Bandicoot. There are no gem requirements to reach secret areas, so you can get a Clear Gem on your first playthrough of this level. Just don’t get wet.

At the start of the level, smash a couple of boxes and pick up the mask, then jump across some lily pads and a carnivorous plant to reach a tiny island. Wait here until a leaf approaches. Jump to it and ride it toward the next moving leaf. Consider studying the path the two leaves take before committing to a jump so you don’t fall into the water. Since these leaves move sideways as well as upstream and downstream, you must anticipate where the leaf will be when you land. Ride the second leaf to a log, then climb up this slippery path to a “?” box at the top of a waterfall.

Jump across to a lily pad and then to a stone platform. Wait again for a leaf to approach, then jump across to it. Wait until it’s next to the second leaf, and jump to the left. Time your next jump onto the purple carnivorous plant: it closes on its own, so jump onto it after it opens, then get off quickly, jumping to a stone platform with two boxes. One of them contains the first Tawna icon. There’s a monkey on the next platform. Wait until it’s rolling away from you, then jump across to the platform. Quickly defeat it with a spin attack while it’s standing, then jump to the next island where a checkpoint awaits.

Keep advancing upstream—ride a leaf, jump on a lily pad and then a carnivorous plant—until you reach another log that takes you up to the top of another waterfall. Remember not to stay too long on the lily pads or they sink. Ride a couple of leaves to a platform with a monkey. Since you’re on a leaf, you don’t have a lot of options for timing your jump onto the platform. Once on it, get ready to jump and hit the monkey with a spin attack to clear it from the platform.

Now you must get across two carnivorous plants. The first is red, the second purple. As the purple closes, jump across to the red plant and then to the purple as it opens. Quickly continue to a lily pad and then onto a platform with a checkpoint. Ride a leaf to a log and time your jump onto the log to avoid a leaping piranha.

At the top of the waterfall, run across a series of connected lily pads and jump onto an island. Jump over to the iron switch box on the left, then backtrack to the log and break the two now-activated boxes on the left. Return to the island and head upstream to reach a stone platform with two boxes. The second Tawna icon is inside one of them. Continue along lily pads and a hungry plant to reach another stone platform. Wait for a leaf and ride it to a second leaf. Watch out for piranhas here. Keep going until you come to more boxes, where you can get the third Tawna icon. Jump into the activated portal to the left to enter the bonus stage.

You’re almost there. Jump across a couple of snapping plants and ride a leaf to reach the end of the level.

Time Trial

Time Requirements

Sapphire: 1:42:00

Gold: 1:20:25

Platinum: 1:16:31

To get the gold and platinum levels here, you can’t stop for anything except the leaves you ride across the water. Smash every yellow time box and don’t worry about the rest. To shave off a few seconds, jump toward the purple plants when their mouths are closed so you land on them as they open. Jumping over the monkeys as they roll at you, rather than slowing down to spin-attack them, can also save time. For a good start on the level, grab the mask from the Aku Aku box at the beginning before you start the clock.