My Top 30 Favourite Crash Bandicoot Levels: #1 + more!

Hello there. And welcome to the final post in my Top 30 Favourite Crash Bandicoot Levels listing. I hope you’ve enjoyed counting down some of the best platformer levels of all time, and counting down the thirty days until the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy comes out. I’ll be playing the game later today. I can’t wait. I hope it’s as good as the originals! I may even review it some time. We’ll see.

Before I reveal what my favourite Crash Bandicoot level of all time is, here’s a recap from #30 to #2…

#30 - Heavy Machinery (Crash 1, Level 18)

#29 - Snow Go (Crash 2, Level 2)

#28 - Bone Yard (Crash 3, Level 4)

#27 - Jungle Rollers (Crash 1, Level 2)

#26 - Piston It Away (Crash 2, Level 21)

#25 - The Lab (Crash 1, Level 29)

#24 - High Time (Crash 3, Level 13)

#23 - Night Fight (Crash 2, Level 23)

#22 - Road Crash (Crash 3, Level 14)

#21 - Crash Dash (Crash 2, Level 5)

#20 - N. Sanity Beach (Crash 1, Level 1)

#19 - Dino Might! (Crash 3, Level 11)

#18 - Native Fortress (Crash 1, Level 9)

#17 - Double Header (Crash 3, Level 15)

#16 – Boulders (Crash 1, Level 4)

#15 - Cold Hard Crash (Crash 2, Level 18)

#14 - Midnight Run (Crash 3, Level 10)

#13 - Castle Machinery (Crash 1, Level 27)

#12 - Eggipus Rex (Crash 3, Level 32)

#11 - Rolling Stones (Crash 1, Level 7)

#10 - Toad Village (Crash 3, Level 1)

#9 – Upstream (Crash 1, Level 5)

#8 - Bear It (Crash 2, Level 8)

#7 - Hog Ride (Crash 3, Level 8)

#6 - Hog Wild (Crash 1, Level 8)

#5 - Turtle Woods (Crash 2, Level 1)

#4 - Orient Express (Crash 3, Level 3)

#3 - Hang Eight (Crash 2, Level 3)

#2 - Hang'em High (Crash 3, Level 7)

So! Here we are! What is my favourite Crash Bandicoot level of all time? It happens to be…

#1 Un-Bearable

Game: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Level: 15 (of 27)
Level Type: Chase
Random Fact: This is the only Chase level in the entire series where you also ride an animal. The level is called “Escape From Papa Bear” in Japan, which confirms that the large bear running after you is in fact Polar’s dad and possibly his relatives too?

Imagine this. You’ve played Crash 1. You’ve beaten Boulders. You’ve played through the other Chase levels. They were fun.

You then play Crash 2. You’ve beaten Crash Dash. You’ve noticed that the Chase levels in Crash 2 are similar but longer chase levels to the ones in Crash 1.

You then get to Level 15. But something’s different. It’s not a big lump of rock chasing you, oh no. It’s a MASSIVE polar bear!

You run away from this magnificent beast, with even more adrenaline pumping through you than the other chase levels. That rock was a pain in the butt to deal with, but this bear makes the whole thing so much more exhilarating.

The level is nearly over. But what’s this? Is that Polar, from the 8^th level “Bear It”. Seriously?? I’m going to ride Polar whilst running away from a bear ten times his size?? This is insane!!

For me, Un-Bearable is the most fun Crash Bandicoot level of all time. I love Chase levels. I love riding the Hog, Polar and Pura in each game. But for me, Un-Bearable combining the Chase levels whilst riding Polar is just the most fun I’ve ever had in a Crash Bandicoot game. The only problem is that that part of the level is too short. Otherwise, the whole level is brilliant in its design, and it’s clever in the way it throws the player right off, when they expect another rock chase level but instead get the massive polar bear chase instead. It’s just genius. And so much fun! And is my favourite Crash Bandicoot level of all time.

And this is what Un-Bearable looks like in the Remaster!

So there we have it! If you’ve been following this listing every day for the last month I thank you. I hope you’ve enjoyed the list, and by all means, tell me what your favourite Crash Bandicoot levels are!

Here are some nerdy things that I tend to do when I do a big listing…

Most Popular Level Styles

5x Jungle Levels (Turtle Woods #5, Rolling Stones #11, N. Sanity Beach #20, Night Fight #23, Jungle Rollers #27)

3x Chase Levels (Un-Bearable #1, Boulders #16, Crash Dash #21)

3x Prehistoric Levels (Eggipus Rex #12, Dino Might! #19, Bone Yard #28)

2x Arabian Town Levels (Hang'em High #2, High Time #24)

2x Factory Levels (Castle Machinery #13, Heavy Machinery #30)

2x Medieval Levels (Toad Village #10, Double Header #17)

2x Pura Levels (Orient Express #4, Midnight Run #14)

2x Race Levels (Hog Ride #7, Road Crash #22)

2x Snow Levels (Cold Hard Crash #15, Snow Go #29)

2x Stream Level (Hang Eight #3, Upstream #9)

Those level styles account for 25 of the 30 games in the list!

As you can see, I was quite impartial when choosing my favourite levels. It wasn’t completely intentional, I genuinely do believe these are my thirty favourite levels. I’m surprised Crash 1 had so many levels in the list to be honest, because overall, it’s my least favourite Crash game by some margin. Crash 3 is my favourite though, but Crash 2 is nearly as good and sometimes I do think, do I prefer it? But then reaffirm to myself that Crash 3 is the best.

In play-through order – here are the levels in order of which you would play them if you were to play Crash 1, 2 then 3 in order. Note that secret levels are at the end of the games, even if you can play them earlier.

Crash Bandicoot

#1 N. Sanity Beach (#20)

#2 Jungle Rollers (#27)

#4 Boulders (#16)

#5 Upstream (#9)

#7 Rolling Stones (#11)

#8 Hog Wild (#6)

#9 Native Fortress (#18)

#18 Heavy Machinery (#30)

#27 Castle Machinery (#13)

#29 The Lab (#25)

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

#1 Turtle Woods (#5)

#2 Snow Go (#29)

#3 Hang Eight (#3)

#5 Crash Dash (#21)

#8 Bear It (#8)

#15 Un-Bearable (#1)

#18 Cold Hard Crash (#15)

#21 Piston It Away (#26)

#23 Night Fight (#23)

Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped!

#1 Toad Village (#10)

#3 Orient Express (#4)

#4 Bone Yard (#28)

#7 Hang'em High (#2)

#8 Hog Ride (#7)

#10 Midnight Run (#14)

#11 Dino Might! (#19)

#13 High Time (#24)

#14 Road Crash (#22)

#15 Double Header (#17)

#32 Eggipus Rex (#12)

 

Level Numbers Featured Multiple Times

Very nerdy, I know, but these levels are featured across multiple games:

Level 1 – 3 times – (N. Sanity Beach,  Turtle Woods, Toad Village)

Level 2 – 2 times (Jungle Rollers, Snow Go)

Level 3 – 2 times (Hang Eight, Orient Express)

Level 4 – 2 times (Boulders, Bone Yard)

Level 5 – 2 times (Upstream, Crash Dash)

Level 7 – 2 times (Rolling Stones, Hang'em High)

Level 8 – 3 times (Hog Wild, Bear It, Hog Ride)

Level 15 – 2 times (Un-Bearable, Double Header)

Level 18 – 2 times (Heavy Machinery, Cold Hard Crash)

…and that’s the end! Thank you so much, if you read towards the end. I’m not sure when I’ll be back to do a website post, but subscribe to my site if you wish, or give me a “like” on Facebook below or follow me on Twitter, to keep up to date with what I do next! I’m still doing radio shows so I’m always busy! Until next time, take care!

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