The last level of Map 4 throws everything at you, and makes collecting crates pretty confusing. There’s one aspect of crate collecting in Crash Bandicoot 4 I haven’t discussed so far, so let’s talk about it.
Every level contains Nitro crates. These powerful explosive boxes kill Crash if you so much as touch them. Eventually you can safely detonate Nitro with a power-up — and every level with Nitro has a detonator metal crate waiting for you at the very end to destroy all the crates at once. But, it is possible to set off Nitro early.
If you have an Aku-Aku mask, or if you hit an enemy into a Nitro, you’ll completely throw off my numbers. The numbers listed below assume you don’t break any unnecessary Nitro, unless otherwise noted. If you have more crates than is listed for each section, you probably face-planted in some Nitro and set it off early. Just don’t get confused and think your inflated crate count will cover any missing crates you missed.
More Crash Bandicoot 4 guides:
How To 100% Every Level | All Hidden Gems & Crates Locations Guide | How To Find The Ridiculous WOAH! Meme | WOAH YEAH! Easter Egg Guide | How To Beat All Bosses | Neo Cortex, N. Tropy & More | How To Get All 4 Colored Gems | Blue, Yellow, Green & Red Locations
4-3: Off-Balance | All Crates & Hidden Gems
To earn 100% on a level, you need to find 80% of all Wumpa Fruit, die no more than 3 times, find the Hidden Gem, and find all crates. These challenges can be completed in any order. If you die more than 3 times while finding all the crates, you can return and earn the last gem later. All gems you’ve unlocked in a level stay unlocked in future replays.
25/187: When you break the first checkpoint crate, you should have 25. This includes the crates to the left of the checkpoint. Get them all before trying to cross the lily pads.
[Easy-To-Miss] 26/187: Floating in the water after the first checkpoint. Slide-jump to reach it!
35/187: 9 more crates are on the path to the second checkpoint. This count includes the checkpoint.
[Easy-To-Miss] 36/187: Directly right of the second checkpoint, there’s an easy-to-miss crate next to the wall.
42/187: There are 6 crates after the second checkpoint. Stand still and spin-attack to crate the lower crate and set off the TNT. Then you can ground-pound the strong crates.
46/187: When crossing the wooden platforms, break the 4 crates in the alcove that opens up. It’s full of fruit!
49/187: 3 more crates are found before you get the whirlwind purple mask power-up.
60/187: Smash all the crates along the purple whirlwind section. We’re stopping this count on the checkpoint and the 1 crate before jumping through the two green dragons.
63/187: 3 more crates are right next to the bonus room entrance.
[Bonus Room] 90/187: There are 27 crates in the bonus room.
[Easy-To-Miss] 91/187: After the bonus room, there’s one crate floating above the first flamethrower trap. Use the purple power-up to reach it!
96/187: Bust all the crates including the next checkpoint. Don’t forget the TNT crates.
98/187: There are 2 crates ahead. Stop here and look to the right of the wind tunnel — there’s an empty space. Drop down there!
Hidden Gem: Past the previously marked blocks, there’s a hole to the right of the wind tunnel. Drop down and follow this tricky path to reach a hidden gem.
[Easy-To-Miss] 104/187: Get past the golem and through the Nitro blocks. At the end of the wind tunnels, stop and use the purple power-up to go right onto the high ledges. There are 3 crates, and 3 more (2 TNT) on the far upper-right.
106/187: Grab the Aku-Aku Crate and the checkpoint between the two firetraps.
122/187: More crates along the obstacle course of wall-runs ahead. Stop this count at the next checkpoint, right before the phase-shift blue mask.
133/187: These crates are in the first phase-shift section, up to the checkpoint. Make sure to set off the TNT, and get the crates above the floating platforms.
137/186: Destroy the 2 sets of 2 crates on the wall-runs.
138/187: TNT crate. Stop at the TNT crate — you can break it after getting a hard-to-reach crate on the next entry.
[Easy-To-Miss] 139/187: At the TNT crate, bounce up and toward the right wall to find an impossible crate high out of view of the camera.
140/187: This is the checkpoint crate at the start of the purple mask sequence.
[Easy-To-Miss] 141/187: Get the purple mask power-up, then double-jump up to a ledge directly above. There’s an insanely easy-to-miss crate up there.
149/186: There are 9 crates in the final purple whirlwind mask section. Destroy all 7 at the start, and don’t miss the 2 floating crates near the level exit.
186/186: Hit the Nitro detonator to complete your collection.
