When it comes to crates, this is the hardest challenge in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. This level features an entire optional path that only unlocks once you collect all four color gems. The vault is a punishingly difficult gauntlet with no checkpoints and a whole bunch of boxes. There are four challenges rooms you’ll have to complete, all on a single life.
The rest of the level isn’t a walk in the park either. There are minecarts with spikes, dozens of enemies, tricky jumps on revolving platforms with fire traps, and long treks between checkpoints. You’ll need a lot of patience and skill to make it to the end of this level with all the crates. Learn where to find them all in the full guide below.
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
10-2: Toxic Tunnels | 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.
[Easy-To-Miss] 4/273: Right behind the starting spot, go to the foreground and smash all 4 crates.
10/273: Clear all the crates on the starting walkways, and the 2 crates above the first minecarts.
[Easy-To-Miss] 11/273: On the minecart tracks, hit the “!” metal block high above the start, then hit the crate the appears near the exit to the tracks.
40/273: Destroy all the crates to the first checkpoint — right outside the vault door that requires all 4 color gems.
53/273: Continue through the vault until you reach the green color gem.
55/273: Destroy the 2 crates at the start of the green gem room.
[Easy-To-Miss] 56/273: Slide under the lightning bulbs and jump — go back and jump on the wall to find the chest.
81/273: Complete the green gem room. Hit the bug minion to launch it into the Nitro and destroy all the TNT.
84/273: Smash the first crates in the red gem room. To destroy the TNT crate, bounce when the platform moves forward so you can reach the next moving platform.
[Easy-To-Miss] 86/273: On the minecart tracks, ride into the foreground then jump to the right corner.
89/273: Next, reach the crates on the front-left corner of the minecart section.
93/273: Continuing, stop on the platform after the minecart tracks. Use the metal bounce crate to reach an upper platform.
96/273: Smash the 3 crates before the yellow gem.
107/273: In the yellow gem area, smash all the crates on the path. I recommend keeping at least one aku-aku shield for the single TNT under the swinging pipe. Set off the TNT on the metal bounce crate and jump back to the fire platforms.
111/273: Setting off the TNT causes the metal crate to bounce. Time a very small jump to get through.
114/273: Smash the last 3 crates in the yellow gem room.
Hidden Gem: Reach the end of the blue gem room to complete the vault!
123/273: Destroy all the crates until you reach the next checkpoint after the vault.
137/273: Smash crates up to the next checkpoint, through the revolving platforms with fire traps. Don’t miss the one on the second (of 3) revolvers you need to climb, or the gold fruit crate floating under one.
144/273: Continue through the electric traps until you hit a checkpoint before a side-scrolling minecart track.
[Bonus Room] 188/273: Enter the bonus room to the left of the checkpoint. This one is very tough.
- Use a jumping spin-attack then double-jump to destroy the pair of fire crates.
- Slide-jump to get over the first metal bounce crate.
- To avoid the second bounce crate / Nitro combo, make sure you don’t hold [jump] for a high bounce.
192/273: At the minecart track, jump on a cart and slide-jump to reach the high platform on the left.
195/273: Destroy the 3 crates on the platform at the start.
202/273: Smash all the crates on the second raised platform on the tracks.
204/273: Found under the large pipe, in a small alcove you can use to hide from the carts.
208/273: Destroy the rest of the crates on the main tracks.
[Easy-To-Miss] 209/273: At the far-right end of the tracks, there’s a pile of fruit and a single crate.
[Easy-To-Miss] 212/273: Get on the revolving platforms, and stand on the fire trap. Slide-jump from the fire-trap to the left to land on an optional platform.
213/273: Reach the checkpoint after the two revolving platforms — right before the stack of 3 strong crates.
227/273: Continue to smash crates until you reach the checkpoint before the huge lava waterfall area.
257/273: Destroy all the crates on the way to the level exit. Don’t miss the crates on the revolving platforms at the very end. There’s a single crate on one platform, and many crates on another.
273/273: Smash all 4 crates and the Nitro detonator at the end to complete this level. Finally.
