Famous Secret Level Available FREE Now For ‘Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy’

Samantha Loveridge
Games Comic-Con
Games Comic-Con PlayStation

If you’re an old-school Crash Bandicoot fan, you’ll know that the original game had a secret level that could only be accessed by those capable of hacking it. Game developer, Naughty Dog cut Crash Bandicoot’s Stormy Ascent level because it was just too difficult for gamers. But rather than taking the level out completely, they merely hid it inside the game and made it inaccessible.

crash bandicoot stormy ascent level
The punishingly difficult Stormy Ascent level cut from the original 'Crash Bandicoot'

“We didn’t know anything about making video games,” explained Taylor Kurosaki, ex-Naughty Dog Game Designer at the special SDCC panel. “Because we didn’t know anything about making video games so well, we made something really fun for us and really hard for us, but basically impossible for the fans.

“We had to make a very last minute decision to cut the level from the game, but because the game discs were already built with the level inside, it was really dangerous to try and code it out, so we just left it in there and commented it out.

“It’s on the disc but it’s not playable, because it was too hard and it was too late, so it just lived in there.”

But there’s a twist for those gamers sadistic enough to want to play Stormy Ascent because the developer behind Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is releasing it as a free download on the PlayStation Store RIGHT NOW for free. But be quick, because it’s only free for the next 30 days and after that it’ll cost you money – although we’re not sure how much as yet.

“It was something that we felt pretty strongly that we wanted to get this one in, and our team fell in love with it,” explained John Paul Rhinemiller, Cinematics Lead at Vicarious Visions. “It is a very difficult level.”

“So get it, play it. You’re going to die a lot.”

Samantha Loveridge
Sam is the UK Gaming Editor at Fandom. She's been addicted to games since she first got her paws on a GameBoy and hasn't looked back.