Crash 1 Useful facts/knowledge/tips

REGION DIFFERENCES (only information that is relevant to speedrunning) (from NTSC-U)

PAL
- Crash's jump height has been increased. This can actually make skips like Cortex Power one cycle easier, but not necessarily faster.
- Crash's base movement speed has been increased. Don't be fooled into thinking this makes PAL faster.
- Zigzag generally isn't faster. You can still zigzag on PAL, but it won't be as fast as on NTSC.
- Things are generally slower. This includes animations, cycles, map transitions, etc. Bosses are some of the most noticeable slow-downs from NTSC.

NTSC-J
- The green gem has been moved from The Lost City to Hog Wild. And, the red gem has been moved from Slippery Climb to The Lost City. Due to these coloured gem placement changes, there are differences for some categories. For Any%-J, you need to get a perfect on Hog Wild instead of The Lost City in order to use the green gem to skip most of Castle Machinery. For 100%-J, you only have to visit Road To Nowhere once because you have get the red gem in a level that is before it on the map (The Lost City), and this is what makes J faster for 100%.
- Sunset Vista and Slippery Climb's locations on the map have been switched. Due to some error by the team that localized the game, this caused the cycles in Sunset Vista to sometimes become de-synced. When this happens, cycles in certain parts of the stage can be impossible to pass or very difficult to unless you wait for them to sync up again. This can be prevented by dying at the start of the stage and resetting the cycles, which also happens to give more optimal cycles.
- The boulder moves slower than on NTSC-U. This makes boulder skip a bit easier (riding the purple gem in Boulder Dash down to the gem path without waiting for the boulder to fall).
- The cutscene at the end of the level that tells you how many boxes you missed only drops one box on crash's head regardless of how many were missed. And, dying after a checkpoint doesn't skip it. You would think that this would make NTSC-J faster for any% due to only one box dropping, but being able to fully skip it on NTSC-U is faster for most levels.

THEREFORE, WHAT'S OPTIMAL?
ANY% - NTSC-U
100% - NTSC-J

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MOVEMENT
- Zigzag: This is the primary form of movement in the game. Don't be tricked into thinking this is all you do in the game, however. To perform zigzag, you need to alternate diagonals in the air while moving in the direction you're going (if you're moving forward, alternate left and right while holding forward, if you're moving left, alternative up and down while holding left). This gives Crash a speed boost and gives him some more air time. DON'T FORGET: Combine zigzag with spinning on the ground and jumping (spin jumping) to go even faster! But, beware of the spin timer (see below).
- Submarine jump: If you spin as you fall off a ledge (with the spin starting while on the ground), you have 10 frames to jump after the spin animation finishes. Beware: If you press jump at any time during the spin animation while attempting a submarine jump, you will lose any grounding after the spin and be unable to jump. This allows for some cycles skips to be done that otherwise wouldn't be doable (see Lights Out in the WR), and also makes some just easier in general. I wouldn't even consider this an advanced movement trick, and it should be learned/practiced as early as possible.
- Ledge jump/slip jump/ledge slip/mercy jump: When you walk off a ledge, you actually have 10 frames to jump while falling!
- Double jump: This can only be done on moving platforms, as their grounding range is wider than their contact range. The key for this technique is to touch that grounding range with a spin. This is not an easy technique, and it's quite precise. You have to spin jump off the leaf in an certain instant that lasts for 3 frames. If you succeed on doing that, you will notice that your spin will go up, and after the spin animation, you will have 10 frames to re-jump.

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CYCLES
- Global Cycles: The timers on these cycles are always running as long as the game is running and not paused or loading. Examples of this include the pushing walls in The Lost City and Sunset Vista, the flames in The Great Gate and Native Fortress, and the stairs in Slippery Climb.
- Spawn Cycles: The timers on these cycles start running when you get within a certain distance of the cycle. Examples of this include the rollers in Jungle Rollers and Rolling Stones, the the blue/red plants in Upstream and Up The Creek, and the hogs in Road To Nowhere and The High Road.
- Local Cycles: The timers on these cycles start running when you first spawn in the level. An example of this is the vertical moving platform at the end of Castle Machinery.

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THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
- While practicing, beware that dying twice to the same checkpoint can alter the cycles slightly, like the moving platform after the checkpoint in Slippery Climb, and the flame after the last checkpoint in Native Fortress.
- Dying after a checkpoint in a level skips the cutscene at the end of the level that shows how many boxes you missed. This is done at specific checkpoints in levels in any% to reset the cycles to the fastest position possible.
- In Boulder Dash, there are layers of death triggers at the end of the stage. There is a death trigger for the part where you get chased by the boulder, and there is actually an additional death trigger that Naughty Dog put above the gem path. Avoid bouncing on top of the life crates that are above the bouncy crates to not hit the death trigger.
- Boss softlocks: In Papu Papu and Koala Kong (and probably Ripper Roo), you can softlock the game if you get hit by something in the fight at the same time that Crash is supposed to do his yeehaw animation (like Papu's falling body or the lava in Kong).
- If a TNT blows up from counting down at the same time as it is supposed to detonate from being far away, the game will crash. This is super rare, however.
- In Hog Wild and Whole Hog, zigzagging on the hog does not make any difference. However, on older models of consoles, all the sounds from the hog can potentially cause lag.
- If you press jump at any time during the spin animation while attempting a submarine jump, you will lose any grounding after the spin and be unable to jump.
- Some global cycles in the game are linked to each other. Because of this, some cycles can actually be "manipulated" to be consistent.

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TIPS
- In 100%, dying at the very start of Sunset Vista is faster due to the fact it gives you a "god cycle" and on NTSC-J, it causes the cycles to not desync.