Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back/Turtle Woods

Being the first level of the game, it is obviously very easy to pass. The route is very linear and does not present great difficulties. There are some mud puddles that will slow your movement, preventing you from breaking the floating boxes from the sides, but you can always jump on them. Enemies are also easy to take out.

In the second half of the level, however, you will encounter turtles that you can only attack from above. Also, just before the end, there are some pits that you are forced to enter. Here, you have to defeat the rats that will attack you, getting out of the ground, until a mushroom appears that allows you to get out of the pit.

The bonus area, which is about halfway through the course, is also very easy to pass. Just be careful not to fall on into the void.

Getting the clear gem
To break all the boxes and get the clear gem, you need to discover a secret area. Just before the first C box you come across, you'll notice a stone face on the ground. Destroy it with a belly attack to reveal a secret passage. Enter it.

You'll come to a side-scrolling area, which looks the same as a bonus area, but is actually quite tricky to get through. In particular, there are some hard-to-reach boxes. Sometimes you will have to use the combination slide-jump to overcome greater distances. You'll also encounter an expanse of Nitro boxes, which can be avoided with a long jump. If you fall between the Nitro boxes instead, you have to move very carefully so as not to touch them.

Then watch out for the pink ostriches: to reach the boxes on the platforms above them, you'll have to jump directly onto their backs and proceed very quickly. If the ostriches bend down, they will never get up again and you will no longer be able to reach the boxes.

Just before the platform that takes you back to the main level, you'll find the detonator for blowing up the Nitro boxes. If you manage to get through this treacherous area by breaking all the boxes, it's then very easy to find and destroy all of them along the normal route and obtain the gem at the end.

Getting the blue gem
You can get the blue gem if you get to the end of the level without breaking a single box. It may seem easy, but it really isn't. In fact, there is a point inside a room where you are forced to jump over a double row of boxes. To do it without breaking a single one, you have to perform a perfect jump. For the rest, it is sufficient to keep a distance from the boxes and avoid using spins or slides, in order not to accidentally break them.