In this game, the player controls Crash on his mission to find 25 crystals that Dr Neo Cortex claims he wants to use to save the world. The adventure is divided into five warp rooms, one on top of the other. You will start from the bottom one. In each of them you will find access to five levels and a screen that allows you to save the game. It is essential in each level to find the relative crystal to proceed in the adventure, but this is not a problem: the crystals are always clearly visible along the way and easily accessible. While the levels are numbered, they can be played in any order you like. However, it is necessary to find crystals from all levels of a warp room in order to go up to the higher one, using the elevator in the middle. Whenever you first go up to the room above the one you're in, you'll have to face and defeat a boss. After defeating it, you can instead go up or down between the two rooms freely whenever you want. Once you've found all of the crystals in the game, you can take the elevator in the topmost room and go up to face Dr Neo Cortex, whose true intent is obviously not to save the world. Occasionally, after completing a level, you will be contacted in the warp room by Dr Neo Cortex, Coco or Nitrus Brio. What they will tell you will help you fully understand the plot of the game.
In each level you will have to advance, defeating the enemies you encounter and overcoming various dangers, until you reach a room with an exit portal, which will lead you back to the warp room. As in the previous game, there are front scrolling, side scrolling and mixed levels. Crash can attack enemies in three different ways: by jumping on them, hitting them with a spin (like in the original game), or with a slide. He can also perform a body slam. For more common enemies, you can use any attack you like. However, there are enemies with spikes or blades on them that cannot be attacked from above, if you do you will get hurt. You will have to use the spin attack or a slide. Conversely, there are enemies that have spikes on the sides and can only be defeated with the jump attack or a body slam. Finally, there are some enemies that are only vulnerable from below and can only be defeated with a slide attack. You will also have to collect useful items to proceed, such as Wumpa fruit or extra lives, which are often contained in boxes that you will have to break. As in the original game, you will find masks of the sorcerer Aku Aku that will protect you in case of contact with an enemy. If you are hit by an enemy or dangerous element without having a protective Aku Aku mask or fall into a pit, you will lose a life. Losing all lives is game over. Note: In this game, if you lose five lives in a row starting from the same check point, you will be given a free Aku Aku mask the fifth time.
In almost every level there is a bonus area, which can be reached by climbing onto a green platform marked with a ?. In these bonus stages you can collect a lot of wumpa fruit and sometimes extra lives. To be able to get them, however, do you need to reach the platform? at the end, that will lead you back to the level. Sometimes in the bonus areas a simple puzzle has to be solved. If you die in the bonus area, you will automatically return to the main level (without losing lives) and all collected items will be lost. Boxes that you have already smashed in the bonus area will also be subtracted from the total. After you enter a bonus area, its entrance will be permanently closed, even if you failed to complete it. The only way to access it again is to exit the level and re-enter.
As in the previous game, reaching the final battle isn't particularly difficult and doesn't take too much time, but completing the game 100% is much more challenging. In addition to the crystals, in fact, it is possible to collect gems within the levels, which are more difficult to obtain. In some levels it is possible to obtain only one gem, in others even two. Everything you can get in a level is shown next to its name in the warp room. Once obtained, crystals and gems will appear in front of the relevant symbol. One of the gems is always obtained by completing the level by breaking all the boxes. Unlike the previous game, here you don't need to get to the end without losing any lives. On the other hand, here the boxes found in the bonus rounds also count towards the total, as do the dangerous Nitro boxes, which you will have necessarily to blow up. If you have destroyed all the boxes, the gem will appear in the final room of the level, just before the exit portal. Otherwise, the total number of boxes in the level and how many of them have been destroyed will be shown. To obtain the second gem intuition and cunning are needed, since the procedure is not always the same. Sometimes, for example, you need to reach the end of the level within a set time (in these cases a timer appears at the bottom right). In other levels there are special platforms marked with a skull, which only appear without losing lives and which will lead you to the gem or further hidden boxes. In some levels there are even hidden portals that will lead you to a sixth secret warp room, where you will find access to some bonus levels, where you can get more gems or to some levels you have already been to, but in a previously inaccessible area. These portals are not visible. So examine the levels well as you go, if you notice suspicious items, try to reach them. Also in this game there are five colored gems, which once obtained, will appear in other levels, allowing you to reach previously inaccessible areas and therefore destroy all the boxes. Only after finding all the gems and defeating Dr Neo Cortex, you will be able to see a better ending sequence.