Proto:Crash Bash/September 14th, 2000 build

This is a sub-page of Proto:Crash Bash.

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

This article is a work in progress.
...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

The September 14th, 2000 prototype of Crash Bash is a preview build of the game dated about a month before the final NTSC-U release version. It was released on April 17th, 2021.

Debug Features

Cheat Menu

Like some of the demo versions, a cheat menu can be unlocked before starting a game by inputting Left, Right, Left, Right (x2), Left, Right (x3), Left, Right (x4), Left, Right (x5) at the main menu. This option can be accessed via the pause menu and allows a range of debug functionality, including warping to almost any level.

LEVEL SELECTOR: Self-explanatory.
CHEAT FLAGS: Lets you use such cheats like invulnerability, freezing the timer, making your opponents brain-dead, and so on. Use Left/Right to enable a cheat. Cheats that are active are marked with an asterisk.
TWEAK SETTINGS: This is a more complex sub-menu that allows you to change the game's internal settings, as well as the mode you're playing. To change modes, use the very first option in this sub-menu. This allows you to quickly alternate between a trophy to a crystal challenge, for example. To test it out, press the Select button to restart the level with your changes applied.
TWEAK AWARDS: Allows you to apply every prize there is to collect for every minigame and boss.
VIEW STATS: View the statistics for every player and level in the game.
ADJUST LEVEL: Adjust some of the gameplay features in a few levels such as Crash Dash races.

General Differences

Menus

Before the main menu is a basic intro sequence silently showing images rather than animated titles with a voice-over.
The build is dongle protected, which causes a "CHECKING DONGLE" message to appear on the main menu until the dongle is detected. The dongle protection can be bypassed with a patch.
The save file itself acts as a dongle, so saving will automatically create a dongle for use with the unpatched version of the game.
There are no cutscenes or end credits in this version.
There is no demo mode.
The main menu object behind Crash is different.
Adventure Mode menu's description uses "warp room" instead of "hub".
The highlighted option flashes black instead of yellow when in the game menus and rules screens, and does not flash at all in the pause menu.
The sound effect for selecting a menu option in the pause menu is different.
In the Options menu, there are "Music" and "Sound Effects" options. Both settings were merged into a single one in the final game called "Sound".
- Percentage sliders always use three digits for any value under 100%.
- The level's theme doesn't resume while adjusting the Music setting for testing purposes.
- Sub-menus use simpler text strings for button actions, like "✕ to accept" and "◻ to change".

Sep 14	Final

The save file select screen is incredibly basic, featuring simple design and a black background.
- The prize count appears even when the slots are empty, and the crystal is placed before the gem.
The Enter name screen lacks an icon for the Space key. That and the Saving screen are incredibly unfinished and don't have an interface at all.
There is no "Save completed" warning screen. After successfully saving the game, it goes straight to the save file select.
Entering the Load Game screen with no save files present will show an incredibly basic screen with a dark-blue background and no interface at all. (This card does not contain any Crash games)

Sep 14	Final

The character select screen looks a bit more basic and groups the characters into "GOOD" and "EVIL" groups. It also appears to be slightly glitchy on occasion.
- The "Character Select" title is placed further down and doesn't go away when the characters are chosen.
- The player cursor is different, with the big font, white color and without being inside a small colored square, which would change color according to the player.
- All platforms use the same color.

Sep 14	Final

The game type name is placed upwards.
Locked levels don't show a padlock inside the slot.
The action button is written as a normal word, instead of using a symbol.
The message regarding the locked levels is different.
Dashes are missing between "left right" and "up down".
Some thumbnail models have different angles.

Sep 14	Final

The battle game options screen is very basic.

Sep 14	Final

The tournament select screen is very bare bones, lacking a lot of details.

Gameplay

The characters' models lack any shading. Cortex's "N" is also grey instead of brown.
The Medieval Mayhem game type is called "Medievil Mayhem".
Loading times are longer when entering minigames.
The characters can keep moving while performing the basic attack in the warp rooms.
Dingodile has a different hurt voice clip.
L1 and R1 icons use dark letters.
Electro Stun Beams are called "Tazer Beams".
Trophies appear in the rules screens of the boss levels.
In relic challenges, the rule description calls the arenas as "courses".
The completeness percentage in the pause menu is blue and doesn't show up while in the warp rooms.
After accessing the Enter name screen, the inserted nickname or just the dots representing the name space will keep showing onscreen when pausing the game. Leaving the current area will fix it.
There are a number of missing sound effects throughout.
There are quite a few unfinished text strings.

Minigames

Crate Crush Minigames

The trophy rule description is slightly different: "[...] when the time runs out" was changed to "[...] when time runs out".
The winner doesn't start celebrating until the last dead player turns into an angel.
Aku Aku won't stop protecting the player when hit by other opponents' basic attacks.

Polar Push Minigames

Rilla Roo normally lacks the spinning effect in the tail when charging, although when Dingodile is present, his green spinning tail effect is also shared to Rilla's tail instead.

Ballistix Minigames

The players' starting scores quickly increase from zero after loading it or when closing the rules screen for the first time.
The character taunt clips are the same ones used in other minigames. In the final game, they use the same clips when they win a minigame instead.

Tank Wars Minigames

The mine and lobbing bomb icons are different and are actually animated, although just one icon appears in the HUD, regardless how many you have. There is also no missile icon.
All "enemy" instances in the rule screens were changed to "opponent" in the final game.
In the controls screen, L1 and R1 button icons are placed vertically.

Level Differences

Warp Rooms

There is no sound effect when accessing the warp room teleporter.
There are some text strings differences:
- "Left right selects challenge" was changed to "Press left - right to select challenge".
- "Use left right to select warp room" was changed to "Press left - right to select warp room".
- "Press ✕ to enter" was changed to "Press ✕ button to enter".
- "You require" was changed to "You need".

Warp Room 2

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Bearminator is completely different, taking place in an industrial area with oil.

Warp Room 4

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Oxide Ride features unused obstacles among the asteroid field.

Secret Warp Room

It looks a lot more basic than it does in the final, featuring a green background and lacking the "control room" theme.

Sep 14	Final
Swamp Fox	Splash Dash
Dante's Dash	Dragon Drop
Splash Dash	Mallet Mash
Dragon Drop	Swamp Fox
Mallet Mash	Keg Kaboom
Keg Kaboom	Dante's Dash

The levels are arranged in a different order within the room.

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Swamp Fox features way more trees in the background and the fence is longer.

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Dante's Dash features a giant trunk and a small portion of the circuit.

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Splash Dash features a pink dolphin and the rod obstacle in the circuit.

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Dragon Drop features the crystal challenge arena in the middle, and the castle building is mirrored.

Sep 14	Final
	384px

The hub world model for Mallet Mash features a mallet and a mushroom, plus a small river on the right side.

Crashball

The crystal challenge arena is more basic, lacking the reflector lights on top and more closely matches the trophy arena, but with some different lighting.

Polar Panic

The crystal challenge uses the default arena.
The crystal rule description is slighty different: "[...] knock you off the ice" instead of "[...] knock you across the ice".
The gem challenge timer shows 0:60 instead of 1:00.

Pogo Painter

The crystal challenge uses the default arena.

Papu Pummel

Demo	Final

Papu's icon is different.
On the rules screen, Papu can be seen in a T-pose.

Tilt Panic

The fish texture is different.

Space Bash

Sep 14	Final

Cortex billboard from the motorcycle levels of Crash Bandicoot: Warped is present in the background.
The crystal challenge arena has a different background placement. The idol is placed on the right side of the scenery, the pyramid on the left side, and there is also a single shiny star up in the sky.
If the player falls into the hole at the same time they won, the character will be transparent like if it was a ghost.

Desert Fox

The trophy rule description is slightly different: "[...] when the time runs out" was changed to "[...] when time runs out".
The crystal rule description is slighty different: "whilst" instead of "while".

Bearminator

Demo	Final

Bearminator's icon is different.
The engine sound of his submarine stops playing after throwing the first mechanical bear.
The scope border doesn't cover the bottom of the screen.

N. Ballism

Pausing the game while N. Gin is spinning will make the sound effect keep playing.

Melt Panic

The special items screen does not mention the Weight item.
The crystal challenge uses the default arena.
In gem challenge, you must defeat all opponents in 20 seconds, instead of 25.

El Pogo Loco

The crystal challenge arena is misaligned at the bottom of the screen.

Snow Bash

The crystal challenge uses the default arena.

Dot Dash

The crystal challenge uses the default arena.
The gem challenge timer shows 0:60 instead of 1:00.

Big Bad Fox

The rule description is different: "Destroy the enemy construction using only special weapons".
On the rules screen, cannons and turrets appear in the war post.
Two Komodo Joes can be seen slowly showing up before entering the battlefield. The left one is T-posing and turns into Komodo Moe when he enters the field.
If the player loses while the Komodo Brothers are still alive, they will disappear from the level right after the player dies.
There is no angelical sound effect when a character dies.

Sky Balls

In gem challenge for 2-player story, team 2 starts with 30 balls instead of 25.

Manic Panic

The default scenery and background color is white instead of light-blue.
When a character is exploded by a bomb, Crash's shoes are left behind regardless of who gets blown up.
The gem challenge time limit is swapped: 25 seconds for 1-player story and 30 seconds for 2-player story.

Drain Bash

It's called "Drain Damage" in the warp room.
The locked crates use the original blue color from the previous games.
In the special items screen, dashes are missing before and after the shots counter.
It doesn't advise the player to collect Wumpa fruits.

Jungle Fox

The crystal challenge scenery features giant tree trunks.

Ring Ding

There is no clock in the background.
The crystal challenge uses the default arena.
In crystal challenge, when the player dies upon bursting the wrong balloon, the character will stand up for a moment before turning into an angel.
In gem challenge for 2-player story, team 1 starts at 60 points, and team 2 at 50. In the final game, it's 40 for team 1 and 30 for team 2.

Oxide Ride

The player's hovercraft is untextured.
The player can't shoot.
N. Oxide uses the default hovercraft from the Ballistix minigames.
N. Oxide uses a shrunken Dingodile icon as a placeholder and features a healthbar, which is useless in this phase.
The level has a somewhat different design with completely different obstacles. There is no phase two; rather, when the first phase finishes, N. Oxide crashes into what appears to be the Earth and the player wins, rather than flying towards Gasmoxia to transition into phase two.

In fact, there is a phase two, which can be accessed by attempting to load the crystal challenge for the level - it's extremely incomplete, however. It uses Crashball's arena as a placeholder.

Swamp Fox

The crystal rule description mentions "torpedoes", in plural, even though there is just one like in the final game.

Dante's Dash

The gem challenge timer shows 0:60 instead of 1:00.

Splash Dash

The dolphins emit smoke instead of air bubbles.
The crystal challenge uses the default arena.
The gem challenge timer shows 0:60 instead of 1:00.

Dragon Drop

The lowest point zone does not have the "x 1" mark on it.
The crystal challenge arena is the default arena in this build and it's used on every challenge.
The dragons make a different sound effect during the slide attack.
In crystal challenge, the numbers on the flashing zone do not blink as well.

Mallet Mash

The crystal rule description is a leftover from an older version: "Hitting the mushrooms has consequences".

Keg Kaboom

The game would ask for 25 gold relics to unlock, instead of 25 gems. However, the level is automatically unlocked after beating Oxide Ride.
On the rules screen, the characters can be seen in a T-pose.
For some reason, the characters are always set to Coco, Koala Kong, N. Brio and Rilla Roo whenever the level is entered, and change back to the actual characters when leaving the level.
The AI can't figure out any of the challenges and so they obtain no points whilst walking around aimlessly. They are also in the invincibility frame state all the time.
There is only one powder keg type that is worth 1 point initially.
The fireballs are more basic in design, orbiting the arena rather than walking around on foot. They also can hurt the player.
The gem challenge instantly fails.
The crystal challenge begins by telling the player to "Beware of eggs on legs", and there is a walking egg (not dissimilar to how the roaming bomb look in the final) orbiting the arena. Other than this the minigame behaves identically to the trophy challenge, rather than involving a roaming bomb like in the final game.
The level is unstable, causing a few crashes sometimes.

Tie-Breaker

The level takes place during the day on the rooftops of an old Saudi Arabian city reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. The scenery itself is the same one used on Hang'em High and other Arabian-themed levels from Crash Bandicoot: Warped. It was later changed to a chessboard in outer space.
Space Bash theme is used.

Script Stuff

The unused test level contains the Crash Dash hovercraft's force field effect as opposed to the generic explosion animation. There is also a bit more scenery than it does in the final, matching its appearance in some of the demo versions.

Internal Names

A number of levels are named slightly differently.

Sep 14	Final
POGO A GOGO	POGO-A-GOGO
NBALLISM	N.BALLISM
SKY BALL	SKY BALLS
DANTES DASH	DANTE'S DASH
DRAGONS	DRAGON DROP
TIE BREAKER	TIE-BREAKER
HUB 0	WARP ROOM 1
HUB 1	WARP ROOM 2
HUB 2	WARP ROOM 3
HUB 3	WARP ROOM 4
HUB 4	SECRET WARP ROOM

Save Information

Save blocks take up the entire memory card, so a blank card is required to save. This takes significantly longer than saving a single file. Save files also have a blank icon and the following info.

Info	Sep 14	Final
Icon
Title	CRASH BASH	CRASH BASH %000 %000 %000 %000
Product code	ASH BASH D	SCUS-94570
Identifier	ONGLE
Region	0x5243	America