Crash Bandicoot: Warped - Early Footage

Found in a VHS rip of Découvrez les futurs hits PlayStation 98 by Total Play. For documentation & archival purposes.
This is basically the earliest known prototype of Crash 3. A lot of elements present in this build are incomplete and use placeholders lifted from the previous game. Only six levels were available at this point. This footage also matches the earliest images found on the original website, so it's most likely the same version.
Special thanks to Hwd405 for pointing it out. Credits to [PL] Public Library of Cledus & Eluminel for the original upload.
Source: • VHS Promotionnelle: Dé...
#crashbandicoot3 #crashbandicootwarped #prototype #prerelease

[@Hwd405]

The inclusion of the level select in the footage is really amusing to me

[@theloaten17]

This must be the earliest gameplay there is, considering the fact that only the first warp zone is available, the infamous beta warp room is here, and the fact that there's no music. Definitely taken during the earlier points of development.

[@juliodonofreo]

plus it has the crash 2 game over with cortex and not crash 3 one with uka uka

[@happycheperman2285]

On a demo CD there was somebody ridding the dinosaur during the chase level, so I think this video was even earlier than this one.

[@SammEater]

The old save monitor looked so cool, wonder why they changed it...

[@davecarignan]

0:22 OMG !
0:25 AHHHHHHH !!!! OMG !!! 🎉 I've been dreaming of seeing this early Warp Room footage for years. I want more.

[@PiotrekTarnowski]

Same!!! It's awesome!

[@davecarignan]

​@@PiotrekTarnowski Never thought we'd see this one day. Surreal !

[@PiotrekTarnowski]

@@davecarignan Right! But this is the first warp room, and it's not the one we saw on the beta "warp sphere" ( tcrf.net/File:Crash_3_Early_Load-Save_Monitor.png ), so it's shocking even more, that there was another design!

[@eydis9554]

Well now its explained why there was 1-6 buttons in the first warp room. Because there was literally nothing else in that build. I still wish we could get this build to play and find every bit of secrets of it.

[@shinyeevee0117]

man the warproom really looked different in this build

[@shinyeevee0117]

only if this build would get leaked online for us to play

[@bobafett4265]

In time someone will, it's how it works and this is the closest thing to actually playing it so I am down. 😌👌

[@shinyeevee0117]

@@bobafett4265 ah ok

[@Casketkrusher_]

I think this was solely used for this footage, should be somewhere in a vault perhaps.

[@mspeter97]

@@Casketkrusher_ This doesn't feel like a build you'd give out to the press indeed.

[@sebastianaliandkulche]

I love that beta Warp Room. I want to see more :(

[@teh_supar_hackr]

Maybe we can if someone somehow finds and dumps this E3 demo of the game

[@AntonioO1996]

@@teh_supar_hackr the build found in this video is even older than the E3 demo build, since it's from early april 1998, while E3 was on late may, meaning that these 2 builds are about 6/7 weeks apart

[@AleKiefer95]

Omg, I always wanted to see the first warp room, as I only saw it on the sphere to exit from a level on advanced versions of the game. Thanks for the video!

[@hocuspocusbyfocusyea]

Wow this is a great find. I've seen screenshots of the early warp room but never thought I'd see footage of it!
Interesting to see how they carried over the Game Over screen and exit portals from Crash 2 as well. I'm guessing these were placed temporarily until the new ones were created.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

Yep. Even in the alpha demonstration prototype, which we have access to, have crash bandicoot 2 elements still intact like getting the gems.
I only wish, there was a rom somewhere floating around just to be grabbed and played of this prototype in the video.
And maybe, the one (unless its this one) that had the Gee Wiz with old style of bonus rounds from Crash 2 also.
Given the alpha prototype, has this bonus exist on a rom, but all GFX and Collision Detection was completely removed, but crates are still there, and making Gee wiz impossible to complete 100% in that prototype.
Its fascinating how many changes were made to the game, even if most were placeholders.

[@HyperSonicXtreme]

So early, it’s still using the Crash 2 Cortex game over screen.
0:01- 0:07 Its the Crash 2 opening with the same blue red background but with no stars and no Crash with jetpack crashing into the Naughty Dog sign.

[@spaceman_ssbm]

Interesting find, hwd! That early Warp Room with the intimidating Cortex sneer baked into the ground... Epic.
Something to note: While a lot of stuff is CB2 placeholders, powerups and the CB3 2-fruit Bounce Crate are already in-game in this period of development.

[@MattTheHuman9]

Guess the Cortex's face on the ground was removed since plot wise it didn't make sense due to N Tropy building the Time Twister. Still looks very cool.

[@Gorilla-r4g]

@@MattTheHuman9fun fact: the time twister is in top of cortex castle from crash 1

[@MattTheHuman9]

@@Gorilla-r4g Yeah realised that a while ago, kind of crazy but makes the trilogy go full circle.

[@PiotrekTarnowski]

Oh my god, that beta build looks dope! We finally see the first version of the time twister. It was changed so many times.

[@Gorilla-r4g]

Whoa, Crash 2 game over.

[@Foulowe59]

I've already saw that VHS once before.
Surprised it holded something like this lol.

[@GenGamesUniverse]

Interesting that Cortex's face is on the warp hub floor.

[@deoxysandmew2162]

It gives me the crash 4 Wrath Of cortex vibes with its E3 prototype, where it had a giant floating head of cortex, above the 1 warp room area it had.

[@Darkfirewolf12]

Its interesting how they reused crash 2’s game over for this beta

[@psxVEVO]

I don't get what’s interesting about that, ofc you‘d use the placeholder screen, what should’ve they use anyway?

[@HyperSonicXtreme]

Yeah I comment about that couple of years ago. It’s still in the E3 1998 version. But this video shows to be even earlier than that one.

[@RedXDragunov]

I liked those lights coming out of the number buttons

[@Casketkrusher_]

After all these years, since childhood I finally see how the warproom looks like from the demo discs I used to play.

[@mspeter97]

Okay I kinda hope this build gets leaked one day, it's seems to be a very eary preview build, looking at Crash 2's teleporting animation, the time twister itself only has one hub.
It's pretty impressive

[@karelpipa]

thank you very much for this

[@vPontes1994]

They used a lot of features presents on Crash Bandicoot 2, you can see the end level portal is the same from Crash 2, as the same with game over screen

[@Oslac1000]

Amazing beta room thanks so much

[@luckybeast1234]

This is amazing!
The warp room looks really different in this version and it seems that some of the rooms aren't in this version.
Also i kinda prefer how the warp buttons look here

[@shinyeevee0117]

agreed it is amazing

[@SuperTaji]

That warp room looks so awesome

[@yarh79]

HOW do you find these??? This is incredible..

[@LamaLED]

That warp room look nice

[@jess648]

I was worried for a second it was some SM64 beta archive like thing with crash but this is some cool prototype footage

[@HardcoreHeartChris]

That warp room looks banging though 😂

[@supremekhi7968]

I hope someone finds and releases this build of the game someday ^^

[@michaelgtav78]

Tomb time was the fifth level in the Game.

[@warrengardner5998]

Hope this build gets released someday

[@Sapizanza]

I'm really satisfied with the final product

[@SheetDuck4]

Hope we get more footage and a beta64 soon!!

[@askjeevescosby2928]

Game is still using alor of the crash 2 assets. Like the spawning in the warp room with the rings i dont believe that is part of crash 3 instead they have the warp hole you fly out of.

[@mr.serejo9490]

Would LOVE to play this build...

[@AntonioO1996]

I somehow found on ebay a copy of the VHS containing this... I can't describe how happy i was when i did

[@srs2236]

Pure gold!

[@krash2]

It's one of these footages of levels without its theme songs, I think the music were under making right?, because it's impossible since they made it into Dino might, or maybe they didn't make all of em in order?

[@mdude3]

The levels aren't made in the order you play them in the game. The first level of Crash 2 is Sewer or Later and the first (released) level of Crash 1 was Cortex Power!

[@krash2]

@@mdude3 yeah I just searched for it like 10 minutes ago, my bad

[@FunkyPrince]

It's very blurred but the text in the monitor closer to the castle entrance in the warp room seems to display these times and dates to me:
12:04
1447
09:17
1914
00:12
2001

[@untitledjunk03]

This and #TheChrisWedgeCut are the most interesting things I’ve ever seen....

[@TheOnlyCasualObserver]

I'd like to be proven wrong, but the feasibility of this and the earliest known Crash 2 build surfacing is very slim to none. The same could be said for other potential builds out there, but I mention these specifically because it appears that they were kept internally, with no releases to the press/media outlets.
I suppose only time will tell.

[@slytorres5685]

Oh show us the full gameplay of Gee Wiz the one with underground bonus

[@pixpinguino]

Woow 🤩

[@terrygames8409]

WOAH!!!!

[@PhilCascio97]

OH MY

[@DariusCorona]

Misterio resuelto

[@Nobody-is-here1422]

I think spyro the dragon and crash bandicoot warped e3 coming soon

[@kezisthename]

amazin

[@kevinjohnconduitlr1925]

Some Day Do you Release this Prototype, like a E3 Demo or Early Alpha

[@Darkaiser]

I hope so

[@victorsoul2328]

OMG!

[@FeIipeSoares]

Caramba finalmente o mistério da warp room foi descoberto

[@thesuddensilent7349]

This will be real proto not like other betas this 1 is 1 earliest version

[@karinacordobamarulanda8417]

I need the download link

[@mdude3]

Oh fuck yes.

[@poly_g6068]

Crash 2.3

[@benhughes3394]

1:28 Uh-oh.

[@HenryDev394]

imma take a deep wild guess and say this is from january 2nd 1998.

[@Darkaiser]

Nah too early, most likely from April 1998

[@dr4n1z]

Alv la beta cambia casi todo

[@lordrealashemtov5818]

It cool

[@spartanq201dexterbrother]

Totalplay

[@psxVEVO]

the alpha version is way to finished compared to this

[@FunkyPrince]

Versioning was a bit of a mess at the time.

[@askjeevescosby2928]

Game sucks without the funky music