List of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex pre-release and unused content

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex went through a large amount of development changes before the final product. The original title was in fact to involve more free-roaming gameplay with large, spacial areas in comparison to the earlier games' linear gameplay, a setup that would eventually be used in Crash Twinsanity.

Early ideas
A more conventional gameplay was ultimately used in fear of messing with the original Crash formula:
 * An interesting gimmick was used in early levels in which Crash would be followed by Coco, in a somewhat similar manner as Tails in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
 * The carpet riding polar bear is derived from an early snow area, supposedly as an opponent similar to it's role in the final game. This level is in fact used as a background in the level Ice Station Bandicoot, being the first discovered Beta level in a final release of Crash game.
 * The level, Crash and Burn went through a large amount of changes in structure. A scene where Coco is kidnapped by a large gorilla and prepared as a sacrifice to a volcano was storyboarded, but wasn't included in the final game. The transition is still noticeable in the final game, as the level is still more spacial and dynamic in comparison to later developed stages.
 * The jeep was to be used on several occasions, as well as be fully controllable.
 * The rhinos that chase Crash in Jungle Rumble originally included a variety of animals including elephants and zebras, a la .