Checkpoint Crate

Checkpoint Crates are a type of crate that appears in every game of the main Crash Bandicoot series, starting with the first game. They usually depicted with a yellow "C" (presumably short for "checkpoint") on them. Crash or another playable character can break a Checkpoint Crate to activate it so that their progress is saved up to that point in the level; this means that if a character loses a life, they start back from the most recently activated Checkpoint Crate. Breaking a Checkpoint Crate causes the letters of "Checkpoint" to individually appear on screen for about a second each. If a character loses all of their lives or completes a level, the Checkpoint Crate's effect wears off. In some games, breaking a Checkpoint Crate auto-saves the game.