The story begins with an N. Sane evil scientist called Dr. Neo Cortex, who, with the help of his assistant Dr. Nitrus Brio, devise experiments on animals to assemble a large army in charge of collecting as many precious jewels loaded with enough energy to power their immense and devastating mecha robot built by his co-assistant Dr. N. Gin, and thus finally complete his plan for world domination. However, something goes wrong with his latest experiment called Crash, which causes him to end up far from the villain's lair towards Wumpa Island, where he meets Aku Aku, an ancient island spirit reincarnated in a mystical Tiki mask who acts as a protective guide to those at his side. Along the way, they meet Coco, a sweet little teenager who is later revealed to be Crash's blood sister. She needs their help to save her friend Tawna. Thus, our marsupial heroes come together in this adventure, despite their protective mask being the main target of the mutant army led by the mobster Pinstripe Potoroo, which Cortex needs to complete his aforementioned weapon, so they must be prepared for any obstacle.
