Doctor Neo Cortex and his assistant Doctor Nitrus Brio use a device called the Evolvo-Ray to mutate the various animals living on the islands into beasts with superhuman strength. They experiment on Crash, a peaceful bandicoot who Cortex intends to be the leader of his growing military of animal soldiers. Despite Brio's warnings, Cortex subjects Crash to the untested Cortex Vortex in an attempt to control him. The Vortex rejects Crash, allowing him to escape. After Crash leaps out a window and falls to the ocean below, Cortex prepares a female bandicoot named Tawna for experimentation. Having grown attached to Tawna during their time in captivity, Crash resolves to rescue her and defeat Cortex. From the beach of N. Sanity Island,[17] Crash makes his way through the nearby jungle and scales the wall of a giant wooden fortress, which is inhabited by the native tribe. He then enters the hut of tribe leader Papu Papu and is forced to defeat him in self-defense after inadvertently waking him from his nap. Crash subsequently escapes the pursuing villagers and climbs over the opposite fortress wall. From there, he crosses to the second of Cortex's islands. Wumpa Island, hosting a large tree, has been long abandoned and there is nothing more than a jungle, a lizard-infested city, dilapidated bridges high in the mountains, and the ruins of an ancient temple. However, having discovered that Crash is making his way across the islands, Cortex dispatches the deranged Ripper Roo on the island in a temple at the start of a creek. Crash manages to cross the river and, after avoiding contact with his razor-sharp toenails, knocks Ripper Roo out cold beside a waterfall, and successfully makes his way through the city and the temples. Crash also defeats another of Cortex's mutants, the muscular Koala Kong, in a volcanic cave mine before finally crossing to the Cortex Island.[29] Crash then navigates the Cortex Power station, a huge power plant that provides Cortex's castle with energy while polluting the nearby area. When he reaches the factory core, Crash battles and defeats the CEO of Cortex Power, Pinstripe Potoroo, damaging the power plant. Unable to enter Cortex's castle after getting there via bridge, Crash climbs the tower walls, and enters the castle through the window he had previously escaped from. After making his way through the dark hallways and the Castle's many machines, Crash is confronted by Brio inside his laboratory. Brio uses chemicals to mutate himself into a monster. While Crash successfully defeats Brio, the castle laboratory catches on fire during the struggle. Crash escapes to Cortex's airship, where he confronts Cortex himself as the castle burns. Cortex attacks him with a plasma gun, but Crash deflects his own projectiles against him and sends Cortex falling out of the sky. Tawna embraces Crash as the two escape the burning castle on Cortex's airship.
