Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex - Early Prototype

This is the earliest screenshot ever revealed. The level is very odd in style and there is nothing that looks remotely like it in the final version. The lighting is very basic and flat, making Crash's colors very solid. The big pipe in the middle appears to be letting water out. This level has never been retrieved from any known builds of the game and was probably lost a long time ago.

This level, still present in the game (though heavily shortened), is one of the first ones to have ever been worked on. It went through a lot of changes during development, and only a portion of it is still playable in the final version, as demonstrated by these screenshots. For a detailed synopsis on this level (including a shot-by-shot comparison of these areas), head on over to this page. Note that the HUD used to be different too.

This level wasn't removed from the game in the true sense of the word, but you no longer get to play around these areas. You might have seen it from up high in Ice Station Bandicoot. It was originally meant to be a regular on-foot level instead of the background for an air race. The level geometry seems to be intact in Ice Station Bandicoot, but the interactable objects were removed. The bear survived the cutting room and now serves as your opponent in the race. Find out more about it here.

The Jeep was going to be used more than twice. It was also able to stop and turn around. Seen here is the level Compactor Reactor, with both an old Crash and Jeep models. This area eventually became the mine kart tracks.

This colorful giraffe got thrown out of the game. See more here.