You should be fine without the information from the Level Specific Guide section, but it is there if you need help with a specific level.

If you’d like to switch to Crash 1 or 3, you can access my guides for them here:
Crash 1: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1426839357
Crash 3: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1428646867

VERY IMPORTANT!
In Crash 2 and 3, you can perform a slide spin jump by pressing the spin button and the jump button at the same time during a slide, which will make you jump even higher and further than a slide jump. This is extremely useful and the game never tells you about this ability. You can also perform a slide spin by pressing the spin button during a slide, as well as a high jump by pressing the jump button while crouching.

(Same info as my Crash 1 guide)
In all three games, you can jump and bounce higher by holding the jump button instead of tapping it. In some cases however, you might need to use a short jump to avoid overshooting small closely spaced platforms.

(Same info as my Crash 1 guide)
Make sure you get as many lives as you can by collecting wumpa fruit and completing bonus stages. Failing bonus stages does not take away lives and you can retry them as much as you want. Many people make the mistake of restarting a hard level with only 4 lives. Dying a lot gives you extra masks (which protect you from a hit) and spawns more checkpoints. You can use these to your advantage so that you don't have to replay the entire level again.

Save on a non-auto save file before entering levels. If you get a Game Over, you can reload your save file and reclaim all of the lives you lost.

If you’re running low on lives, you can respawn the lives found in any level by exiting them and reloading your auto-save file. This is great for farming lives.

You can now play as Coco Bandicoot, Crash’s sister, in all three games. You can unlock her in Crash 2 by interacting with the device in the second warp room after defeating the first boss. While she has the same hitbox and abilities as Crash, she has her own unique animations. However, her animations do look faster than Crash’s, which may or may not affect your gameplay.

You must collect all of the gems, in addition to the crystals, in Crash 2 to get the good ending. Otherwise, you will get the non-canon bad ending. The time trial relics award you nothing in Crash 1 and 2. If you plan to go for the relics anyway, refrain from doing so until after defeating the final boss to obtain the ability to sprint. The sprint ability makes you move even faster than slide jumping, so that you don’t have to constantly slide jump the entire level.

Every level has a gem that is required for getting the real ending. Unlike Crash 1, some levels will have two gems in them. The first gem will require you to break all of the boxes, while the second will have a level specific requirement that will be told to you during that level’s loading screen. Some levels may require you to access a secret path by obtaining a colored gem or finding a secret entrance from another level to break all of the boxes.

Some levels may have a Death Route with a gem at the end of it. To enter a Death Route, you must get to a skull platform without dying. Once you’ve entered a Death Route however, the skull platform will remain accessible even if you die. In addition, you will not lose the gem if you die after obtaining it. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint or in a bonus stage as a death.

Some levels will have secret level exits that will take you to a secret warp room with additional levels and alternate level entrances for gems. The loading screens will not give you any hints on finding them.

The first is at the end of the level, Bear Down.

The second is in the level, Air Crash, on a empty platform that you must bounce on boxes in the river to get to.

The third is in the level, Diggin’ It, on a cylindrical platform in a pit with a spitter plant that you must use your stomp attack on.

The fourth is at the end of the level, Unbearable, where you must backtrack and use a slide spin jump to get back to Polar.

The fifth is in the level, Hangin’ Out, where you must backtrack after dropping a lower level to another drop with fast spinning robots that can only be avoided by holding the crouch button.

Crash Bandicoot is a eastern barred bandicoot, a marsupial native to Australia, that was mutated by Neo Cortex, the scientist with the “N” on his forehead. The opening shows Cortex falling from his airship shortly after being defeated by Crash in the first game. N. Gin, the guy with the rocket in his head, is Cortex’s new assistant. The girl with the pink laptop is Coco Bandicoot, Crash’s sister. The playable version of her that appears in the second warp room is actually Coco from the future, who is using the time machine from the third game to help Crash in the first and second games. The scientist with the oval shaped head is Nitrus Brio, Cortex’s former assistant who was replaced by N. Gin. Aku Aku, the mask that appears in the loading screens, is a spirit who was summoned by Crash in the first game and now protects him as his guardian. If you’ve played Crash 1, you might be wondering what happened to Crash’s girlfriend, Tawna. In the original games on Ps1, the developers created Coco to replace Tawna for Crash 2 and 3 since parents complained about her design.

The level specific guide below details specific levels, and includes detailed information about how to complete difficult segments, efficient or easy ways to obtain specific gems and hidden boxes, advice for completing levels, and level specific secrets or obstacles. If you’ve already read everything above, you should be fine without reading this section, but it is here in case you want something that is more in depth or if you need help with a specific level.

Unlike Crash 1 where the gems only give you a non-canon ending, you must collect all of the gems in Crash 2 to get the real ending. Thus, this guide is written under the assumption that you’re going for the gems.

If you exit a level without getting any of the crystals three times, something entertaining will happen.

The spiked turtles can only be killed by jumping on them. To obtain the blue gem, you must complete the level without breaking any boxes. At one point you will find a wall of boxes that you’ll need to use a high jump (jump while crouching) to get over without breaking them.
After you obtain the blue gem near the level exit, kill yourself so that you can go for the box gem.
At one point in the level, you will come across a circular platform with a tiki face on the ground. Contrary to the screenshot, do not activate the checkpoint in front of the platform, you will need it later. Jump and hold the crouch button over it to perform a stomp attack that will break it and drop you into a secret route.
Use a slide spin jump (press the jump and spin button while sliding) to reach the higher areas. If you can’t figure out how to slide, you can do so by pressing the crouch button while moving.
At the end of this route, you will find a green ! box that will destroy all of the Nitro boxes if you hit it, adding to your box count for the gem.
Bonus stage entrances are generally marked with a yellow ? in a green square.
After the first trench, you'll find a floating ? box that is out of reach. You can either flip and bounce on the turtle while holding the jump button or use a slide spin jump to get to it.

You can obtain the box gem now, but you cannot get the red gem without accessing the secret entrance from the level, Air Crash.

After dropping down from the side scrolling segment, backtrack and hit the green ! box to blow up all the Nitro boxes.
Afterwards you will find a metal arrow box with a bounce box over it. Hold the jump button while bouncing on it to hit a hidden ! box that is offscreen.
Backtrack and break the two newly spawned boxes.

In this level, a timer will appear at the bottom right of the screen after getting on the first jetboard. You must reach the end of the level in 1 minute to obtain the second clear gem.
You can tap the attack button on the jetboard to accelerate. Refrain from activating any checkpoints until you get the gem.
After you obtain the clear gem near the level exit, kill yourself so that you can go for the box gem.
You will need the blue gem from Turtle Woods to access the Gem Route that contains additional boxes.

You can obtain the box gem now by breaking all the boxes.

You will need to go down both paths of the fork to get all the boxes. Take the left path at the fork while killing all of the enemies, but do not activate the checkpoint that is at the center of the pit.
Hit the metal ! box and continue. Once you’ve reached the end of the fork, go back the way you came and activate the checkpoint that you skipped.
Continue backtracking and then take the right path at the fork.
You will come across two life boxes that were spawned by the metal ! box that you’ve activated on the other path. In the bonus stage, use your stomp attack to smash the reinforced boxes.
Jump on each of the floating bounce boxes once without breaking them.
Continue and hit the metal ! box. Backtrack using the three bounce boxes that you saved earlier and break the remaining boxes.

You can obtain the box gem now. The boulder will destroy most of the boxes for you.

Spin him after he gets stunned by the exploding Nitros.

After defeating the boss, approach the platform at the center of the room to enter the next area.
You can now unlock and play as Crash’s sister, Coco from Crash 3, by interacting with the device on the second floor.

We’ll be doing this one before Snow Biz since you’ll need the red gem to break all the boxes. Enter the level, Air Crash. and bounce on the boxes in the river to get to an empty platform.
This platform will transport you to the secret warp room. Head into Snow Go’s alternate entrance.
This one is pretty tough, so I’d recommend saving on a non-auto save file and doing it with a lot of lives so that the game will give you more masks.
You cannot kill the porcupines when their quills are out. You must use forward momentum to make the jumps on the ice. Once you land on a small ice platform with a metal box, use a well timed slide spin jump to get to the next platform.
You will obtain the red gem at the end, but you’ll need to complete the level to keep it so be careful until you get to the bonus stage, which also serves as a checkpoint.

For the box gem, you will need the red gem from Snow Go’s secret entrance to access the Gem Route to break all the boxes.

Once you’ve completed the Gem Route, you must be careful until you reach a checkpoint or else you will need to do it again.

This level contains a Death Route, which means that you’ll need to get to it without dying. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint or in a bonus stage as a death.

Refrain from attempting to break the box in the water and activate the skull platform so that it will remain activated even if you die.
Grab the clear gem at the end of the Death Route and exit the level.

You cannot obtain the box gem without accessing the secret entrance from the level, Bear Down.

You can obtain the box gem now.

The bear’s name is Polar. This is an on-rails level that Coco cannot be used in. You may need to kill yourself to get any boxes that you miss, so I’d recommend saving on a non-auto save file and having a lot of lives before entering. You can tap the crouch button to make Polar dash.

After completing the level, punish Polar 10 times to be awarded.

You can obtain the box gem now.

Go down the right path at the fork and use a slide jump under the electric fence to get to some boxes.
At the start of the bonus stage, you will find a hidden life if you drop to the left.
After the bonus stage, you will need to use the speed boosts to get ahead of the final boulder to have enough time to break a reinforced box with your stomp attack.
You must also break two wooden boxes at the end. The boulder will not break these ones for you.

You can obtain the box gem now.

Take the right path at the fork to find a ton of Nitro boxes.
The door behind the Nitro boxes is actually fake and you can jump through the center of it to find a secret route that’ll take you to the green gem.
Once you obtain the green gem, you can either kill yourself or backtrack to the fork without wasting a life. Continue down the left path of the fork. You will come across a second fork of which you’ll need to take the left path to grab the crystal and break additional boxes.
Backtrack and take the right path to reach the end of the level and the box gem.

Spin Komodo Joe at Komodo Moe when he gets dizzy.

The yellow gem also requires you to beat a timer that will appear at the bottom right of the screen after getting on the first jetboard. Refrain from activating any checkpoints until you get the gem.

After you obtain the yellow gem near the level exit, kill yourself so that you can go for the box gem.

You can obtain the box gem now.

You will need the yellow gem from the level, Plant Food, to obtain the second clear gem. Kill yourself once you obtain the gem, as completing the Gem Route will make you miss boxes.
You will come across a fan that is moving so fast that you’ll need to spin a scrubber robot into it.
At the fork, hit the ! boxes on the right path and then take the left path to grab the crystal and some boxes.
Afterwards, backtrack to the fork and continue down the right path to complete the level.

You can obtain the box gem now.

This is another on-rails level that can only be played as Crash. After obtaining the box gem, backtrack to be transported to the secret warp room.

After being transported to the secret warp room from the level, Bear Down, head into Air Crash’s alternate entrance.
Break all boxes and complete the level to obtain the box gem.

You can only kill the lizards by sliding them due to the frills around their necks.

This level contains a Death Route, which means that you’ll need to get to it without dying. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint or in a bonus stage as a death. Grab the clear gem at the end of the Death Route and exit the level.

You cannot obtain the box gem without accessing the secret entrance from the level, Diggin’ It.

You can obtain the box gem now.

This level features an on-rails segment so Coco cannot be used. Jump down into the cliff where the polar bear falls to access a secret area with additional boxes.
This one is pretty tough, so I’d recommend saving on a non-auto save file and doing it with a lot of lives so that the game will give you more masks.

At the first checkpoint in the secret route, jump on the stack of metal boxes and use a slide spin jump to break the two life boxes at the top of the screen. Don’t forget to break the wooden arrow box.
The armored armadillos can only be killed by using your stomp attack. High jumps are effective against the obstacles here.
After obtaining the box gem, use a slide spin jump to backtrack over the cliff to be transported to the secret warp room.

After being transported to the secret warp room from the level, Unbearable, head into the secret level, Totally Bear. You can obtain the box gem now, but there is no crystal.

This is another on-rails level that can only be played as Crash. This one is tricky and you may need to kill yourself to get any boxes that you miss, so I’d recommend saving on a non-auto save file and having a lot of lives before entering.

You will need to use Polar’s dash ability by tapping the crouch button to make a lot of the jumps.

This one can be pretty tricky. You need to make him jump on the falling platforms.

Enter the level, Hangin’ Out, and continue until you enter the second drop that takes you to the crystal. Activate the checkpoint and then backtrack to find another drop that will take you to a secret area over lava with fast moving robots.
You will have to hold the crouch button while hanging on the wire mesh to avoid getting hit.
At the end you will be transported to the the secret warp room. Head into the secret level, Totally Fly.
You can obtain the box gem now, but there is no crystal. This level is unique in that you need fireflies to light up the darkness. However, the fireflies will leave you after a short time, making the level dark and very hard to see the various pitfalls. In the bonus stage, you can use a high jump to get over the Nitro boxes.
At one point you will come across reinforced boxes. Use your stomp attack to break all of the boxes before activating the firefly.

Return to this level for the box gem.

In the bonus stage, use a high jump to get over the first Nitro box.
You will stop bouncing if you land on the same TNT twice.
Hold the jump button on the first bounce box to get onto the higher bounce boxes.

The box gem for this one is pretty tedious without the sprint ability, so we’ll hold off on that for now.

Spin while moving backwards to kill the bees. You can burrow under dark patches of dirt to avoid bees and spitter plants. You can also spin while burrowing to kill the spitter plants. However, be aware that there is a slight lag time when you come out of the dirt.

At one point, you will come across a spitter plant on a cylindrical platform at the center of a pit. Use your stomp attack directly on the plant to be transported to the secret warp room, but be careful not to touch the thorns.

After being transported to the secret warp room from the level, Diggin’ It, head into Road To Ruin’s alternate entrance.
Break all boxes and complete the level to obtain the box gem.

We’ll be doing this one next since it has a special exploit that will greatly help you obtain the gems for Cold Hard Crash.

You can obtain the box gem now. Crash and Coco’s death animation by the lumberjacks are pretty funny. You can kill the swarms of bees by using a slide spin (spin while sliding). You will be awarded a life every time you do this near a beehive, making this level the perfect place for quickly farming lives that you’ll need for the Death Route in Cold Hard Crash.
You will come across a staircase of fake Nitro boxes that will take you to a secret route with the purple gem. You can kill yourself or attempt to complete the section to save a life.

This level contains THE HARDEST gems to get in the game! I strongly recommend that you save on a non-auto save file so that you can reload your save and reclaim your lost lives if you get a Game Over. It is very important that you do this with a lot of lives.

This level contains a Death Route, which means that you’ll need to get to it without dying.

Enter the level with two Aku Akus. You'll need these for the Death Route. We’re going to need the bonus stage later so avoid entering it for now. Activate the checkpoint and enter the Death Route without losing any of your Aku Akus.
When you get to a stack of Aku Aku boxes, only break one of them for invincibility. This Death Route will require you to backtrack so save the other one for that. Use slides and slide jumps to get through the Death Route before the invincibility wears off. Drop down to grab the clear gem. You will have to do the Death Route again for the box gem, so you can either kill yourself without activating the checkpoint or you can complete the level and come back to the Death Route with two Aku Akus.
The rest of this guide will explain how to get both the clear gem and the box gem if you fail to get all the boxes in time with the invincibility or decide to do it without the Aku Akus.

You’ll need to use forward momentum and slide jumps to avoid a lot of the obstacles. On the ice, use a high jump to get on the higher ledge.
After the stack of metal boxes, spin while moving forward slightly to kill the seal.
On the ice, use a slide jump to get over the first Nitro box and then a long jump (hold the jump button) to get over the next one.
You will HAVE to use an Aku Aku to clear out the upcoming cluster of Nitro boxes. Drop down to grab the clear gem. You will have to do the Death Route again for the box gem, so kill yourself without activating the checkpoint.
Make it to the end of the Death Route again, but DO NOT go down the drop. Instead, you will need to hit the floating ! box and backtrack to the entrance. Stop with a little distance between you and the crushers, and then lightly move forward to avoid sliding off the drop.
This may be extremely hard, so you might want to kill yourself several times until the game gives you two Aku Akus. On your way back to the entrance, break the newly spawned life box and use a long jump to get over the pit and Nitro box.
Stand on the entrance platform to be transported out of the Death Route.
Use slide spin jumps to backtrack to the bonus stage we skipped earlier to save your boxes, or else you will have to do the Death Route all over again if you die.
After clearing the bonus stage, continue WITHOUT entering the Death Route to head down an alternate path with even more boxes and complete the level from there.

You will need the green gem from The Eel Deal to access the Gem Route for the second clear gem.

Activate the checkpoint before accessing the Gem Route. You can spin away the rolling logs. Kill yourself once you obtain the clear gem, as continuing after the Gem Route will make you miss boxes.
Hit the checkpoint before attempting to jump on the green ! box.
Jump back on one of the rotating platforms and wait until the green ! box is in front of you. Pay attention to your shadow to land on it and bounce on it once to stop bouncing.

One of the tougher bosses in the game. Press the spin button to throw wumpa fruit at the yellow openings.

You can only kill the tall robots by sliding them due to the hot pipes around their necks.

This level contains a Death Route, which means that you’ll need to get to it without dying. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint or in a bonus stage as a death.

Enter the Death Route so that it will remain accessible even if you die.
To get all the boxes, you must then kill yourself and head towards the normal level exit first.
Skip the bonus stage for now. Once you’ve broken all the boxes on the way to the the level exit, backtrack and enter the bonus stage.
In the bonus stage, hit the metal ! box and backtrack by using slide spin jumps to break the newly spawned boxes.
After the bonus stage, continue backtracking and enter the Death Route.
Use high jumps to get over the Nitro boxes and the floating electro bot.
Spin the green ! box and head down the Death Route’s level exit for the box gem.

You can obtain the box gem now.

This is a jetpack level that can only be played as Crash. Hold the jump button to accelerate and the crouch button to move backwards. You can still spin to break boxes. Simply touch TNT to blow them up. Spin the electric lab assistants into the flaming force fields to destroy them. It's best to pass the laser beams when they're not firing in a "+" pattern.
Be sure that you don't accidentally miss the crystal.

You can obtain the box gem now.

This is another level that you’ll need fireflies to light up the darkness. There is also a Death Route, which means that you’ll need to get to it without dying. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint or in a bonus stage as a death.

Obtain the clear gem at the end of the Death Route and then kill yourself so that you can take the right path for the crystal and box gem.
After clearing the bonus stage, backtrack down the left path at the fork to find two additional boxes.
Afterwards, return to the fork and complete the level for the box gem.

You can obtain the box gem now.

This is a jetpack level that can only be played as Crash. At one point you will come across a checkpoint with two boxes floating around it. Break the two boxes before activating the checkpoint to avoid missing them if you die.
Be sure that you don't accidentally miss the crystal.

This level will require you to play it twice to get both gems, so we’ll only focus on the crystal and box gem for now.

Use a high jump to get on the hot disk platforms. Skip the Gem Route and continue. It’s best to kill the electro bots when their tentacles are up. Use slide spin jumps to get over the Nitro boxes.
In the bonus stage, you will find a floating ? box near a bunch of bounce boxes. Move back to the edge of the platform and use a slide jump to get on the floating ? box while holding the jump button to clear out the upper bounce boxes.
You can spin away the energy bolts shot by shrink rays. You will come across a shrink ray that is pointing down with two crawl spaces and a tall robot next to it. Move back a bit, slide onto the button, and then quickly spin away the energy blast. Complete the level to obtain the box gem.

You must spin Cortex on the jetpack while avoiding obstacles before he escapes. Red and white icons will appear over his head when you are close enough to hit him. Failing will cost you a life.
Completing this will unlock you the ability for Crash and Coco to sprint in levels by running and holding down the same button that you use to switch characters in the warp room.
You will then see the bad ending. We now only need two more gems to get the good ending.

Now that we’ve unlocked the ability to sprint, the backtracking that is required for the gems in this level will be a lot less tedious.

You can sprint by running and holding down the same button that you use to switch characters in the warp room.

Sprint to outrun the bees and get to the Death Route without dying. The game does not count dying before the first checkpoint as a death. Do not enter the bonus stage since we’ll need it later. Instead, activate the checkpoint that is near it.
Enter the Death Route so that it will remain accessible even if you die, and then kill yourself.
Take the right path at the fork and sprint to outrun the bees. Skip the checkpoint for now.
Burrow to avoid and spin the spitter plants. At the end of the fork, backtrack while sprinting before the bee can spawn and activate the checkpoint that you skipped.
Continue backtracking, but take it slow so that you can spin any bee that appears along the way.
Backtrack beyond the fork and enter the bonus stage to save your boxes.
After clearing the bonus stage, return to the fork and sprint through the Death Route to obtain the second clear gem and break additional boxes.
Sprint to the level exit to obtain the box gem.

This is it! You will need all of the colored gems from the levels: Turtle Woods, Snow Go, The Eel Deal, Plant Food, and Bee-Having.

This one is really tricky so I recommend that you save on a non-auto save file so that you can reload your save and reclaim your lost lives if you get a Game Over. Make sure that you have a lot of lives before attempting this.

Enter and complete the Gem Route to obtain the final clear gem. You will need to bounce off the floating electro bots right before the piston retracts to make the jumps. Spin away the shrink ray blasts and remain on the buttons before attempting to kill the enemies next to them. Spin after a slide jump and then spin again to kill the second lab assistant in front of the shrink ray button. Head towards the Gem Route’s level exit to obtain the final clear gem and unlock the good ending.

Congratulations! Even more so if you’ve obtained all the gems. You have completed the second hardest game in the trilogy! You can access my guides for Crash 1 and 3 here:
Crash 1: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1426839357
Crash 3: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1428646867