Somewhere outside Earth's orbit, Uka Uka is holding a "bad-guy convention" in Dr. Neo Cortex's new space station. He is not pleased with the villains' lack of evil productivity, and they conclude that Crash Bandicoot is the blame. Cortex reveals that in his scientific endeavors, he's been able to create a genetically-advanced super-weapon of unbelievable strength named Crunch Bandicoot. But he needs a power source to bring him to life. They decide to release a group of renegade masks called the Elementals from their hibernation state so that Cortex can complete Crunch Bandicoot and wipe Crash Bandicoot off the face of the Earth forever. Meanwhile, Crash and his pals are soaking up a few rays on the beach, when all hell breaks loose. Volcanoes are erupting, tornadoes are raging, and earthquakes are thundering. Aku Aku tells Crash and Coco that the only way to stop the Elementals' destructive nature is to imprison them with the use of ancient crystals scattered across the Earth. Coco creates a Portal Chamber that will take them to different points of the Earth to retrieve the crystals and stop the Elementals' plot to destroy the planet. It's up to Crash and Coco to brave the elements of nature and destroy Cortex's super-weapon.