Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Remastered

The 90s were a golden era for platforming games, with Mario, Sonic, and Crash Bandicoot reaching their peaks of greatness in this decade. And plenty of half-decent copycats are bumping up the scene (not Bubsy) to take some of that sweet platforming game money. Earthworm Jim, Spyro, Banjo, Donkey Kong …. Glover …. Gex? Oh, and of course Croc! You remember Croc? Everyone remembers Croc.

Well, I remember Croc, and so does my mum. And he’s back, in remastered form!


Who is Croc? What is Croc Remastered?!

Croc was Argonaut Games' attempt at duplicating Mario's success for the PS1, all the way back in 1997. The PS1 had seen Crash splash onto the scene, but there was more room for another beloved mascot for the console… and that would go to Spyro, and honestly, for good reason.

As a kid, I loved Croc, and so did my mum, and after replaying Croc in remastered form, I can certainly see why young children and their mums would love Croc. It’s very sweet, colourful, simple but heartwarming, and the gameplay is also quite simple compared to other platformers.

Croc’s adventure is about (in Vin Diesel voice) family, be it that his adoptive family is a furry race of creatures known as the Gobbos, and his father being King Rufus! After finding Croc abandoned in a basket being washed up by the riverside, King Rufus and the Gobbos decide to raise him as one of their own and teach it in the ways of the mighty Gobbo. It’s a peaceful life for Croc and the Gobbos, until one day when Baron Dante and his band of villainous baddies invade Gobbo, capturing the poor Gobbos and locking them up. All the Gobbos are imprisoned, and it’s up to Croc and his magical bird friend Beany to save the day across the merry land.

Travel through forest levels, snow levels, deserts and gothic castles to rescue all the Gobbos, and defeat the evil Baron Dante and his fiendish sidekicks. So platform away, jump on enemies, collect gems, and collect those Gobbos.


What a Croc … an adorable Croc!

It’s easy to see why Croc would appeal to kids, being visually pleasing, colourful, and having all the child-friendly ingredients that young and old can enjoy. And as for Croc himself? I love this little guy. What I appreciated the most about Croc as a character was that he wasn’t a typical rad 90’s dude, but rather a sweet mascot who made funny noises. He was distinct enough to stand out, and didn’t encumber us with 90’s cheese that did wear thin by the time the first game came out. Croc does deserve a place in the 90s platforming hall of fame.

As for everything else …

While the world, critters, and villains are nice, colourful and more interesting than other platforming games (looking at you, Bubsy), it is easy to see when comparing Croc with certain other platformers that Croc’s world-building, enemies, and even the visual design of the world are lacklustre. During the same time, we had games like Crash, which took a lot of influences but made them so goofy and lovable that they became memorable even nearly 30 years on. Seeing roided up Kolas, gangster Wessels, beautifully detailed tropical, industrial, and other styles of levels all mashed up together was a pure sensory delight. Plus, Neo Cortex and the other baddies are just gaming icons.

Look at Spyro, it has dragons, all with different personalities, a vast beautiful world that has immense dragon lore and cool baddies. Even the old Bomberman games had more compelling world-building and nicely drawn visuals … and let's not get Mario or Sonic into this.

Croc’s world is nice, but way too plain and simple, even by the standards of 1997.  The villains are okay, but the bosses are just underwhelmingly meh, with the likes of a giant ladybug who boxes … fine, neat idea. A random featureless humanoid creature with a jetpack … sure? Hey what’s that in this snowy level? A yeti, or polar bear? Nope, it’s a dog, huh? Okay the sliding penguins are a nice tough. But this was my feeling overall over the 4 biomes, that there was a lack of creative joy in making the world distinctive. You can tell with most other platformers that they go all out in weird and wonderful aesthetics and characters. But Croc doesn’t have much going on in that department. Croc 2 is a much better example, and even something as naff as 40 Winks had more buzz and flair than what is here, sadly.

Baron Dante, the Gobbos, and Croc are cool, but everything else feels way too unimaginative and I can see why I forgot this game back when I was a child.


This Croc can do almost anything!

Croc’s gameplay is a little more exciting than its story and world stuff, as the number of manoeuvres Croc can do is quite impressive. Croc and the developers took a lot of notes from 1996’s Mario 64, which was a wise move as it gave this game some substance overall.

The core and structure of Croc’s gameplay and level design is straightforward enough, be it for players to get from start to finish in a level and collect Gobbos, gems, and secrets along the way for good measure. As the game progresses, the level design becomes more confidently complex, adding new, exciting platforming techniques and other cool additions to make this adventure stand out quite a bit.

The format is very known, and again was not all that exciting by 1997, but seeing Croc swim, grab onto ledges, push crates, hang from and swing from overhead surfaces like something from Tomb Raider, and quite a bit more. In today’s standards it’s not setting anything on fire, but I was thoroughly chuffed at seeing how many ways to climb, move and platform there were in Croc, and the compelling ways new level design elements were implemented, fused to bring about a gratifying sense of challenge, and just being more than a bog-standard platformer.

That being said, there isn’t any massive set-pieces or gameplay mechanics that change the pace drastically for Croc. In platformers, you would usually get a level where you’re riding a mine cart, or hog, to driving a boat doing some cool antics. Croc doesn’t have that, but there are some awesome little moments, usually in secret areas where you do some cognitive mischief, like playing a sheep version of whack-a-mole.

As for controls and performance, they fared much better than expected. I recall Croc coming from that analogue/D-Pad era, meaning the controls were never buttery smooth. But be it with age, or more likely quality of life improvements by the developers, Croc handles incredibly well, and it is massively approachable for a modern gamer. There are a few instances where more was needed for quality of life, as there are those annoying edges with the pixel point moment, which is the difference between life and death, or assets which are weirdly not present and quite vital feedback.

One such moment was in a snowy secret area during a level with massive cogs, where I found the secret area, did what I needed to do, and could find an exit. It took me 5 minutes to realise a glowing area in an obscure place, which also looked like it was clipping out of the textures, was my exit. There were a couple of these and I’m not sure if this is a product of the original game or was missed in development.

I also wasn’t a fan of some of the old gameplay elements, such as losing all the gems you collected when you were hit, like in the Sonic games. And collision detection can be off, which makes the previous point even more frustrating.

With that said, the performance was super nice, the visual upgrade quite lovely, and controls and little inclusions to make the game more approachable quite wholesome. Although there is a lack of extras, but still, the cheat codes still work.


Overall?

Croc’s remastered return is a pleasant one to see, but as the age of remasters and remakes goes, I do ask, should so many things be brought back from the dead? The answer is both yes and no, and in Croc’s case, it sits perfectly in the middle. I love games like Banjo, Bomberman, and Spyro, and these guys definitely need a glorious return. But from Croc? I would have preferred if Croc 1 and 2 were remixed, as I remember more of Croc 2 and it being a much better game.

Croc is a nice chap, a good platformer, and all-round sweet critter. The platformer is engaging, being much more meaningful, methodical and creative, living up to the standards of the mighty Mario 64 at the time, and the confident level design, and all-round cosy feels make this a perfect, nice game to play, especially for young children. For the rest, it’s underwhelming, and I can see why Croc was sadly left for time to forget him and his series. I would, and my mum would love to see a new Croc game, and I hope that Croc 2 gets the remastered treatment, since that was the last main game before he was left to the side.


++ Adorable platforming fun with a variety of movements 
+ Croc is a sweetie 
+ Nicely remastered 

-- Not the most exciting story or world building 
- Lacks a range of set-pieces and events 
- Not much else apart from updated visuals 

The publisher kindly provided a review code of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Remastered