Croc Legend of the Gobbos

A lovely ps1 era gem. Its been given some lovely graphical cleanup, which can be toggled, and modern control scheme. There's a treasure trove of concept art, interviews and design documents to peruse. Players looking for a keyboard playstyle should be aware that there is no key remapping.

Loved this game as a kid and love it now. This remaster looks fantastic and is just how I remember it! The game also holds up very well for being one of the OG platformers. My only gripes are the controls are slightly unresponsive (falling off ledges even though I jumped) and the finite life system is quite frustrating and antiquated at this stage. If these 2 things were fixed, this would be an easy 5 stars. Really hope Croc 2 is next!

Croc was one of the first 3D platformers developed; it, Mario 64, and Crash Bandicoot, all were released within two years of each other. Crash went for a linear, precision, collect-em-all approach, essentially embedding a 2D design philosophy into 3D graphics. Mario, on the other hand tried a more open, exploration-based approach. Croc, on the other hand, occupied a space in between. It stuck fairly close to Crash's linear level presentation, but was a bit more adept at using the 3D space to open up options. It was also a lot easier than Crash (and Mario, for that matter), and so it didn't quite scratch the masochistic itch. Croc's design was also the least ambitious of the three. Croc travels between worlds, containing multiple levels. Each world has its own palette of objects from which the levels are made (platforms, liquid hazards, breakable boxes, mesh for climbing on, etc). The levels in a world feel very samey, consisting primarily of these same assets, used over and over (same goes for the music). And what's more, the levels look like levels: they look like an obstacle course of floating platforms for Croc to go through, whereas both Mario and Crash would try to theme their levels (e.g. a pyramid, or floating down a stream). (I should point out, none of these complaints apply to Croc 2!) So, all in all, Croc has not aged particularly well. All that said, Argonaut have done a spectacular job with the remaster. It looks and sounds great, with a buttery smooth 240hz refresh rate. All of the above notwithstanding, the nostalgia hit is real, and if that's what you're looking for, you should absolutely buy this game. The Crocopedia is a nice addition. Argonaut found and scanned an impressive amount of physical media to do with Croc, and enjoyed the 3 remix tracks in the soundtrack. I did find the interviews underwhelming, and the lack of playback controls (other than pause) was a pain. All in all, I'm happy with my purchase, but I'm hanging out for Croc 2.

Maybe it's because I've so been getting used to undercooked or bug-ridden remasters, but you can tell Croc is a true labor of love. Classic to the core, but with a modernised set of controls to ease new players, this is one of those 3D mascot platformers that stick with you due to its charm, music and overall cuteness. Hope a Croc 2 remaster comes next!

If you loved the original Croc you will love this too. The controls are fantastic compared to the original and the updated graphics give this game a new life while not taking away anything from the original Croc. Would highly reccomend if you like platformers