The dawn of 3D in our great hobby was such an exciting time to be a gamer, and even though I was still in primary school at the time I remember it well. After a particularly fruitful Christmas I was the proud owner of a Nintendo 64, and my love of 3D platforming began with Super Mario 64. While I was jumping around Peach’s Castle and Bob-omb Battlefield though, all my friends were busy with their PlayStations. This worked great for me, as it just meant I got to play more exciting platformers when at their houses. Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was a firm favourite of all my Sony favouring pals, and it would soon become a favourite of mine too. It’s been well over twenty years since I last played Croc though, or at least that was the case until this remaster landed in my lap.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is an incredibly simple 3D platformer, but an enjoyable one all the same. You play as the titular Croc, on an adventure to free some fluffy creatures and stop a big bad boss. Croc doesn’t really have a massive selection of abilities to accomplish this task, but he can run, jump and swing his tail to overcome obstacles and enemies. That’s all you’ll really need to succeed, and thanks to the modernised controls it feels good to do so.
To beat a stage of Croc all you have to do is make your way to the gong at the end of the stage and hit it, but for those who want to unlock bonus stages and even an extra world that’s not good enough. Each stage features six Gobbos (those previously mentioned fluffy creatures) to collect, as well as five coloured gems that’ll open up a secret door at the end of the level. They’re well hidden and often in particularly dangerous locations, so completionists beware especially in those tricky later worlds.
There are four themed worlds to take on in Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, all with different obstacles to overcome. After the standard lush green initial world, you’ll be sent across to icy mountains, dangerous deserts and medieval towers on your quest to save some adorable critters. These aren’t just different coloured worlds either, each of them brings something new (and deadly) to the table for our scaly hero to take on. From crumbling platforms to slippery surfaces, you’re only ever a step away from death at any moment.
I was expecting to have a fun time with Croc, but what I wasn’t expecting was quite how tough this mascot platformer would be. In most situations the gems you’re holding will protect you from damage (much like Sonic’s rings do) but if there’s a bottomless pit involved you’ll instantly lose a life. Once all your lives are gone you have to restart the current level from scratch, which is painful and did happen to me a number of times. This does mean it’s rarely boring taking on the challenges Baron Dante has set for you though, which will be a bonus for many.
Fiendish difficulty aside, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is a surprising game in plenty of other ways. I wasn’t expecting to find fun mini games like whack-a-mole awaiting me in this refreshingly simple 3d platformer, but fun carnival games like this often stand between you and saving another fuzzball and they’re a nice change of pace.
If you played Croc countless times as a youngster you’ll know to expect all this, but what you might not be prepared for is the Crocopedia. This wonderful museum of all things Croc features adverts, concept art and dozens of interviews with the developers to check out, which fans will go wild for. These are some of the best bonus features I can think of from any remaster, and for many the Crocopedia will make this a worthwhile purchase.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with the Croc: Legend of the Gobbos remaster, but it’s not without its issues. The bosses are without exception absolutely rubbish, and just involve running away from a daft looking baddie until they give up and need a tail slap. The difficulty really can be too much as well, particularly when you run out of lives and have to restart a stage. With the longer and more maze-like later stages this is just painful, and made reaching the credits feel like somewhat of a chore.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is still an entertaining 3D platformer all these years later, with varied stages and plenty of tricky jumps to take on. It might not be able to stand up against recent games in the same genre, but if you’re looking for a nostalgia trip then you could do a hell of a lot worse than revisiting this childhood favourite.