Buy Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

Description

Fox Interactive's Croc: Legend of Gobbos sees its player as a genuinely cute platform hero - something I never thought I'd ever say about a video game character - who must explore a 3D Super Mario 64-like world, in search of his kidnapped gerbil-esque friends, the Gobbos. Yep, that's right, the evil Baron Dante and his Dantini followers have stolen away Croc's pals and spread them out equally all over the world, so as to always have one around to harass if the need arises. Now it's up to you to run, jump, climb, and swim your way through 45 levels made up of forest, desert, ice, and Dante Castle stages, freeing the Gobbos from their PETA-unfriendly cages all the while. If you're really good and can make it to the secret island, there's a secret boss on a hidden island to beat, as well - making it, all in all, a handsomely sized game. It's just some of the gameplay that takes place over those levels that makes the whole thing a little questionable. Croc can easily be seen as the sum of many previous video game parts. The character possesses the butt-stomp of Mario from Super Mario 64, the tail-spin and climbing ability of the same-named lead of Crystal Dynamic's Gex, and bits of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, as well. A few other games can be noticed at times, too. But that's all right if the game's fun, right? Sure, and it almost is. Without a doubt, it's an impressive achievement that Argonaut was able to nearly emulate a Super Mario 64-style 3D environment on the Sony PlayStation, though it's less impressive that it wasn't able to imitate the game's perspective and control. The creators of SM64 knew that to be able to functionally jump from platform to platform, the default view would have to be directly above and behind the main character, and it is, or can be configured to be, about 95 percent of the time. In Croc however, the player is locked into a behind-and-to-the-side view during about half of the game's crucial moments, making jumps or even general movement far harder than they should be. In the beginning, this is far less of an issue and Croc shows off how much of an enjoyable title it could have been. But soon, moving platforms, dissolving platforms, and other such devices are added to the mix and the fun factor of the game falls off a cliff. Yes, this perspective/control problem makes it that horribly frustrating to play - even the use of Sony's Dual Analog Controller can't save it. In the end, Croc: Legend of Gobbos is a charmingly-enough-themed platformer that just didn't live up to its potential. It ended up a Christmas holiday must-rent, when it could have been a Christmas holiday must-have. -- Joe Fielder --Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc. -- GameSpot Review

Features

• 1 Player
• Memory card 1 block
• Analog controller compatible

Customer Reviews

A fun little platform game for the whole family

Featuring a colorful 3D world, cute characters, and musical ditties that you just can't get out of your head, Croc is a platform game designed to appeal to game players of all ages. The game has been criticized because it borrows ideas from a lot of other platform games and because it's not terribly difficult. In my mind, those aren't such bad things. Croc a unique game in that casual gamers can easily learn the controls and progress without having to possess superhuman reflexes. My only gripe is that the camera is occasionally problematic, making some jumps more difficult than they need to be. Overall, however, the game is what a good platformer should be--fun.

A great game for all ages

Croc is the perfect video game for parents to get for their young children. Not only is it great fun, but also gore and mindless violence are completely absent. To get rid of an enemy, Croc can use his tail swipe or jump on the ground near, but not necessarily on, the enemy. This makes it easier for kids. Also, the enemies reappear after 30 seconds or so, making it less like they are getting killed. While Croc can be fun and easy for children, it can also be challenging enough for parents so that they don't get bored when they play along. Even people without children will enjoy this game. Factor in the cute noises and movements that Croc makes, and you have a winner for those with or without kids. I give it two thumbs up!

Very nice and cool for adventure Freaks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"ikocherg"

This game is way better than Croc 2! It has comfortable cameraangles and really cool sounds and graphics! I'm hardly throughthe first level but I really like it! Every level has alot ofvariety and different bad guys in it. Controls are easy to learnand easy to use, but the Playstation game pad isn't very comfortable for this game so you should get another one for better controls. In this game Croc can do alot of cool differentthings like swimming under water jumping on enemies and ridinghot air ballons just to name a few. This game has lots of coolthings in it. The graphics are totally jawdropping compared tothe graphics in Croc 2. Croc makes his debut on Game Boy Color,Plastation, and not on Computer. My only complaint about thissuper-cool game is that Croc can only kill enemies with his bodyby jumping on them. And can't tail-whip them like he can in Croc2. Even if that move is disabled from Croc, this game is anexcellent classic. If you're at a store and you're trying todecide which game to by, if you have a Playstation by this coolgame, if you don't by this game for Game Boy Color, and if youdon't have one you're really unlucky, and you shoudn't buy it forComputer even though you have one...

This Game is Really Fun!!!
Holly

I think this game is more than most of the review make it out to be. This game is SUPPOSED to be challenging, and it is not as frustrating as most think. It's actually really adorable, and has a good setting with cute characters. The camera mode you do have to fiddle with though. But you do get used to it. I was definately hooked on this game, cute, challenging, and fun. 5 stars all the way!

Pretty to look at - awful to control
Michael Halsted

Though the game is very appealing in regards to its visual style, the controls are abyssmal. In level 1-3 at the end of the level, you are required to perform a "whack-a-mole" type game in order to get the last gobbo. Since the controls (or uncontrols) are glitchy at best and unplayable at worst, the game begins to not be a game and more of a nuisance. The analog versus digital controls have no bearing to eachother and you find yourself toggling back and forth just so you can have some margin of control. A game to avoid by any standard.

Doesn't warrant all the 5-star reviews

This game is certainly cute, and worth a look, but it hardly warrants all the 5-star reviews it has garnered here. The developers of Croc have created a beautiful and interesting world, but the game is not exactly perfect for young players, and it is definitely not a perfect platformer. Kids (and adults) will likely become frustrated with the controls, both of the camera and of your character Croc. Croc, like other platformers, is mainly about getting your character to achieve complex, acrobatic moves - hopping from object to object, dodging or attacking enemies, climbing, collecting objects, etc. Without tight, intuitive control, a platformer is an exercise in frustration and tedium. Croc isn't terrible in this regard, but it is weak enough that it makes me long for my copy of Crash Bandicoot Warped.One thing I'll give credit for - my girlfriend and I can still imitate Croc with a "ka-POW" or a "ka-POOF" and get a giggle out of it. He and his friends sure are cute.

Deceptive

This game looks to be a rather humorous and all around fun game. The truth is that this game is rather tricky. The camera angles really hurt the playability of this game. Some of the levels a so frustrating that you will just want to turn it off. The graphics are not to shabby for a psx. I rather enjoyed the challenge of the game. In my opinion, the biggest draw back to the game is that there is so much repetition that after the two levels of each section, you more-or-less have played the rest of that section. anoter large draw back is that Croc seems to be a side-scoller stile game trapped in the guise of a "3-D" game.On the upside, there is a certain replay value to this game. Such as the fact that there are secret levels, and a secret boss, that must be unlocked. Also there is always the question of whether after beating the game, that it was just by a lucky jump that you made it, or skill.