Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

With that being so many 3d platformers released in the 90s, this one was bound to slip through the cracks due to how it fell out if favour for the likes of Spyro and banjo Kazooie from around this time. It's a bit of a shame because it's far from the worst platformer the 90s had to offer even if it does fall short of the expectations set up by the likes of Mario and tomb raider.

I guess its biggest issue is that it’s a platformer that utilises tank controls, although like tomb raider, the levels are designed with this control scheme in mind so it's not like say Busby 3d where the game would be simpler if the control scheme was more in line with crash bandicoot. As with most characters with tank controls, croc does have an issue when it comes to moving on small surfaces as he requires a bit of a run up in order to leap forward or backwards, he's like Lara croft in that he does have some forward momentum when hopping in the spot but has a limited jump range when hopping forward that vastly improves if he's running around prior to jumping. Also, like tomb raider, the camera tends to get stuck in certain angles when traversing through the stages, meaning that otherwise effortless platforming becomes frustratingly difficult due to an inability to get a camera angle to determine your depth perception in these areas. That's all of the negatives out of the way which is good because the positives really do help this stand out from its contemporaries. It has one of the better art styles of the decade thanks to cute stylisation, the character models in particular look adorable even if they bend the logic of reality (croc’s eyes have been memed to death over the years for a reason.) As stated, the level design is well crafted as it allows for what should be seamless platforming were it not for the camera betraying you at certain points of the game. There are tons to collect as there's gems that several both as currency and health similar to how rings work in sonic the hedgehog, there's also gobbos for croc to rescue which are usually well hidden and encourage world exploration. We even have coloured gems (an obvious nod to crash bandicoot) that give access to a bonus stage where croc has the chance to earn a key which is required for the true ending of the game. The bosses are decent, nothing special but nothing too egregious either. The same can be said for the underwater stages as croc doesn't have to worry about air given how he's a crocodile who has both lungs and gills to give him oxygen. Individually these elements are nothing special but put them together and you have an enjoyable game that rises above its worst aspects.

It's a forgotten relic of an excellent time in gaming, were it not for its abysmal sequel or those horrendous memes, I'm sure this would at least be on the level of Rayman and medieval as solid ps1 3d platformers.

Croc is one of those games that I think is a genuinely incredible underrated gem for the PS1, until it becomes the pure embodiment of hatred and malice in the 2nd half. It's one of the very few games where I genuinely do feel as if I could make somewhat of a case for considering it style over substance, though in actuality it's probably just a bit closer to being a game that's overwhelmingly carried by its sublime presentation. At its core though, Croc is a game that feels as if it's slowly eroded by a multitude of smaller flaws that end up culminating into a promising but ultimately unpleasant experience, a disappointment after having such a strong start.

The aforementioned presentation of Croc is easily its greatest strength to me, being able to bring even the smallest, most simplistic of environments to life with the combination of evocative music and downright obscene levels of cuteness from literally everything. Everything about the game is made to feel extremely vibrant and inviting, whether it's the bright, contrasting colours of the environment itself, the fact that even the most threatening of enemies are big eyed lumps of polygons, or Croc himself being one of the friendliest looking mascots of them all, there's just a lot to love. This is further accentuated by the sound design bringing a degree of whimsy to all of your actions, and also making it fun to run around attacking nothing just to hear croc keep saying "kersplat!!". In this sense, it often becomes inherently fun to just mess around and take in the view around you and all the fun little details of even the most simplistic stages the game has to offer.

It seems that one big point of contention amongst those that have played this game is the fact that Croc has tank controls, which is quite the unique (and often bad) choice for a full blown platformer. Usually I'd complain way more about this point but honestly the stage design for the most part is open enough or spaces out obstacles and platforms correctly for this to rarely actually be a problem for the first couple worlds, even if this slowly goes out the window as the game progresses. From world 3 onwards, not only do the stages get far longer, making it feel both more punishing and frustrating whenever you make a mistake, but the platforming gets far more precise and fast paced to the point that the deaths end up rarely feeling like your fault due to the fact that the game at its core clearly isn't built around such manoeuvres. This turns things from a fun romp through pretty, cute worlds into an exercise in pure misery and frustration because it doesn't just feel difficult, but it feels as if it punishes you for things outside your control, to the point where it was a genuine struggle to put up enough of a care to even bother getting through the last couple worlds.

This is made all the worse by the way that as things go on, the game stops really knowing what it wants to do, still having a bunch of collectathon elements to it, but often placing what you need to get only very slightly off the beaten path to the point where it's clear that it was more a formality after a while than an element of the core gameplay loop to actually reward any real exploration. Taking this middle ground option ends up weakening the game, as it will detract from the more linear platforming approach due to constantly throwing minor diversions in your way, but it also doesn't feel rewarding to just walk a couple steps in a different direction to pick it up either, leaving this entire element that led to quite a few creative mini-puzzles eventually deteriorating into a superfluous element that does nothing but harm the core experience.

Even the bonus stages are a mixed bag, as while they'll bring entirely unique scenarios into the gameplay, there are just a few too many of them that either feel overly cheap or not suited to the mobility style that Croc is built around. Making these bonus areas so difficult at times is especially egregious since these are framed as rewards for taking the time to collect everything else, and yet, will often end up being especially obnoxious due to a single small mistake punishing you just as harshly. For these to work better I think that deaths just shouldn't have taken lives away in these sections, allowing to keep a sense of challenge while not feeling like something unreasonable to stick at the very end of the level.

On the whole though, while I might have a ton of complaints, some more including how bad basically all the bosses are and the way the camera essentially forces a lot of leap of faith jumps, I can't outright dislike this game either. For as weak and downright unbearable the 2nd half can get, those first 2 worlds are a fantastic slab of 3d collectathon greatness that embody a lot of what I adore about the PS1 aesthetic on top of it all. I'd genuinely recommend giving those bits a shot, it's just a shame that the full package is as unsatisfying as it is, but ah well, sometimes not even the most powerful nostalgia is enough to cloud the flaws of a game.

Another nostalgic game, this is another early PS1 game and one of the most fond platformers of my childhood. It was up there with the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy and Rayman as one of my most played games of my childhood. Although I'll admit, even as a kid I did favor Crash, Rayman, and even Gex over this game, but of course I did enjoy it. But of course you did have many glaring flaws that even as a kid I couldn't overlook. You have the horrible camera that many times does whatever it feels like, you have some stupidly hard secrets that are difficult to access, and then the difficulty can be really a bit much at times when you're battling the camera and having to hit precise platforming with somewhat wonky controls. The level design in this is very inconsistent, there are some really fun and well designed levels, and others that want to make you slam your controller into the nearest object until you busted it up into a bunch a tiny pieces. I mean theres still a lot I remember about the game, I remember many of the levels still, the bosses, the noises Croc would make when climbing or attacking, and the music even. But I think that more has to do with me playing this a lot as a kid than the game being good. I mean yeah this is a pretty bland game if you didn't grow up with this and its a pretty weak platformer that has some glaring issues but its still not absolutely horrible. If you can get over the camera issues and some frustrating moments the game can be fun and even charming in its own sense. But as it stands the game is sort of one of those platformers that failed to make advances in the genre like the others and it will always be a game I hold nostalgic, but at the same time won't defend its flaws or recommend it to newcomers.