Here, you can learn about the various titles in the series. We've got
everything covered, from the original PlayStation game, to the Game Boy
Color adaptation of Croc 2.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
This is the game that started it all - Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.
It tells the story of a baby crocodile, who is found in a little black
basket, washed up on the shores of a riverbank on a place called Forest
Island. The crocodile is found and raised by the friendly furry
creatures - called Gobbos - who inhabit the island. However, disaster
strikes when an evil, Gobbo-hating magician, by the name of Baron
Dante, invades the island with his henchmen, the Dantinis, and they
begin capturing every Gobbo in sight. During the scuffle, the leader of
the Gobbos - King Rufus - hands Croc his backpack, summons a magical
bird (named Beany) to the scene, and orders her to get Croc to safety.
Rufus acted just in the nick of time, because seconds later, he himself
is captured by Baron Dante! Croc decides that he owes the Gobbos an
awful lot, and thus, his quest to rescue them begins.
During the course of the game, Croc will travel to each of the five
islands on the Gobbo Archipelago; Forest Island, Ice Island, Desert
Island, Castle Island, and the mysterious, hidden Crystal Island. On
each of the six main levels on the first four islands, Croc has to
rescue six of his Gobbo friends, making a total of 144 by the time you
reach the last level of Castle Island, and 145 once Croc rescues King
Rufus.
The game's scenery is beautiful, and at times is also quite peaceful.
The soundtrack is of similar quality, and it's all nicely topped off
with fitting and amusing sound and speech effects.
This is, of course, a must-play for any Croc fan, so make sure you
don't miss out!
Croc 2
The eagerly-awaited Croc 2 is the second game of the Croc series, and
is presently the most recent chapter in the series' continuity.
It picks up shortly after Croc: Legend of the Gobbos left off, and
opens up with Croc playing on the beach with his adoptive Gobbo family.
However, the fun is brought to an abrupt halt when Croc finds a
mysterious green bottle washed up on the shoreline - inside it, he
finds a note, with a pawprint marked on it. Croc looks at his own foot,
and finds that the pawprint matches his own. After this, he takes the
note to King Rufus for advice. Rufus reads the note, and tells Croc
that it seems that his biological parents are looking for him. Getting
word of this news, the Gobbos build a see-saw, and use it to help
catapult Croc to the mainland so that he can begin looking for his
parents.
Once Croc reaches the mainland, his quest kicks off in the village of
the Sailor Tribe of Gobbos. From here on out, he will be called upon to
help the Gobbos of the Sailor, Cossack (eskimo), Caveman, and Inca
Tribes. As with Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, the levels look great
(though perhaps not as idyllic as in the first game), and fit with
their themed tribal Villages perfectly. The music, though different,
feels very much like it's following on from where the first Croc game
left off, too. However, the game's difficulity level can be quite
frustrating in places, so tread with caution if you intend to get a
copy of the game for a younger gamer in the household.
Croc 2 is every bit as absorbing, compelling and rewarding as the
original game was, and is well worth checking out if you want to know
what happens to Croc next.
Croc (Game Boy Color)
The GBC platformer is something of an alternative telling of the same
story found in Croc: Legend of the Gobbos.
The first thing that Croc fans will notice is that the game is in 2D.
Unfortunately, it seems that Croc isn't the sort of character who is
able to fit into a 2D world easily, as the game has quite a lot of
flaws that can and will put many people off of playing the game.
Controlling Croc feels weird, as it isn't pixel-perfect like, say,
Super Mario Bros. - Croc always feels like he's moving too fast, and
sometimes he won't even respond to controls correctly, or at all. The
same problems also affect the mini-games, unfortunately.
However, if you can look past this (and it isn't easy), the game can be
quite enjoyable - particularly in the later stages, where Croc gets to
ride a magic carpet, and other similar things. The graphics look nice,
and almost resemble games made back in the NES era. The music consists
of odd, warbly renditions of various tunes from Croc: Legend of the
Gobbos - it's not terrible, but it could have been a bit better (the
same goes for the sound effects).
This game is only really recommended to hardcore Croc fans, and
collectors.
Croc 2 (Game Boy Color)
The second installment in the portable Croc series is also something of
an alternate telling, this time of Croc 2.
Croc 2 GBC is a vast improvement over it's predecessor. This time,
however, it's not a 2D platform game, but an overhead-perspective
action-adventure title, somewhat reminiscent of Nintendo's earlier
installments in the The Legend of Zelda series.
The look of this game is cute, crisp, and colourful. Croc's sprites, in
particular, are downright adorable (although they neglected to draw in
his tooth!). The music is nice, as well, and consists of original
tunes, rather than GBC 'remixes' of tunes from the previous Croc games.
Interestingly, Croc 2 GBC is the only Croc game that wasn't made by
Argonaut - it was made by Natsume, the people responsible for the
quirky farming game series, Harvest Moon.
Overall, the game is an enjoyable title, let down only by the fact that
sometimes it's a bit tricky to figure out what you're supposed to be
doing next.
