This game is literally just a memory. I had it on PC, and I think I beat it?
People know this game right? I feel like it's weirdly more remembered than I'd expect. It's cute and nostalgic but I really don't remember much.
People know this game right? I feel like it's weirdly more remembered than I'd expect. It's cute and nostalgic but I really don't remember much.
Let's goooo, again.
They took a perfectly enjoyable platformer in Croc and simply made it less fun.
I hinted towards this game in my review of the first and I really didn't like it. There's not much I fully remember, but I'll try to cover as much as I can.
The controls are still sluggish, but now the difficult/impossible to move camera is much more of a pain as instead of selecting levels, they elected for an open-world selection similar to Spyro, but that game was much more fluid than this one in it's control!
Visuals aren't usually a thing I comment on unless it's warranted and here it is. They had time between the first game and this one to take their time to improve anything and this game feels like they literally just took the old game and copy pasted the assets with no extra work. It's a level of laziness that's always so galling!
The story is not much better than the first, but it is meant to be simple, if dark.
One of the worst things to experience was the merchant in this game. He's in a tent and dressed like he's from the middle-east and the voice/language they decided to give him...it was like the offensive/comical way they spoke in Team America: World Police. "Derka-Derka!" and so on. It felt physically uncomfortable when playing the game.
Story:
There isn't too much here, apart from it oddly being very dark for a kid's game. These little evil critters sacrifice other critters into a volcano to summon their master, who was the big bad guy from the first game. Yes, the main villain is the main villain from the first game and he's back, but with a scar from their previous battle. He now takes revenge on the Gobbos too for what happened to him.
I really wouldn't recommend looking this up. The first one is ok and even then, I may have had rose-tinted nostalgia goggles giving me a more positive view of it, however, this lazy follow up wasn't worth looking into.
Gameplay + Stream
The controls are still sluggish, but now the difficult/impossible to move camera is much more of a pain as instead of selecting levels, they elected for an open-world selection similar to Spyro, but that game was much more fluid than this one in it's control!
Visuals aren't usually a thing I comment on unless it's warranted and here it is. They had time between the first game and this one to take their time to improve anything and this game feels like they literally just took the old game and copy pasted the assets with no extra work. It's a level of laziness that's always so galling!
The story is not much better than the first, but it is meant to be simple, if dark.
One of the worst things to experience was the merchant in this game. He's in a tent and dressed like he's from the middle-east and the voice/language they decided to give him...it was like the offensive/comical way they spoke in Team America: World Police. "Derka-Derka!" and so on. It felt physically uncomfortable when playing the game.
Story:
There isn't too much here, apart from it oddly being very dark for a kid's game. These little evil critters sacrifice other critters into a volcano to summon their master, who was the big bad guy from the first game. Yes, the main villain is the main villain from the first game and he's back, but with a scar from their previous battle. He now takes revenge on the Gobbos too for what happened to him.
I really wouldn't recommend looking this up. The first one is ok and even then, I may have had rose-tinted nostalgia goggles giving me a more positive view of it, however, this lazy follow up wasn't worth looking into.
Gameplay + Stream
Would love to revisit this one day as what I remember was fun.
The new focus on hub world towns and, like, pseudo-questing? is very charming for the Croc world but it def contrasts with the slightly hostile and foreboding world of the original. Its better or worse depending on your preference (or Double Jackpot if you like both)
This game is pretty entertaining the whole way through. It is complete bullshit on some parts but the overall vibe of this game is really delightful. It feels like a fun summer vacation.
yoshi game 2
Only real Crocheads knew about this one
Probably the most spectacularly pointless videogame sequel ever made.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was certainly not some sort of Wabisabi flawed masterpiece hidden gem. It was just an adequate 3D platformer working with the unfortunate limitations of trying to make a 3D platformer for PC, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation. Three platforms for which analog controllers were still pretty much a fetus of a thing. Something which i can't imagine most of the people complaining how the tank controls in the original ever keep in mind and probably just think that every dev team back then mastered 3D movement overnight after the release of Mario 64.
Croc 2, i have my reasons to have a lot less sympathy for. And it's not from a lack of nostalgia because i played it almost in conjunction with the first one as a kid. Launching in 1999, Croc 2 feels outdated than the original Croc was in 1997. In fact, it just feels like an inferior Banjo Kazooie clone at times.
All the "improvements" over the original here are just like a small drip feed of superficial things that were already standard for every other 3d platformer by then. Binoculars, mediocre racing sections and an item store don't make a platformer good on their own. You're still stuck with the same super short-range tail attack as your defense throughout the whole game, enemies still respawn after you kill them, the boss fights are still numb (the final one against Dante being basically a fucking escort mission) and the outside of the wholesome thing about Croc seing his family again, the story elements still doesn't have anything memorable, or interesting, or appealing to people above the age of 8. I might be having expectations way too high for what may or may not have always been meant to be a babby game, but what i'm basically saying is that Croc 1 was a game that was flawed but felt like it was made with soul, while Croc 2 feels like an early example of "more mechanics = gooder" game design thought.
I don't hate Croc 2 because it's worse than Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. It's not and it's honestly why i didn't rate it any lower than 2.5 as i would've liked to. I just hate it because it simply isn't better. I liked Croc 1, but not enough to want a carbon copy repeat of it that improves and adds literally nothing.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was certainly not some sort of Wabisabi flawed masterpiece hidden gem. It was just an adequate 3D platformer working with the unfortunate limitations of trying to make a 3D platformer for PC, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation. Three platforms for which analog controllers were still pretty much a fetus of a thing. Something which i can't imagine most of the people complaining how the tank controls in the original ever keep in mind and probably just think that every dev team back then mastered 3D movement overnight after the release of Mario 64.
Croc 2, i have my reasons to have a lot less sympathy for. And it's not from a lack of nostalgia because i played it almost in conjunction with the first one as a kid. Launching in 1999, Croc 2 feels outdated than the original Croc was in 1997. In fact, it just feels like an inferior Banjo Kazooie clone at times.
All the "improvements" over the original here are just like a small drip feed of superficial things that were already standard for every other 3d platformer by then. Binoculars, mediocre racing sections and an item store don't make a platformer good on their own. You're still stuck with the same super short-range tail attack as your defense throughout the whole game, enemies still respawn after you kill them, the boss fights are still numb (the final one against Dante being basically a fucking escort mission) and the outside of the wholesome thing about Croc seing his family again, the story elements still doesn't have anything memorable, or interesting, or appealing to people above the age of 8. I might be having expectations way too high for what may or may not have always been meant to be a babby game, but what i'm basically saying is that Croc 1 was a game that was flawed but felt like it was made with soul, while Croc 2 feels like an early example of "more mechanics = gooder" game design thought.
I don't hate Croc 2 because it's worse than Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. It's not and it's honestly why i didn't rate it any lower than 2.5 as i would've liked to. I just hate it because it simply isn't better. I liked Croc 1, but not enough to want a carbon copy repeat of it that improves and adds literally nothing.
Laziness: the game. Play the first one instead
Uma evolução direta do primeiro CROC "Um crocodilo de bigode/10"
I legit feel this one is much worse than the first. The tank controls are gone, but somehow the controls manage to feel worse: in order to compensate for the bigger levels, Croc speed is faster, which makes the difficult jumps much worse. Also gone are the ability to turn around 180 and the ability to move the camera.
The bigger levels aren't very good either, they don't look bad, but feel very uninspired, while large, they are mostly linear and there is a lot of copy paste and filler between the actual interesting platforming parts. There is also a hub world filled with npcs with annoying voices plus a shop that sells one time use items that you need in order to backtrack and 100% certain levels. Instead of charming, it ends up feeling cheap and generic, as it has neither the simplicity of the original nor the interesting world building of games like Spyro and Banjo.
The bigger levels aren't very good either, they don't look bad, but feel very uninspired, while large, they are mostly linear and there is a lot of copy paste and filler between the actual interesting platforming parts. There is also a hub world filled with npcs with annoying voices plus a shop that sells one time use items that you need in order to backtrack and 100% certain levels. Instead of charming, it ends up feeling cheap and generic, as it has neither the simplicity of the original nor the interesting world building of games like Spyro and Banjo.
A very cute game with terrible gameplay. It has a good story, vivid colors, cute enemies, and elaborated stages. However, the gameplay gets in your way and makes every jump very frustrating. Since this is a kid-oriented game, it might be disappointing to play, especially if they are very young. Play it only if you're interested in learning more about platform gaming.
Somehow I had less fun with this than the original - sure, tank controls are gone, but so’s the charm, and the level and mission design is either bland or hellbent on wasting your time.