Picture the era: The 1990s (often referred and shortened to as “the ’90s” or “the Nineties”) back when platformers were all the rage and when they ruled the world. I don’t mean to sound like a miserable, grumpy, jaded, bitter old lady but it’s true that we don’t know how good we had it until it’s too late. I feel like I’m mentally an 8-year-old trapped in a physical 36-year-old woman body. Back when video game companies (both video game developing companies and video game publishing companies) took risks and aren’t afraid to experiment. Best of all, back in the day when video game companies didn’t shove political correctness up where the sun don’t shine, back when they didn’t kow-tow to “the message”, back when they didn’t bend the knee and spread LGBTQ+ propaganda like a virus, back when video games weren’t infected by Sweet Baby Inc. (and Trans Activists), a so-called “narrative consultant” which “promises” to pander and advocate to the minority and the people of colour. You get the picture. Do you see where I’m getting with this? Do you see where this is becoming a problem? Because of the LGBTQ+, Trans Activists etc, people are yearning for the good ol’ days (the golden age of gaming) and are returning to retro gaming more than ever before. Internet trolls such as Laura Amy Williams (ladylaurapop on Bluesky and formerly known as TotallyLisaCartoons) and her ilk/circle jerk is becoming the problem in terms of siding with the LGBTQ+ community, Trans Activists and the people of colour. This isn’t outrage, this is retribution towards the “wokies” (coined by 8-Bit Eric) and the “modern audience”. In my opinion, I reckon the 1990’s and the 2000’s are the golden age of gaming. I’m physically 36-years-old but I’m mentally still stuck in the past. Yorch Torch Games from Twitter/X said it best, “Forget about Happy Pride Month. Bring back mascot games without any political garbage. Who agrees?”
The original version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos released back in 1997, which is 28 years ago. I was 8-years-old at the time and I’m currently 36-years-old. If you’ve already played the original version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, then you’ll know what to expect.
There isn’t much to the story. One day, a baby crocodile in a basket is left abandoned in a large body of water and is found by King Rufus and his Gobbos subjects on the Gobbo Archipelago. He raised the baby crocodile as his own, which effectively made King Rufus the adoptive father. As time passed by, the baby crocodile soon grew up to become Croc and he established a relationship with his adoptive family. Suddenly, Baron Dante and his Dantinis interrupted the tranquillity of the Forest/Volcano Island and he ordered his minions to kidnap most of the Gobbos but not before King Rufus handed Croc a backpack and tail-whipped the gong to summon Beany Bird. She flew around Croc to shrink him down to size and whisk him away to safety. Baron Dante picked up King Rufus, laughed evilly in his face and locked him up in a cage somewhere in Baron Dante’s Castle on Castle Island. It’s all up to Croc to travel across the four islands to save all the Gobbos and King Rufus, and defeat Baron Dante and his Dantini henchmen.
Seeing as King Rufus of the Gobbo Archipelago adopted Croc and raised him as his own, does this make Croc adopted into a royal family and thus, made him royalty? This means Croc is a prince. This has been on my mind recently ever since the remastered version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos announced last year.
In terms of the soundtrack, I don’t think it’s changed, and it remained the same, hence why the game is a remaster, not a remake. As Isabelle said in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, “It’s like I always say, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’.” Spyro Reignited Trilogy is an example of a poorly made remake, failing to capture what made the original Spyro trilogy memorable, and excuse the pun, magical, in the first place. It failed to be faithful to the original Spyro trilogy.
Whereas the remastered version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos are kept mostly the same, albeit the graphics, lighting, controls, camera controls etc are drastically improved. The 3D models of the characters seemed to be upscaled, but the polygonal shape remained thankfully faithful. Unlike the original version, the remastered version allows you to save your save file on any of the three save slots that are available on the screen.
Speaking of the soundtrack, it’s nothing to write home about. Sure, I have some favourite music tracks (for example, the music in the Mud Pit Mania level in the Desert World (World 3) got me going and advancing through the level), which are the soft rock music tracks, but the soundtrack gets the job done to get players engaged. It’s not memorable, by any means. Croc fans will or will not remember the soundtrack depending on who you ask but the people that never played a Croc game before will obviously don’t know the soundtrack. The soundtrack, especially the soft rock music tracks, reminds me too much of the soundtracks Stewart Copeland (of The Police fame) composed for Spyro The Dragon, Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer, Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy title theme.
The names of the levels in each world aren’t memorable either. I had to look up the names on the Croc: Wiki of the Gobbos website or on Google as a result. Not to mention, the level designs, the world designs, the character designs and so forth are generic and forgettable. However, they are charming and products of their time.
The difficulty spike didn’t start to ramp up until I progressed further through the Ice World or the Desert World. For instance, one, or two, or a couple of levels on the Snow World made me lose all of my lives/hearts due to how slippery the ice and snow are.
If the remastered version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and a possible remastered version of Croc 2 becomes successful, sales wise, then maybe, just maybe there will finally be a Croc 3. Long-time fans have been clamouring for a Croc 3 for 26 years so far since 1999. I was 10-years-old at the time and I’m 35-years-old nowadays.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is still a flawed platformer but unlike Spyro Reignited Trilogy, I came out feeling positive, regardless of the frustrations here and there.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Remastered: Unlike Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is a faithful remaster of the original version of this game. If you've already played the original version, there isn't many surprises and this game doesn't reinvent the wheel in terms of platformers. – WingSeeLi