Of all the unique PlayStation video games I performed in my childhood, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was not one among them. To be truthful, I used to be three years previous when it got here out in 1997, and I’ve solely ever heard of Croc being mentioned on uncommon events as I bought older — in a YouTube video itemizing the most effective video games of the ’90s or, extra lately, my companion recalling reminiscences of enjoying it throughout his childhood. Playing Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Remastered on PS5 lately allowed me to expertise what I missed once I was too younger to carry a controller. Argonaut Games upgraded the grainy graphics to HD whereas retaining Croc’s PS1-era appeal, however stored all the basics intact.
That led to a trickier expertise than I used to be anticipating. Croc’s assaults are so poorly timed that I’d nonetheless get hit by an enemy even after swinging his tail, and I’d lose all of the diamond orbs I’ve collected and never have sufficient time to select up the whole lot. The jumps are such that I can’t get excessive sufficient to succeed in to sure areas or collectibles even once I’m leaping on Jell-O mounds like trampolines. When I used to be in a cave, I noticed a coronary heart hovering above one of many holes the place the worms would come out and peck at me. I bounced on the Jell-O after the worm slithered again right down to acquire the additional life solely to find that it was too excessive even when I floor pound the Jell-O in an try to leap greater.
As a platformer, it’s rudimentary at greatest and irritating at worst. It enraged me a lot that I couldn’t get previous the primary island with out desirous to throw my controller at my companion’s new 75-inch TV in a rage. By the time I reached the second combat, I got here to the conclusion {that a} graphically enhanced remaster wasn’t sufficient to revive Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. It’s the form of sport that really may have been the identical retooled care that Spyro Reignited Trilogy acquired.
From one reptile to a different
There’s worth in bringing a sport again untouched for the sake of preservation, however Croc: Legend of the Gobbos feels missing at the same time as a devoted remaster. The new model brings the cult hit to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, nevertheless it doesn’t do a lot to clean up a sport that would have used some respectful changes. I think about that Argonaut Games could have needed to leap on the pattern of bringing again previous video games to introduce Croc to a youthful viewers whereas tickling the nostalgic bones of older players. I concern that the missing remaster doesn’t go away an awesome impression of the collection, although. Croc could look cute in his unique design and I’d’ve liked enjoying his sport had I been launched to it within the latter days of the PS1’s lifetime, however I had a tough time connecting with its irritating controls and dated quirks in 2025.
It presents a problem for builders in search of to revive traditional video games: How do you stay devoted to one thing previous whereas nonetheless sprucing them up?
Argonaut Games
Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a particular case examine for learn how to revisit a sport with out compromising its id. Insomniac Games designed the unique Spyro trilogy to be polygonal to the purpose the place the characters regarded flat and indistinguishable from each other, particularly the grownup dragons Spyro rescues within the first sport. Awkward animation couldn’t harm it, although, because it was celebrated as a novel platformer from the early PlayStation days. Video video games had been present process a tough transition from 2D to 3D graphics within the late 1990s, so some rising pains had been to be anticipated.
Twenty years later, Toys For Bob remade the Spyro video games by remodeling the polygonal visuals and dealing in trendy high quality of life enhancements. Spyro Reignited Trilogy isn’t formally thought-about a remake per se as a result of it wasn’t rebuilt from the bottom up, however developer Toys For Bob did a deep remaster of the video games whereas getting session from Insomniac Games to keep up its faithfulness to Spyro. It made impactful adjustments whereas holding the traditional management intact. One of these adjustments is the character design for the dragons that Spyro rescues within the first sport. They got extra character and outfits acceptable to the hub worlds they lived in. For instance, dragons within the Artisans world dressed as artists of each self-discipline (painters, bakers, poets, and many others.), whereas dragons within the Peace Keepers world donned warrior gear. Plus, the crystals they had been imprisoned look much less like paperweights and extra like sculptures at an artwork museum.
Activision / Toys For Bob
Meanwhile, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos hasn’t modified a lot in its remaster save for a minor graphical touch-up. The character renders for Croc, the Gobbos that raised him, and the villains he encounters nonetheless retain their unremarkable polygonal form. The environmental design is equally weak. Where the mountains and grassy fields in Spyro Reignited Trilogy appear to be one thing out of a latest Disney film, the extent design within the Croc: Legend of the Gobbos nonetheless bears a resemblance to a late ’90s laptop sport. You can nonetheless see the define the mountain terrains, however in any other case the whole lot from the grass to the lava to the castles really feel flat.
Reimagining the artwork or making extra detailed ranges would have made for a really totally different sport, nevertheless it may have benefited one thing like Croc. It does not less than embody a behind-the-scenes documentary as a bonus function, a pleasant contact to provide the bundle some further historic context, nevertheless it in any other case feels missing as a correct remaster. If the aim right here is to introduce newcomers to a 1997 traditional, it’s not probably the most welcoming expertise. Between the flat visuals and a irritating management scheme that makes it powerful to get by means of, the remaster feels prefer it’ll solely fulfill followers of the unique. That’s nice, however there was a chance to do extra right here. If Argonaut decides to remaster the subsequent two Croc video games, I hope it may take a web page or two out of Spyro’s e-book.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is offered now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.