Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Encyclopedia
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (also known as simply Croc, or in Japan as ) is a platform
video game published
by Fox Interactive
and developed
by Argonaut Software for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn
, and GameBoy Color. It was released on September 29, 1997 in the North America
. It follows main protagonist Croc, and his attempts to rescue the furry creatures known as Gobbos from the main antagonist, Baron Dante.
It received generally positive reviews from video games critics and was also a moderate commercial success, eventually becoming a PlayStation Greatest Hits game. A sequel, Croc 2
, was released in 1999 as well as two mobile phone
games, Croc Mobile: Jungle Rumble and Croc Mobile Pinball.
All is peaceful until one day, a Gobbo shouts out a warning... " Dantinis!". Suddenly, the evil Baron Dante arrives and invades Gobbo Island with the help of his demon rascals, Dantinis. He imprisons many of the Gobbos, most notably their King, whom he keeps in a steel cage within his castle island. Before the Gobbo King is taken, he hits a magical gong that summons a yellow bird called Beany. Beany causes Croc to shrink before whisking him away to safety. Croc then goes on a quest to free all the Gobbos and defeat the evil Baron Dante himself.
Progressing through the levels involves finding and hitting the Beany Gong at the end of the level to move onto the next, facing two bosses during each island. However, to fully complete the game, Croc has to rescue the captured Gobbos throughout each level. Each level contains six Gobbos, including one hidden behind a door at the end of the level. This Gobbo can only be released by collecting five coloured crystals throughout the level. Collecting all the Gobbos before a boss level unlocks an extra level in which a Jigsaw Piece can be earned. When the player collects all of these pieces, a new island is opened up, leading to the game's final boss, Baron Dante in crystal form.
Richard Joseph was also involved.
There are four standard islands in the game, each of which has a unique theme. Starting with the lava themed island, then progressing on to the snow, the desert, and castle themed islands respectively. A secret island is unlocked after the player collects all Gobbos and Jigsaw pieces in the game.
Each of the four standard islands contain six standard stages, two boss stages and two bonus stages, as detailed below.
Standard Stages
In the standard stages (levels), Croc has to collect six Gobbos and five Coloured Crystals. The Coloured Crystals open the Crystal Door at the end of the stage which contains the sixth Gobbo.
Boss Stages
A boss stage comes after every set of three levels. Boss stages contain no Gobbos or Coloured Crystals. However, each stage does contain the standard crystals, of which there are always 50.
Secret Stages
After each set of three standard stages and the boss stage the player can access a secret stage if they have rescued all 6 Gobbos on the preceding three standard stages. These contain standard crystals and a Jigsaw piece at the end.
Secret Island
If the player collects all eight jigsaw pieces in the game they gain access to the Secret Island, which consists of five levels. This island contains four stages and a final boss.
The four stages are themed in-order of the original standard island themes and consist of parts of the stages from those islands put together as a new stage. They contain more enemies than before and are more difficult. There are no Gobbos or Colored Crystals to collect and the only aim is to make it to the end of each stage.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
video game published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Fox Interactive
Fox Interactive
20th Century Fox Games is a video game publisher and developer mainly concerned with titles based on 20th Century Fox properties, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, the Alien and Predator film franchises, Independence Day, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Avatar, 24, the...
and developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Argonaut Software for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, and GameBoy Color. It was released on September 29, 1997 in the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It follows main protagonist Croc, and his attempts to rescue the furry creatures known as Gobbos from the main antagonist, Baron Dante.
It received generally positive reviews from video games critics and was also a moderate commercial success, eventually becoming a PlayStation Greatest Hits game. A sequel, Croc 2
Croc 2
Croc 2, called Croc Adventure in Japan , is a video game released in 1999, is the sequel to Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, developed by Argonaut Software between 1998 and 1999, and published by Fox Interactive. Croc 2 was released on Game Boy Color, Windows, and PlayStation...
, was released in 1999 as well as two mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
games, Croc Mobile: Jungle Rumble and Croc Mobile Pinball.
Plot
The Gobbo King Rufus was watching the sunset when he noticed a small basket in the sea, containing a small, screaming baby crocodile. The Gobbos begin to raise him and train him to become one of their own. Croc mostly ate buckets of peas when raised by the Gobbos. Croc eventually grew to twice the size of a normal Gobbo.All is peaceful until one day, a Gobbo shouts out a warning... " Dantinis!". Suddenly, the evil Baron Dante arrives and invades Gobbo Island with the help of his demon rascals, Dantinis. He imprisons many of the Gobbos, most notably their King, whom he keeps in a steel cage within his castle island. Before the Gobbo King is taken, he hits a magical gong that summons a yellow bird called Beany. Beany causes Croc to shrink before whisking him away to safety. Croc then goes on a quest to free all the Gobbos and defeat the evil Baron Dante himself.
Gameplay
Croc is a free-roaming game title, with Croc's movement differing slightly depending on whether players use the directional pad or the analogue controller to control him. His main moves consist of a tail whip attack that can temporarily destroy enemies, and a hit drop used for smashing open crates. Croc also possess the ability to swim in select levels. Throughout the game Croc collects crystals which serve as health in a similar fashion to golden rings in Sonic the Hedgehog, meaning the player will lose a life if hit without holding any crystals in their inventory. Crystals retained at the end of a level are stored, with Croc gaining an extra life for every 100 he collects.Progressing through the levels involves finding and hitting the Beany Gong at the end of the level to move onto the next, facing two bosses during each island. However, to fully complete the game, Croc has to rescue the captured Gobbos throughout each level. Each level contains six Gobbos, including one hidden behind a door at the end of the level. This Gobbo can only be released by collecting five coloured crystals throughout the level. Collecting all the Gobbos before a boss level unlocks an extra level in which a Jigsaw Piece can be earned. When the player collects all of these pieces, a new island is opened up, leading to the game's final boss, Baron Dante in crystal form.
Music
The music for Croc: Legend of the Gobbos was composed by Justin Scharvona.Richard Joseph was also involved.
Structure
IslandsThere are four standard islands in the game, each of which has a unique theme. Starting with the lava themed island, then progressing on to the snow, the desert, and castle themed islands respectively. A secret island is unlocked after the player collects all Gobbos and Jigsaw pieces in the game.
Each of the four standard islands contain six standard stages, two boss stages and two bonus stages, as detailed below.
Standard Stages
In the standard stages (levels), Croc has to collect six Gobbos and five Coloured Crystals. The Coloured Crystals open the Crystal Door at the end of the stage which contains the sixth Gobbo.
Boss Stages
A boss stage comes after every set of three levels. Boss stages contain no Gobbos or Coloured Crystals. However, each stage does contain the standard crystals, of which there are always 50.
Secret Stages
After each set of three standard stages and the boss stage the player can access a secret stage if they have rescued all 6 Gobbos on the preceding three standard stages. These contain standard crystals and a Jigsaw piece at the end.
Secret Island
If the player collects all eight jigsaw pieces in the game they gain access to the Secret Island, which consists of five levels. This island contains four stages and a final boss.
The four stages are themed in-order of the original standard island themes and consist of parts of the stages from those islands put together as a new stage. They contain more enemies than before and are more difficult. There are no Gobbos or Colored Crystals to collect and the only aim is to make it to the end of each stage.
Characters
- Croc, the protagonist and playable character. A crocodile raised by the Gobbos.
- King Rufus, the ruler of the Gobbos. Indistinguishable from others bar the golden crown he wears.
- Baron Dante, the primary antagonist, a large reptilian creature dressed in armor and a cape.
- Beany Bird, Croc's method of transport throughout the islands and main teammate.
- The Gobbos, cute, fuzzy orange-brown creatures. They are a peaceful race who raised Croc.
- The Dantinis, Baron Dante's underlings. They appear in many different forms and colours.
Bosses
- The Feeble, a duck transformed by Baron Dante.
- Flibby, a giant boxing ladybug.
- Chumly, a dantini given a rocket pack which frequently malfunctions.
- Demon Itsy, a group of mountain goats combined to form a strange monster.
- Neptuna, a fishFishFish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
transformed into a mermanMermanMermen are mythical male equivalents of mermaids – legendary creatures who have the form of a human from the waist up and are fish-like from the waist down.-Mythology:...
with a trident. - Cactus Jack, a giant sentient walking cactus who shoots spikes.
- Fosley, transformed from a pink child with a balloon to a huge monster who throws dynamite.
- Baron Dante, the game's final boss and main antagonist. He transformed the rest of the Bosses. This boss has three phases.
- The Crystal Boss (or The Secret Sentinel), Baron Dante's spirit trapped in a Crystalline form.