Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

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Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

North American Windows version box art
Developer(s) Argonaut Software
Publisher(s) Fox Interactive
JP Koei
Engine BRender
Platform(s) PlayStation, Saturn, Windows
Release date NA 1997

JP= Released
EU= Released
AU= Released
Genre(s) Platformer
Media 1-2 CDs depending on platform
System requirements Intel Pentium 133 CPU, 32MB RAM, 20MB hard disk, 2MB PCI graphic card
Input methods Keyboard or joystick

Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (or just Croc) is a video game developed by Argonaut Software and published by Fox Interactive in 1997. It was created and released for Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Windows.

Croc is a third-person, 3D platform game that stars a crocodile named Croc who seeks to save the Gobbos from Baron Dante. The game takes the player to several islands, with his job to find and save as many Gobbos (little furry creatures with big eyes) as possible and defeat the level bosses which occur every half. This is no easy feat though, for Baron Dante has set his henchmen (Dantinis) around every island you visit. They can be dispatched, but only temporarily, with a blow from your tail.

Despite several positive reviews and decent sales with the original becoming a PlayStation Greatest Hits game, Croc only spawned one sequel, Croc 2, that was released in 1999.

However, the Rumors section of Official Playstation Magazine spoke of Croc’s return on the PlayStation 2 sometime near the release of Argonaut Software’s I-Ninja and Malice. The exact month and issue number of the statement is not known at this time.

It is assumed the project was never established due to the age of the magazine and Argonaut Software's closure in 2004, or postponed as a future opportunity for Fox Interactive to rework Croc to be competitive in today’s market dominated by titles like “Jak and Daxter”, “Ratchet and Clank”, “Spyro The Dragon” and “Crash Bandicoot”. A cancelled 2000 Dreamcast port of Croc 2 is among Croc’s other unreleased projects.

Croc's original advertisements pictured him as less cute than he appears in the game or anywhere else, depicting him devouring industries sales rivals Gex, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot and mentioning them as being "delicious" while appearing to have slightly gained weight in his 3-D render after-image, despite the games manual saying he eats "buckets of peas".

A spiritual successor to the Croc series is the Kao the Kangaroo series that began on Dreamcast.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The Gobbo King was watching the sunset when he noticed a small basket in the ocean, containing a small, screaming baby crocodile, (Croc). The Gobbos begin to raise him and train him in fighting. Croc mostly ate buckets of peas when raised by the gobbos. Croc eventually grows twice the size of a normal gobbo. All is peaceful until one day, a Gobbo shouts out " Dantinis!". Suddenly, the evil Baron Dante invades Gobbo Island with his Dantinis imprisons many of the Gobbos, most notably their King, whom he keeps in a steel cage within his castle.

However, before he is taken, the Gobbo King hits a magical gong that summons a magical bird in turn causing Croc to shrink. The bird then takes Croc away to safety. Croc then goes on a quest to free all the Gobbos and encounters various forms of Dantinis on four different types of islands. As he progresses, he battles bosses like Feeble, Flibby, Itsy Ice Demon, Cactus Jack and many others made from common animals (sometimes connected) by way of Baron Dante's magic. He then fights and defeats Baron Dante and frees the Gobbo King.

[edit] Enemies of Croc

On his travels, Croc encounters a variety of enemies. Except for the Bosses, the lesser enemies can only be defeated temporarily and some cannot be attacked altogether.

[edit] Bosses

[edit] Feeble

Feeble is a small duck, transformed into a giant, green boss with a yellow star on its stomach. It lives on Volcano Island and fights Croc in "Lair of the Feeble". It fights in a circular clearing in a forest. Its main attack is to waddle after an enemy, until it stops and swings back and fro. It has three lives. It has no secondary attacks. Run away from it, but when it rests, kick it and run again. When you've kicked it three times, it will go back to a normal duck and you will complete the level.

[edit] Flibby

Flibby is a ladybug, transformed into a gigantic insect with boxing gloves, living on Volcano Island, appearing in "Fight Night with Flibby". It fights in a boxing ring. Flibby is one of the game's difficult boss. You should dodge it and when it rests tailswipe it and when it's down, make a double-jump on its stomach. If you do this three times, you complete this level. Flibby has three lives.

[edit] Chumly

Chumly is not a transformed animal, but an unknown creature living on the Ice Island, to whom Baron Dante attaches a rocket for fun and who appears in "Chumly's Snow Den". His lair is in an icy cave. Chumly is the easiest boss of the game,as he doesn't really attack. When it rises up, go under it and when you hear a strange voice, walk away. When Chumly falls, avoid him and then do a double jump on him.If you do this correctly. Chumly has three lives.

[edit] Demon Itsy

Demon Itsy is a boss made from four other creatures, living on Ice Island and appearing in "Demon Itsy's Ice Palace". His lair is a ice skating rink. The key to beat the Demon Itsy is: Run for it and when it rests, hit it. It divides into three and when you destroy all of them, you'll be the winner. He has has seven lives.

[edit] Neptuna

Neptuna is a fish, transformed into a fish creature with hands and a trident, who lives on Desert Island and appears in "The Deadly Tank of Neptuna". It has three lives. Neptuna is one of the hardest bosses in the game. But the key to beat it is simple: Dodge it and when it thinks and iooks to left and right, hit it. You will win if you hit it three times.

[edit] Cactus Jack

Cactus Jack is a giant, sentient cactus, created from a cactus connected with a lizard on its top, living on Desert Island and appearing in "Cactus Jack's Ranch". It has three lives. It fights in a square shaped base, sealed off with strong walls. He fights by rotating around the ranch,till he gets dizzy-this is when he can be hit. His secondary attack is shooting cactus spikes at Croc,after which he will spin again.

He has three lives.

[edit] Fosley

Fosley is one of the Dantinis, with magically magnified balloons, being from Dante's Castle island and appearing in "Fosley's Freaky Donut". He fights in the air, flying with balloons, above a central hole in a circular structure,in the shape of a donut, with bouncy platforms.When he throws a TNT bar, it walks after Croc-he must force it to pass the bouncing platform,which will hurl it at Fosley,making one of his balloons pop. Fosley has three lives.

[edit] Baron Dante

Baron Dante is the ultamite boss and Croc's archenemy, living in his castle. He appears as a giant frog-like creature with an iron hand, wearing knight clothes with a cape and having a mohawk. He rules over "Dante's Island" and appears in "Baron Dante's Funky Inferno". He has three attack stages, each with three lives. First, he punches into the ground. At the second try, he runs at Croc, who must avoid Dante and hit him after he runs into the wall. The third time, Dante levitates and throws off ray shots from his iron hand. After his defeat, he disappears,wailing.

In total,he has nine lives.

[edit] Crystal Sentinel

The secret boss of the fifth island. It is a crystal version of Baron Dante, appearing in "The Secret Sentinel". It fights in a crystal cavern with four platforms,each sporting one gong, as those Croc used throughout the game to pass a level, and four levitating crystal platforms. He cannot be attacked directly. He attacks when throwing an unavoidable energy blast. He is defeated when Croc makes all the four gongs on each platform sound. After that, the Boss cracks into several pieces of crystal. He has one life, though he requires four hits to a gong; however, they are not permanent and all the gongs must sound at once.

[edit] Dantinis

Dantinis are devil-like henchmen that work for Baron Dante. There are several types of Dantinis:

  • Chasing Dantini - They are the first, red Dantinis, who only attack by chasing around.
  • Devil Dantini - They have horns and shoot fire balls with a devil-like pitchfork.
  • Ice Throwing Dantinis - Ice, blue colored version of the Devil Dantinis.
  • Tumbling Dantini - Only one of this type is seen, in the Volcano Island, frolicking around. It is immune to damage while rolling but can be attacked when it stops.
  • Flying Dantini - Brown Dantinis who do not attack, but fly around. Croc can stil loose his crystals/lives when touched by these.
  • Water Dantini - Green Dantinis who shoot with a harpoon. Similar in appearance to the Devil Dantinis.
  • Jumping Dantini - Purple Dantinis who don't attack, but jump on top of platforms, making them difficult for Croc to use.
  • Falling Dantini - Dark green Dantinis who cannot be attacked and must be made to fall,by temporarily destroying the platform on which they will step.
  • Leaping Dantini-Dantini's who only jump between two platforms,preventing croc's passage.
  • Escaping dantini-a dark blue dantini who runs around,bearing a Gobo under his hand-must be hit to obtain the Gobo.

[edit] Other Enemies

  • Wasp - A wasp that appears on the Volcano Island
  • Yellow Tubes - A small, yellow tube creature, which spits yellow fire balls.
  • Scorpions - Scorpions who shoot fire from their tails.
  • Dogs - A giant dog of the ice levels.
  • Fish - Appear in underwater levels.
  • Sheep - Sheep creatures on Volcano Island
  • Mummy - A mummy that appears on the Desert Island
  • Sharks - Appear in underwater levels.
  • Crabs - Also appear in underwater levels.
  • Earthworms - An earthworm that follows the same path.It cannot be attacked.
  • Snake - A giant worm/snake who comes up from wells and tries to eat Croc. Immortal.
  • Penguins - Small penguin creatures that skate on ice fields. Immortal.
  • Scythe Wielding,Hooded Creatures- Enemies on the Dante island.
  • Spiders - Purple spiders that obstruct Croc's way. They come from the ceiling on a web and hurt Croc. They can be killed.
  • Big Stone Ogre - Obstructs Croc's way by smashing his one, giant hand. Immortal, doesn't move from spot.
  • Ballistic Megs - Thin, pink enemies, who keep running at a great speed from one place to another. Cannot be attacked.
  • Snipe Swiflys - Sword-wielding, pirate creatures that attack Croc on his way down the platforms.
  • Platform Pete - A blue creature who flies around in a wooden saucer and hits with his hammer, causing platforms to tilt. He does not attack directly and can't be attacked, nor touched. Immortal.
  • Chained yellow thing-a creature in the dungeons, he prevents Croc from clicking a switch that raises a set of iron bars from a door.Indetructible.
  • Ghost-while does not harm croc,it chases around, stealing all the crystals in the bonus elevel and ultimately the key to the Gobo cage,after which it is impossible to free the Gobo.
  • Fire Balls-fire balls with eyes that jump around a platform,preventing Croc's safe passage.

[edit] Islands and Levels

There are four accessible islands and one secret island. Each of the four main Islands contain six normal play levels, in which Croc has to collect six Gobbos and five Coloured Chrystals. The Colour Crystals open the Crystal Doors which lead to the end of the level, and contain the sixth gobbo. This is usually the hardest part of the level. They also contain Two Boss Levels, in which Croc does not collect any Gobbos, but just collect crystals and defeat the boss at the end of the level. If all six Gobbos are collected and The boss is defeated, there are two secret levels in which Croc collects crystals and a jigsaw piece. He has to collect all eight jigsaw pieces to gain access to the secret Crystal island. The Crystal Island contains four normal type levels that are similar to the levels played on the previous islands. Croc does not collect Gobbos, but collects crystals and make his way through the levels. Each of these four levels are set in a similar setting to that of the previous islands. These levels contain the hardest tasks from the previous islands. Croc then reaches the one boss on the Crystal Island, whom he has to beat by getting all four gongs to shake at one time. After all these levels are completed, with all the gobbos and jigsaw pieces, the game is 100% complete, and all is well for Croc and the gobbos, until Croc 2 .

  • Volcano Island

-1-1 And So the Adventure Begins

-1-2 Underground Overground

-1-3 Shoutin' Lava Lava Lava

-1-B1 Lair of the Feeble

-1-S1 The Curvy Caverns

-1-4 The Tumbling Dantini

-1-5 Cave Fear

-1-6 Darkness Descends

-1-B2 Fight Night with Flibby

-1-S2 The Twisty Tunnels

  • Ice Island

-2-1 The Ice of Life

-2-2 Be Wheely Careful

-2-3 Riot Brrrrr

-2-B1 Chumly's Snow Den

-2-S1 Clouds of Ice

-2-4 I Snow Him So Well

-2-5 Say No Snow

-2-6 License to Chill

-2-B2 Demon Itsy's Ice Palace

-2-S2 Ice Bridge To Eternity

  • Desert Island

-3-1 Lights Camel Action

-3-2 Mud Pit Mania

-3-3 Goin' Underground

-3-B1 The Deadly Tank of Neptuna

-3-S1 Arabian Heights

-3-4 Sand and Freedom

-3-5 Leap of Faith

-3-6 Life's a Beach

-3-B2 Cactus Jack's Ranch

-3-S2 Defeato Burrito

-4-1 The Tower of Power

-4-2 Hassle in the Castle

-4-3 Dungeon of Defright

-4-B1 Fosley's Freaky Donut

-4-S1 Smash and See

-4-4 Ballistic Meg's Fairway

-4-5 Swipe Swiftly's Wicked Ride

-4-6 Panic at Platform Pete's Lair

-4-B2 Baron Dante's Funky Inferno

-4-S2 Jailhouse Croc

  • Crystal Island

-5-1 And So the Adventure Returns

-5-2 Diet Brrrrr

-5-3 Trial on the Nile

-5-4 Crox Interactive

-5-B Secret Sentinel

[edit] Saturn rendering bug

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This game is notable for a rather severe bug which made its way into production copies. If the game is inserted into the console prior to power-on then certain models (Croc's head and Dantinis, notably) do not display correctly. To circumvent this, the console should be powered on without a CD in the tray and the game inserted after power-on. The bug was caused by a hardware register in the Saturn's rendering chip which is left uninitialized by the game. The Saturn operating system initializes this register if powered on without the CD inserted. This issue was not found during Sega's testing as the special test Saturn consoles are initialised through a boot disk before loading the game under test, which itself initializes the register.

[edit] External links

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