Argonaut dropped a hell of a banger on PlayStation in 1997. Croc: Legend of the Gobbos originated as a pitch to make a new Yoshi title for Nintendo, which, after being turned down, was quickly repurposed into the game so many people fondly remember. Now in 2025, Argonaut has relaunched it with a slew of fixes and quality of life additions for modern platforms. Is this remastered version still able to stand tall?
The story of Croc is a simple one, told via a glorious in-game style cutscene. As a baby, Croc washes onto a small island: the home of the Gobbos. They adopt him and raise him into a strong little crocodile, but when he’s older and more integrated, things are shaken up. Baron Dante, a big, evil green dude, shows up and kidnaps the entire population of Gobbos, but not Croc, who is teleported away by the King of the Gobbos. Now it’s up to Croc to save his friends and defeat the evil Baron. It’s a decent premise and a nice motivation point for Croc to begin his journey.
The thing is, this is all presented without dialogue, as is the entire game, with the only real text being level names and boss names, which show for their battles. Somehow, despite this, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos still has a ton of character and memorable moments. All the levels are named with pun-like titles and the characters make cute little noises. Croc himself has a few standouts like his iconic “Yahzoo” and “Ker-Splat” cries as he uses tail attacks and ground pounds, respectively. It is all very endearing.
Originally, the entire control scheme was just tank controls with Croc having a bit of momentum and not being able to directly turn on the spot. However, Argonaut has gone back in for this remaster and implemented full 3D analogue control. This offers an accuracy Croc has never had but it can be a little game-breaking as the levels were designed around the original control scheme.
Luckily, the levels in Croc are actually quite devilishly designed; rarely unfair but certainly challenging. Developers seemed to have been trying to think of scenarios where the tank controls and Croc’s slight slipperiness might make for interesting jumping or time challenges that make the levels feel more interesting. Some of these are quite forgiving for the majority of the game, expecting the player to try, but not forcing them. However, later stages are extremely challenging.
Each island Croc travels through has a theme and the levels adhere quite steadily to this. For example, the ice island has lots of snow and ice-themed levels as well as visuals and soundtracks. This kind of identity is something Croc did way more consistently than some Mario games, and it is a large element of what makes zones feel memorable. No levels have been cut for the remaster and many of them have had decent visual tweaks made.
This remaster does something new in terms of graphics options. There is a new graphics suite, which presents the game in a way that makes it look close to the original CG cutscene visuals. It’s pretty impressive and boasts some great additions to things like geometry. The developers have also made a whole new set of lighting, allowing for a bit more depth to the levels, as well as a better smoothness achieved through faithful but completely new textures. The unique feature is that players can opt for a personalised mix of new visuals and old. Not a fan of the new textures? Switch them off. Miss the old geometry but love the new lighting? Yup, that’s possible. It’s really cool to see this, and excellent that the original look is still preserved.
Speaking of iconic features, Croc’s soundtrack has to come up. Composers Justin Scharvona, Karin Griffin and Martin Gwynn Jones created a jazzy and funky soundtrack that is a delight for the ears. From the charming main theme to the slower, almost dark underwater theme, there is a lot to digest. Take a listen to the unlockable remaster remix of the main theme here:
It’s not just the music, though! The sound effects themselves are great. Croc himself has a mix of sounds that make his actions have more impact like a handy “Yahzoo” when he tail spins. Enemies zap in and out of existence, Gobbos jitter and cheer; the list is endless and the sounds are fantastic.
Where things are unfortunately a bit messy is that during review play, the game would occasionally crash to the home menu. Argonaut is aware, though, so it will be updated soon as the team has already sent out a performance patch for consoles.
Added to the remaster is the museum, which is full of game materials and also has the full soundtrack for a curious listener. This is a nice extra as it houses some really retro and fun things, such as what merchandise Croc had, and even the full game pitch documents with all of the cool information anyone could ever want about the game. It adds a decent amount of value and helps buff out the content a little.
