Croc 2
Playstation
Published By: Fox Interactive
Reviewed by Atari
8/23/99
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Discussion Forum
First
Impressions:
Croc
2 looked like it would be a fun game from the box
cover. The characters appeared to have a nice expressive quality
to them. It looked like it was going to be a cute arcade-like Mario
Brothers style game. I was pretty much correct in my assumptions.
I wish they had given more of an introduction of who Croc is, because
some people (like me) who get Croc 2 may not have played the original
Croc.
Here is a little bit of info about the game structure:
There are four tribes of Gobbos in Croc2: the Sailor Tribe,
the Cossack Tribe, the Prehistoric Tribe, and the
Inca Tribe. In each tribe there are five levels and two boss
levels. If Croc completes these, he can move on to the next tribe.
Each level has 100 normal crystals hidden in it. If Croc finds all
100 crystals in a level, he will automatically have all of his hearts
(or health points) restored.
Each level (but not bosses or secret levels) has five colored crystals
hidden in it, and if Croc finds all of these he can get a Golden
Gobbo statue. Croc needs to collect all the Golden Gobbo statues
in the village to be able to open the Golden Gobbo door and enter
the secret level.
Graphics:
The
graphics looked pretty average for this style of game. I must
say that Croc's animations were nicely done. He looks so incredibly
cute when he is floating in water -- he basically sprawls out
spread eagle on the surface. Croc's animations also look really
good when he is riding one of those rail-boards,
he can lean left and right... and ollie up.
The Gobbos
looked better on the box art than they did in the game. Their
fur didn't look much like fur in the game. It probably would have
been safer to have picked a less furry creature for the job. Because
of their simplistic model, there really wasn't much to their movement.
The lighting in some of the tunnels looked really good, although
they didn't seem to take advantage of their lighting abilities
in other areas of the game.
Sound/Music:
The
music was entertaining at first, though after a while it can get
on your nerves. It would loop over and over again (I can still
hear the music ringing in my head). Luckily, they allow you to
disable the music in the options menu. The voices were cute, however
the lines were a bit cheesy and needed some spice. They could
have spent a little more time developing character personalities
for the Gobbos.
Gameplay:
When
I first started playing this game, I didn't realize how important
it was to get all the Golden Gobbos, and I would finish a level
without getting the Gobbo. This would force me to go back and
redo the entire level.
I also found myself nearly completing a level, only to find out
that I needed some extra device to reach one of the last crystals
(ie. I needed a gummi saver. Gummi
savers allow you to bounce up to high, hard-to-reach places.)
This forced me to leave the level, buy a gummi saver from the
village shop, and start the level all over again.
I also found the camera angle a bit annoying. In Mario Brothers,
you could change the camera angle without having to move the character.
I wish they had used the same design for Croc 2. Several times,
I found myself staring at Croc's eyes while he stood on the edge
of a path, and I wouldn't be able to line him up well enough to
make a jump.
This game has a very repetitive nature to it. Some people really
like games that make you go through a level over and over again
until you get it right. At least in this game, they give you a
choice of several levels to play, rather than making you repeat
the same one over and over again. This made the game seem much
less repetitive, and overall, more enjoyable.
Enjoyment:
Although
I complained and got frustrated on several occasions while reviewing
this game, once I got sucked in there was no getting me out. It's
a strangely addictive game. You have to be able to hack a bit
of repetition (which I'm not too partial to) but if that's your
fancy then this shouldn't be a problem.
Multiplayer:
Their
idea of multiplayer is to allow two controllers to control Croc
simultaneously. What is that all about? Are people too lazy to
pass a controller 3 feet over to their friend? I just don't get
why they put that "feature" in. Seems fairly useless to me...
unless they intended to cater to the lazy. ;)
Overall
Impression:
I
believe younger people will get the most out of this game. The
storyline is very kid oriented, and it's something that I can
see them getting completely sucked into. I'm not saying that adults
won't like this game, but I believe the majority of people who
will be attracted to it will be the people who can wake up on
a saturday morning, prop up their feet on the coffeetable and
enjoy silly, amusing cartoons. It's a good game, sure to keep
your interest going for a little while.
Marketing
Efforts Towards Women:
Hrm,
do Gobbo's have gender? Croc is a male. I don't recall seeing
any female characters but with a game like this, character genders
tend to be very obscure and neutral. As far as I can tell, this
game doesn't seem to be marketed towards any particular gender.
Cheats, Hints & URLs:
In the market for a great cheat book? We highly recommend Prima's
Official Strategy Guide. Usually ships within 24 hours.
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