Croc 2 Kingdom of the Gobbos Review Summary

A charming, visually remastered platformer with fun modes, welcome quality-of-life upgrades, and smooth performance, though its poor AI upscaling and janky controls and hitboxes hold it back.

Strong visual remaster with customizable modes: The remaster offers stunning texture updates and multiple graphics settings, letting players swap between retro and remastered styles. Many praise the visual fidelity and options.

Fun and charming 3D platformer: Reviewers describe the game as a fun, heartwarming 3D platformer with timeless appeal. The gameplay remains enjoyable and has aged well.

Quality of life improvements and modern features: The remaster adds convenient features like widescreen support, extra hearts, and a more forgiving life system. These enhancements make the game more enjoyable and accessible.

Excellent performance and smooth gameplay: Reviewers consistently highlight smooth performance, high frame rates, and responsive controls. The game runs well even on high-refresh displays and ultrawide monitors.

Multiple game modes and versions: Players appreciate the inclusion of three game modes (1999 PlayStation, 2000 PC, and Remastered), along with model variants and gameplay options. This provides flexibility and nostalgia.

AI upscaling looks poor: Multiple clusters criticize the AI-upscaled textures as ugly, cheap, and sloppy, and note the graphics look overly smoothed. Reviewers also flag that the store page lacks AI disclosure.

Janky controls and hitboxes: Players report rough controls, slow turning, sluggish movement, and janky enemy and attack hitboxes. Some feel Croc controls much faster than older versions, which is odd for returning players.

Movement and platforming bugs: Several clusters describe Croc failing to jump from ledges, letting go during swings over spike pits, clipping through the ground into pits, and randomly falling through floors. These glitches cause frequent falls.

Harsh difficulty and punishing restarts: The game is very unforgiving, and failing repeatedly until all lives are lost restarts from the beginning. Some sections are harder than in the PS1 and original PC versions.

Dated and simple gameplay: Reviewers find the game simple and outdated, with Croc 2 fairly simple compared to other 3D platformers of its time. It may not impress newcomers expecting Mario, Spyro, or Crash.

Multiple playable versions: Players can choose between 1999 PlayStation, 2000 PC, and Remastered Gameplay modes, with corresponding difficulty and visual options. This is reflected across clusters 6, 33, 34, 35, and 36.

Heart collection system expanded: Heart collection allows collecting more hearts on top of existing ones, health is tied to heart pieces, and crystals refill hearts. Clusters 11, 34, 35, 38, 42.

Level-based platforming gameplay: It is a 3D platformer with old-school level-based design, including adventure, puzzle, and collecting elements. Clusters 1, 2, 17.

Graphics style switching: Graphics can be switched between Retro, Remastered, and a Custom user profile, including CRT and VGA filters. This is supported by clusters 7, 27, 28.

Hub-based level structure: The game uses hubworlds to navigate between levels, with activities in hub areas. Clusters 16, 25, 41.

Smooth high refresh rate: Players report the game running smoothly at high refresh rates such as 240Hz on an Ultrawide OLED and 144Hz. Overall frame rates are described as incredibly smooth.

Great handheld performance: The game plays flawlessly on Steam Deck OLED and works well on Xbox Ally X. One player noted some audio glitches and frame drops in lava levels on Steam Deck LCD.

Stunning updated textures: Textures were updated with stunning results, improving the visual quality of the game.

Worth the price for fans: Multiple reviewers feel the game is worth its price, especially for those with nostalgia for the original. However, some caution that it may not be worth full price until patched.

Recommended for nostalgic players: The game is highly recommended for those who enjoy exploring early 1990s-2000s games and for players who never got a chance to play, as they are in for a treat. New players should start with the remastered version first.

Not for newcomers expecting modern games: Players who never played the original may find the gameplay and graphics outdated. It is not recommended for those expecting an experience like Mario, Spyro, or Crash.

High praise and support: Some reviewers give it a perfect score and urge support for the game of childhood so developers can make something new and modern. Others advise against buying Croc 2.

Hold off until patched: A few reviewers recommend refraining from buying the game for now, as it is not worth the full price until it is patched.

Session length: 0.5h.

Croc Nostalgia Superfan: Plays classic level-based platforming and collecting while seeking remastered versions and bonus franchise content. Motivation: Reliving childhood attachment to the Croc franchise and collecting related memorabilia. Stance: buy.

Retro Platformer Explorer: Plays for level-based exploration, puzzle solving, and item collection in an old-school platformer structure. Motivation: Exploring classic 1990s-2000s platformers and their collectible, puzzle-driven design. Stance: buy.

Frustrated Returning Veteran: Attempts to resume classic platforming habits and bounces off if the game feels unwelcoming to returning players. Motivation: Revisiting a familiar classic but expecting a smoother return experience. Stance: no buy.

Linux and Proton: The available feedback is limited but positive for Steam Deck/Linux-adjacent compatibility: one user calls Steam Deck OLED play flawless, while another reports decent LCD Deck performance with minor audio glitches and frame drops in lava levels. No Proton, native Linux, anti-cheat, launcher, DRM, or launch-reliability blockers are mentioned.

Remaster of Croc 2: The game is a remaster of Croc 2, originally a PS1 title with a PC port. It includes options like retro/remastered swap and CRT/VHS filters.

Available on Steam and Steam Deck: The game is available on Steam and can be played on PC and Steam Deck. This makes it accessible to a wide audience.

Budget AI-upscaled remaster: Reviewers describe it as a budget AI-upscaled remaster, suggesting lower quality than expected. This may affect visual fidelity and overall polish.

More graphics options than first remaster: It offers more graphics options than the first remaster, allowing players to customize visual settings. This is a notable improvement.

Cut levels impress reviewers: The game includes cut levels that reviewers find impressive. This adds value for fans and showcases previously unseen content.