Croc 2 (PS1 Review) | Pixel Pursuit

[@LionmaneElsie08]

13:36 oh hi, Tickle-Me Elmo! How nice of you to join us

[@PixelPursuit]

Haha! It does look very similar to Tickle-Me-Elmo! Just a bit shorter... And with clockwork innards! :D

[@Razorblade1812]

Croc 2...... The only game in the Croc franchise that I got to play and own as a kid back when it first came out, and is a game that, along with Klonoa and Skullmonkeys, I still hold in very high esteem. It was a very enjoyable experience for me, especially when I was blown away by the two racing levels which amazed me so greatly. Given that both games are better played in analog than in digital, it was quite clear from the get-go that both of the games were designed for use with the Analog controller in mind, especially when said controller was brand new at the time the original Croc was in development. Believe it or not though, as a friend of mine TTBurger88 told me, they were working on a third game in the series which was going to be called "Stone of the Gobbos", but the game was quite in development hell before it eventually got axed when Argonaut dissolved after the two games they worked on, Catwoman (Infamous game) and Malice, flopped. As far as remasters or remakes are concerned, we might see if Nightdive Studios, the company behind the remasters of Turok, Forsaken, Blood, Doom 64 and the upcoming remasters of Blade Runner and Shadowman, would expand further from adult-oriented games to produce remasters of classic kids titles such as this one using their in-house KEX Engine, maybe perhaps under their sub-label "Nightdive Kids" or something.

[@PixelPursuit]

I absolutely love Skullmonkeys and I've been thinking about doing a video about it literally since starting this channel. Klonoa on the other hand I've actually never played and it's pretty expensive to get your hands on nowadays. If I ever see it for a decent price I'll definitely get it because it looks like my sort of thing. Looking back on the racing sections now they're pretty bare bones, especially when compared to Crash 3's racing levels which have a lot more going on. I still like them though! I should probably go back to Croc 1 and play it with the analogue stick because I've never played it like that. The d-pad controls were a lot better in Croc 1 so I always just stuck with that. Yeah, I've seen a bit about the third game but not a lot was ever released about it which is a shame. I hope that one day we'll see either a remake of the first Croc games or finally see the third entry in the series but with it having been dead for so long, it's kinda unlikely. Nightdive Studios might be a good pick to carry on the legacy, they have a solid track record for sure. I think whoever developed it though, it would need to happen soon. Platformers are doing really well at the moment and there's tons of series' getting remakes and remasters that are doing well, so you never know!

[@leotachy1042]

Nice review!

[@PixelPursuit]

Thanks! :)

[@ThePreciseClimber]

I can see some similarities between Croc 2 and I-Ninja, a later Argonaut game on PS2. The small hub worlds & mission-based levels with narrative backdrops.

[@PixelPursuit]

That's interesting... Maybe I should check out I-Ninja! I always saw it in game shops and wanted it but for some reason I never picked it up. I had no idea it was made by Argonaut, if I had known that I probably would have played it by now!

[@RiiViiMedia2424]

9:23 This question might sound weird, but here me out. How did the game "look" (both visually and metaphorically) when you were playing it with the D-Pad as opposed to analog movement?

[@PixelPursuit]

Visually it looked a lot more clunky because I was constantly falling into pits and lava and making simple jumps was incredibly difficult. As for the metaphorical look of the game, I'm not sure! Haha, really the only thing that matters is that for me, the d-pad controls literally ruined the entire game and I actually gave up playing it in the second hub world. I'm really glad I didn't publish my first version of this video though because it wouldn't have reflected my feelings towards this game (with analogue controls) at all. It goes to show how important it is for a platformer to have good controls though because even a game that is otherwise pretty damn great can be made to look terrible if the controls are flawed.

[@RiiViiMedia2424]

@@PixelPursuit Reading it out loud, I realize that adding "metaphorical" wasn't necessary and what I wanted to focus on was the game looking a lot worse despite no change in the visuals. It confirmed my suspicions that the experiences with something can affect how it "looks" on ones eyes, with actual visuals being only one part. And yeah, it does help to give a game the benefit of the doubt and see EVERYTHING that it has to offer.

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah, I mean in terms of the actual graphics it obviously doesn't look any different but I think you'd be able to tell from how clunky the platforming looked and how quickly you were able to change directions if someone was using the analogue stick or not in this case. Yeah for sure! It's such a weird case with Croc 2 though because I have literally never experienced such a drastic difference to controls going from the d-pad to the analogue stick in a PS1 game!

[@hudlradio3146]

Need the 180 turn from the first game back!

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah that would have definitely helped with the d-pad controls! It isn't too much of an issue when using the analogue stick though because you can instantly turn by just moving it in the opposite direction anyway :)

[@joefowles8122]

my mate played croc one xP

[@PixelPursuit]

The first Croc game is pretty great too! Croc 2 is definitely more ambitious though which I appreciate!

[@LionmaneElsie08]

I remember being so excited to play this, loving the first one so much. It was too different for my liking and I found it very hard and couldn’t get into it

[@PixelPursuit]

I was exactly the same back when I got this and played it for the first time. I think all of my issues with it stemmed from me using the d-pad to control Croc though. If you use the analogue stick it’s so much smoother and far easier too. I couldn’t get past the second world using the d-pad but when I switched to the analogue stick I literally didn’t struggle! It made me appreciate Croc 2 a lot more :)

[@LionmaneElsie08]

@@PixelPursuit wow! That’s so cool! I remember being on a boss fight and couldn’t pass it (I think it was an octopus or something and you had to use a raft with a cannon 🤔) and I just could not pass it. If I get a chance I might give it another go with the sticks! Edit: I’m watching and this part is just being talked about 🥴 🐙

[@PixelPursuit]

Haha, yeah I was going to say that there's actually two bosses that are similar to what you're talking about, one against a pirate where you fire canons and one against an octopus where you throw boxes! But you know that now :D Definitely go back to it with the analogue sticks, I've never known a game to be improved so drastically just by using the sticks!

[@agamaz5650]

[@jonahabenhaim1223]

Weird... Squared Eyed Jak was Too Harsh on Croc 2

[@PixelPursuit]

Yeah he really was. I remember watching his review after playing it for myself and thinking that he was really overly negative about it. Maybe he played it with the d-pad like I originally did, because doing that does change the experience quite drastically.

[@Minty0091]

The first croc game is better

[@PixelPursuit]

They're both so different that it's hard to directly compare them to be fair. I personally think that I preferred Croc 2. I don't actually remember what I said in this video about that though haha!