CROC

Sorry to rain on the parade of positive reviews for "Croc", one of the handful of third-party games released for the Saturn in late 1997 by Fox Interactive (who bailed out of the machine as soon as the game got released). But, for heaven's sake, how can anyone above the age of eight years-old (ten or twelve at the most) play this game and not feel an acute sense of embarrassment and boredom? Man, "Starfox" creator Argonaut has brought to the Sega Saturn (and to the Sony PlayStation) the most Nintendo-like childish product one could imagine, and it is a clone right down to the Yoshi butt-stump from "Yoshi's Island" and the hard-to-control camera perspectives. Although technically this game is a solid product, the lack of any 3D free-roaming games on the Saturn is the only reason anyone should check out "Croc"; if I could get away with it, I'd give the game an overall 'Z' for its sleep-inducing charm.

You play the character of Croc, a crocodile that unleashes his mean tail and ass (literally) through Four Islands, each of which has six levels and two Guardians acting as mid-bosses every three levels. There are six kidnapped Gobbos in every level, as well as eight hidden levels spread throughout the game. You might just find a well-hidden fifth Island if you manage to find all the secret levels and Gobbos; needless to say, all these Islands have those common themes side-scrolling videogames are known for: fire, lava, snow, slippery ice, etc. The bad guys, which have names like Fighting Flibby, the Ice Demon, Tooty the Feeble, etc, are led by the Bowser-like lackey Baron Dante which you will confront at the end of the game as the final boss. The game ends with a cliffhanger (kinda like the series finale of "The Secret World of Alex Mack" on Nickelodeon, where she has the antidote in her hand and is undecided), which is probably the set-up for the inevitable sequel tentatively scheduled for late 1998. After playing through as much of this game as I could stand before the sickening cuteness of the whole premise got on my nerves, I can honestly hope they are working like gangbusters over at Argonaut correcting the small little flaws that keep "Croc" away from the "Super Mario 64" and "Rascal" club of AAA 3D free-roaming titles.

GRAPHICS / VISUALS: A-

---

Compared with the visuals on other platformers on competing platforms, "Croc" is a solid and somewhat unbelievable title. The graphics are 90% of what the PlayStation of "Croc" are and then some, with only marginal drops in frame-rate and water transparencies as the only derivatives; shame that, like "Tomb Raider" and "Fighting Force", this title started as a Saturn project that ended up inferior to the eventual PlayStation port. The shapes and graphics are pretty basic in shape and polygon count, but the appropriate textures and rainbow-like colors disguise that pretty well. The game is clearly aimed at the Nintendo target audience, since everything from the inoffensive and non-threatening bosses to the numerous obstacles and traps lack any sort of cutting-edge danger, with "Mario 64"-like gameplay to match; this is as 'KA' as rated titles will ever get. However, the game gets pretty good mileage out of being the only game of its type on the platform; the closest games to it would have been a Saturn version of Accolade's "Bubsy 3D", but that got canned when the PlayStation version bombed badly in 1996. And then of course is the American Saturn's biggest-selling title of 1996, Eidos' "Tomb Raider" (see Gameplay/fun Factor).

The game features a very "Resident Evil"-like method of loading the levels and enemies. Each level is divided into small areas, and Croc must clear every level and get every crystal before moving to the next (you can re-enter the level, but once cleared there is little to do but look around); once Croc walks through the door or drops in the well, the game pauses for four seconds while loading the next area. This allows the game to display the actual portion of the Island without taxing the hardware with processor-intensive portions of the Island not on display. The snow levels and ice levels look like snow levels and ice levels... it doesn't get any more cliche than "Croc", but what's on display is as good as third-party Saturn developers can get nowadays. Shame that, with the recent cancellation of "Alien Resurrection" and "Alien Vs. Predator", Fox Interactive won't be able to push their graphic libraries for Saturn code. Then again, their "Independece Day" and "Die Hard Trilogy" ports were lousy, and "Alien Trilogy" was only marginally better.

MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: C+

---

The child-like sound effects reach unbearable-like levels that only Nintendo's "Diddy Kong Racing" can surpass. Croc has this "Starfox"-like garble sound that passes for cute chatter; no dice! The other characters in the game have similar non-descriptive sounds and voices that pass for language throughout the game. The only English in the game appears in the menu screens and assorted menus, with a cool and childish font to drive the cuteness through your heart like a wooden stick thru a vampire's heart. Arrghhh!

The music is, like everything in the game, kiddie-oriented and lacking in any distinguishing characteristic whatsoever when compared to other catchy soundtracks like "Sonic R" (nice to know you're a nut for it as well Dave Z.), "Super Mario 64" and "NiGHTS". There is a particualr theme during the first few levels of the game that comes across like a mix of "The Addams Family" and "Batman Forever" themes played on a Casio keyboard player; its actually kinda catchy but way too much cheesy to be likable. The rest of the music in the game shares the same eclectic qualities as the above-tune; nothing offensive, but a lot of littleimprovements could be added in the inevitable sequel.

GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C+

---

Like a good student or an artful con artist, developer Argonaut steals each and every single concept and characteristic for "Croc" from the established 3D free-roaming games that paved the way for the onslaught of ripoffs that are coming. Needless to say, "Super Mario 64" gets to be the biggest source of ideas since Shigeru Miyamoto's game pioneered the cartoony 3D free-roaming genre with Nintendo's premier franchise. The behind-and-above-the-character perspectives, the butt-stump, the boxes suspended in mid-air, the cartoony world, the swimming styles, the collecting of items (in this case, crystals spread thruought the game; if Croc gets hit by an enemy, all the crystals will be lost and Croc will only have a handful of seconds to recover them, "Sonic The Hedgehog"-style)... it all screams "Mario 64". The other major source of inspiration is "Tomb Raider", which was itself developed around the same time as "Mario 64" without the developers of Core knowing what the Nintendo guys were doing. "Croc" jumps and swims, Lara-style, with a neat backpack and tennis shoes for the marathonic trek ahead. If you've played either Lara Croft's game or Mario's game, you have already played "Croc"... original this definitely ain't.

But even if it were the first 3D free-roaming game on 32-bit platforms, "Croc" lacks a few key details that diminish the game's visual accomplishments (and make no mistake, "Croc" looks stunning by current 32-bit standards) and keep the game anchored in the 'B' tear of games. Chief among them is the game's control, which isn't tight enough to allow Croc to navigate thru the many logs over lava pits and assorted pitfalls without unnecessarily dying lots of times. Either when using the analog or digital control (both are supported), Croc handles too loosely and unprecise to target enemies properly for overhead jumps or tail attacks. I can't tell you the many times that I died falling off a cliff that I thought was nailed, or left Croc vulnerable to a side-attack because my butt-stump fell a few inches from where I thought it should have landed. But the one that took the cake was the times that Croc would get hit and loose all his crystals; unlike "Sonic", you only get about three little seconds before the crystals vanish, but the control is so unprecise when trying to run around recovering them that Croc always ended up facing a wall or running away from the vanishing crystals despite my best efforts. The control doesn't approach "Sonic R"-like levels of obscene looseness (read my review), but it is obvious the graphics and level design took more priority than allowing for the player easy navigation thru those lush 3D environments; it's controls like this that explain why Nintendo delays its games forever.

Another major gripe is the camera angles for "Croc"; unlike "Mario 64", with its choices of the Lakitu and Mario cameras, or "Tomb Raider" and its single and sometimes crazy camera, the views in "Croc" simply suck. There are two different camera angles, and they are both useless and pretty much stuck in their above-the-character perspective without the ability to move them to a better perspective. And to make matters worse, those cameras DO SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT GAMEPLAY by obscuring portions of enemy attacks and bosses that should be easily visible. What good is a lush 3D environment if you can't play in it without the camera interrupting your actions? Most of the game is playable and easy fun, but there are a few instances in which the stupid camera will drive you wacko; combine it with the loose control, and it is obvious that "Croc" is just an adequate Saturn last hurrah, instead of the beginning of a killer new franchise. Tight controls can make or break a game ("Crash Bandicoot 2" is a perfect example), and this game is exhibit C, after "Sonic R" and "Mischief Makers".

OVERALL: B-

---

"Croc" thinks it's the next coming because no other 3D free-roaming games like it existed, and it is the closest to a "Super Mario 64" for PlayStation/Saturn that has come for 32-bit CD platforms. In the graphics and lush level designs the game achieves its objectives, but the mediocre sounds and awful control and camera views sink the game into the realm of rental material. With titles like "Gex: Enter the Gecko", "Jersey Devil", "Burning Rangers" and "Rascal" just around the corner, Argonaut will have to go back to the drawing board and make the sequel a whole lot better than the original for it to stand against the formidable new entries in the genre. Needless to say, the PlayStation will be the playing field for those upcoming battles, because Saturn is going to have a dry season in 1998, and only Yuji Naka's "Burning Rangers" will be the entry in the field (and what an entry it will be!).

"Croc" isn't a terrible game; quite the opposite, little children with Saturn systems and adults that can withstand extreme amounts of cuteness will have fun with it. Each saved game occupies a mere four units of memory from either the memory cart or internal memory, so there is no need to invest $50 on an expensive cartridge. But this reptile can only hope to shine the shoes of the current leader in next-generation reptilian videogame characters, Gex the Gecko with an attitude. I bestow upon "Croc" a B-, hoping this cute little lizzard's next adventure builds upon the positives of an otherwise average first outing. Rent it.