Croc: Legend of the Gobbos - March 1997 Prototype



Also referred to as the v0.12 Beta, this version was released as a gift in a magazine, and was likely given to a game magazine for reviewing the game, although this isn't certain. It was released in March 1997. The level select menu differs significantly to the final version. It can be downloaded for emulators (see below). See below for the full list of differences:


 * The boot screens are similar to the Tech Demo.
 * The Main Menu depicts a blue and white checked rectangle against a silhouette with the message Press Start.
 * The Main Menu has Start Game, Options, Load Game and Password.
 * The music is similar to the Final Game.
 * The level select menus are different to the Tech Demo and the Final. It starts with 0 0 (boots on 10 0), where the first number is the island, the second the level and the last the area or map (usually separated by doors, wells etc.). When replaying the game or if Croc loses all lives, he can resume to the start of the area he last played, however he will start with no BONUS letters, Gobbos or Crystals.
 * The loading screen for levels actually depicts a silhouette of Croc staring into the sunset, playing soft rock music.
 * Instead of Coloured Crystals, there are actually letters B O N U and S which have the same colours to unlock the Bonus (later Crystal) Door at the end.
 * There are red Poppers as well as Firepoppers but the red ones were not included in the final game.
 * The HUD shows the x symbol for the amount Croc has of an item, along with x/6 Gobbos.
 * At the bottom of the screen are debug information and coordinates.
 * Lives are actually red coloured bags.
 * Some wells look more like Tree Stumps. When stomping one with a cork, Croc immediately is transported to the next part.
 * Red coloured crystals give 5 crystals.
 * The Giant Bee appears more than once.
 * The sound affects for collecting Gobbos are different.
 * There is no sound for climbing up off a ledge.
 * Worms in Wells can be killed.
 * Breaking Platforms have different animation similar to in Croc 2
 * Only the Gong outside of the Bonus (later Crystal) Door is shown. It depicts the word 'GOAL' on its face instead of Beany, and Croc is actually able to stand on it.
 * Upon completion of a level, a screen shows the crystals collected and lives, as well as how long it took to complete.
 * Climbable Walls sound slightly different.
 * Smashing boxes animations are slightly different. Holding down X will not change anything.
 * Enemies do not respawn.
 * Some levels are prototypes of levels in the Final Game, with some differences.
 * There are blue springs instead of Jellies with different sounds.
 * There are stilled disguised crystals as Bonus Letters, but this may be the reason why Coloured Crystals were eventually used to unlock the Bonus (later Crystal) Door.
 * Controls are slightly different (see below)
 * Croc starts with 3 lives, but instead of dying after 0, Croc dies when holding one life, so technically, both the prototype and final release have the same lives.
 * The Box Shuffling Mini-Game is slightly different to the final game. Croc can move around the whole time during the shuffling of the boxes, he can attempt to smash one but nothing will happen, and Beany the Bird (or so it seems) is responsible for the shuffling of the boxes. As a result, Croc may stand on or hang from a box while the boxes are shuffled, which easily causes glitches. This is most likely the reason that Croc was made unable to move during the shuffling in the final game.
 * The Popping Mini-Game instead has three yellow buttons which look like the buttons from the Crystal Catching Mini-Game.

Controls
To select levels on the Map Screen, use the SELECT, L1, R1 and R2 buttons. SELECT will choose islands 10-70, L1 and R1 will choose previous and next levels, and L2 and R2 will select a part of a level.

While underwater, Croc attacks similar to the 180 degree flip.

Other controls are the same as in the final game, except the camera cannot be controlled with the L2 and R2 buttons. The 180 degree flip is slightly different.

Levels
Total Islands: 8 (0-7)

Total levels: 80

Playable maps/total: 175/246

Completable levels*: 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3.


 * Level can be completed, all maps accessable within level and can exit via Gong.

The first three levels have the same level titles as the Tech Demo. Some levels have brackets which are considered beta versions of the levels in the final game. Because this is an early release of the game, many levels will crash, cannot be completed or cause other glitches. On the Map Screen, the top title usually represents the type of level (e.g. Forest) and the bottom title is the title of the level.

A lot of the titles have no proper meaning, such as Default New/Blank Map or No Level and No Map. While not all doors, wells etc. work, some lead to the next properly numbered area, such as 10 0 to 10 1. Note that this is not always the case.

Note that selecting levels in different ways can cause the levels to not function properly. For example, choosing an area of a level behind a Locked Door and then going back through that door will load that area, but because it is locked, you cannot go through it. You also cannot return to where you were.

In the table below, certian short-hand words are used.


 * Removed -  Means that the feature or character was not included in the final game.


 * Altered - Means that the feature functions similar but not exactly like it's final game counterpart.


 * OOB Death - Croc falls outside the bounds of the level, either from entering from the Map Screen or from a map transition, and dies instantly.

Level 0 (0 0 - 0 6)
Note that the exits lead continually to different parts in a sequence.

Level 1 ( 1 0 - 1 4)
Note that the exits lead continually to different parts in a sequence.

Level 2 (2 0 - 2 5)
Note that the exits lead continually to different parts in a sequence.

Level 3 (3 0 - 3 6)
Note that the exits lead continually to different parts in a sequence, other than 3 5 and 3 6.

Island 2
Level 0 (0 0 - 0 4)

Soundtrack
The entire soundtrack can be downloaded here.

While many tracks are similar sounding to the final game, there are also some which did not get used in the final (in bold). The Main Menu track often plays during some levels, and after tracks have finished playing, it seems any track from the game is played afterwards.

Themes and Islands

 * Main Menu
 * Loading Screen
 * Island 0 
 * Island 1/7 (Forest)
 * Island 2 (Ice)
 * Island 3 (Desert)
 * Island 4 (Cave)
 * Island 5 (Underwater 2)
 * Island 6 (Castle)

Levels

 * Forest 1 (10 0) (first in ASTAB)
 * Forest 2 (10 1) (similar to Forest theme)
 * Forest 3 (10 2) (similar to Track 6)
 * Cave 1 (10 3)
 * Cave 2 (11 3)
 * Cave 3 (11 1)