Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Prototypes
This page is a list of all pre-release and betas of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. There are many YouTube videos on the beta games, which are posted onto this page. Many of the levels have bugs and glitches which prevent the player from completing the levels. All of these apart from Mr. Gimmicks prototype he got from an Argonaut employee can still be downloaded and played today (see further down the page for instructions).
Croc Tech Demo
The Croc Tech Demo is a pre-release of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and was released on November 8th, 1996, and is the earliest release of the Croc series. The tech demo and the final release have many differences, including different sounds, including jumping, running and climbing. The demo does have a few levels similar to some of the retail ones. To complete a level, you need to get ALL Gobbos, and there are three in a level. This is different from the final game, where you can advance without collecting all the Gobbos hidden throughout the level. See the article for more details.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos - V0.12 Beta
This version was released as a gift in a magazine, but only a few people still own it. This was likely given to a game magazine for reviewing the game, although this isn't certain. The Level Select Menu differs significantly to the final version. See the article for more details.
Playing the Hidden Test Levels
This uses a script file to load secretly hidden testing levels in the final game. It is only available for the PC version. For example, some levels are unable to complete and some have areas never included in the final game. The video shows that if some levels are played, Croc is able to walk on the actual Islands shown in the Level Select Menus. The uploader of the video has said that someone called Andre from the defunct website, Croc Fan Forums, created these levels. The level select will look the same as the final game. To quit a level, press Esc and select Quit. All levels up to Arabian Heights are test levels, although all Desert Island levels have different variations of the ski slide. See the table below for the main structure of the test levels:
| Level | Contains |
|---|---|
|
And so the Adventure Begins  |
Tree Stump (removed), Running Dantini (which actually doesn't run), Lava, Gobbo, two Trees (removed). It seems to mimic an area used in the introduction to the final game. |
|
Underground Overground  |
Strange-looking plant thing which does nothing (removed), crystals, Jigsaw Piece which ends the level, open Tree Stump with no entrance (removed), unreachable crystal, inescapable entrance. |
|
Shoutin' Lava Lava Lava  |
Underwater and dark (never seen in final game) with non-interacting swimming red fish (removed), with one Swimming Dantini, a Jellyfish, and a strange looking cone-shaped creature (removed). |
|
Lair of the Feeble 
 |
A dark cave with two Torches, Lava, platforms, and Fireballs, with two exits which have edges and Bottomless Pits after them. |
|
The Curvy Caverns 
 |
Starts in a corner of a Forest level which mimics one of the title screens in the final game. There are four Fireballs bouncing along the ground, along with a Gobbo inside a Cage which there is no Silver Key. |
|
The Tumbling Dantini  |
An underwater area with four deadly vents (removed) and a Shark. |
|
Cave Fear  |
Contains a square of green land with a strange looking pink Monkey (removed) which will hurt Croc when touched, can be killed for good, or will disappear eventually. |
|
Darkness Descends  |
Also contains a green square of land, but instead of a Monkey it has a Blue Whale (removed) which Croc can only walk through. For some unknown reason, when you touch a certain part of the Whale, the game loads the third part of Trial on the Nile from the final release, which can be played to the end. After completing, the level select will select the Fight Night with Flibby level. |
|
Fight Night with Flibby  |
Croc can interact with a physical version of Forest Island. Touching the sea will mean falling to your death. |
|
The Twisty Tunnels |
The same as previous, except Croc starts in a different place. |
|
The Ice of Life  |
Same as before, except the levels The Curvy Caverns and The Twisty Tunnels can be seen, as well as Beany holding another Croc above where And so the Adventure Begins should be. |
|
Be Wheely Careful  |
This time Croc can explore Ice Island, with Beany holding Croc above Be Wheely Careful. He starts on top of a mount covered in snow. |
|
Riot Brrrrr  |
The Desert Island with Beany holding Croc above Goin' Underground. |
|
Chumly's Snow Den  |
The Castle Island. Beany holds Croc on the level Fosley's Freaky Donut. |
|
Clouds of Ice  |
This seems to be identical to the Bonus Area of Swipe Swiftly's Wicked Ride. There are 47 Crystals and five Hearts at the end. The only difference is there are no Sparkling Stars. |
|
I Snow Him so Well  |
The Crystal Island. Beany holds Croc above And so the Adventure Returns, and Croc starts on top of Crox Interactive. |
|
Say No Snow 
 |
The title is ironic, as it is set on a Forest Island themed level. There is a mountain circled with 49 crystals, along with two Climbable Walls, and at the top, two Hearts and a Beany Gong to end the level. |
|
Licence to Chill  |
A white square containing a Heart, a blue and a yellow coloured bag, which were used in the Tech Demo as lives. They can be picked up, but they do not do anything. |
|
Demon Itsy's Ice Palace  |
A Desert themed cave with platforms and Mud Pits. There are two moving up and down platforms at each end of the cave, but only one is reachable at the right. They take you to a ledge with only a non-interacting Desert Island themed well. |
|
Ice Bridge to Eternity  |
A remote Desert Island themed area with Mud Pits, platforms, crystals, a Heart, an Arrow Platform, and a Ghost which will take crystals and the Silver Key to unlock a Cage containing a Gobbo. |
|
Lights, Camel, Action! - Defeato Burrito  |
Slightly different variations of an ice slide which Croc can slide down on. He will eventually meet the end in which he falls into a Bottomless Pit. |
Unreleased 'Mr. Gimmick' Beta
This version is even rarer than the 0.12 version, and is assumed that the CD was given to Fox employees to test, and compares significantly to the beta 0.12 version. It is currently owned by Wiki member Mr. Gimmick.
There are only a few minor differences - some of the level titles are slightly different, the backgrounds are different in some areas, different enemy and item placement, etc. He is known to collect rare Croc products from ex Argonaut employees, so it is assumed that the copy was only given to other employees to test. It is the known latest version of the game before the final game. It has been mentioned by Mr. Gimmick on other forums that he could upload the iso online, record playthroughs of the game and even make a website about it, but this has not yet happened and was written several years ago. He has only supplied these images, but has not logged on to the Wiki for a while.
This prototype is still being investigated for further differences and more info will be added to this page as it becomes available.
Download Instructions
1996 Tech Demo and 1997 v0.16 Beta
Download the chosen .rar file here and extract it with a program such as WinZip, unRar or 7z. Open the .bin file with ePSXe or another PS1 emulator. You will have to search online if you do not have one. Note that you must own a Sony PlayStation or PS2 to legally download it.
Testing Level 'Script Hack'
You can only try this one out with the PC version (see this link to download). You must then download the zip folder here containing the maps.idx file which contains the testing levels. Backup the original maps.idx in case anything goes wrong, and put the new one in its place which should be at C:\\Program Files\Fox\Croc\gdata. Then, run the game and it should work. Remember to use Passwords to unlock all levels, as you can only complete about two of them.
