Croc 2 Kingdom of the Gobbos review for Nintendo Switch
Posted on November 3, 2026 by Ellie Lutes in Reviews, Switch
System: Switch
Release date:October 29, 2026
Developer: Titanium Studios
Publisher: Argonaut Games
It’s kind of magical to revisit a game you played as a kid and subsequently realize just how much the medium has changed since you first picked up the controller. I was born in 1990, and I played Croc 2 when it released in 1999. At the time, 3D platformers still felt like they were figuring themselves out. Super Mario 64 had already shown everyone what this new dimension could look like with an almost absurd level of polish, but there was a whole generation of developers trying to figure out how to make their own little worlds work in three dimensions. This era produced some genuinely memorable games, alongside plenty that were… considerably rougher around the edges. Croc and Croc 2 were among the more recognizable attempts to carve out a place in the 3D platforming landscape, while even something as wonderfully clunky as Kingsley’s Adventure was taking its own swing at the formula. There was a sense that everyone wanted their own 3D platforming mascot, and every new release was another attempt to figure out what worked.
More than 25 years later, I’m coming back to Croc 2 as an adult – and playing it on Nintendo Switch 2 (thanks to backwards compatibility), of all things. That changes the experience in some interesting ways. I’m no longer a kid discovering a colorful 3D world and simply enjoying the novelty of running around inside it. I’m looking at its controls, level design, camera, progression, and all of the little design decisions that I probably never thought twice about back then, now with a new layer of polish in the form of an HD remaster.
I honestly love when revisiting a remastered game feels less like digging up an old relic and more like opening a little time capsule. The question isn’t whether Croc 2 can compete with the 3D platformers being made today – it obviously comes from a very different era. The more interesting question is whether there’s still something here worth discovering for a new generation, while still holding onto the charm that made a kid in 1999 want to pick up the controller in the first place.
Controls feel much tighter in Croc 2 than its predecessor. This is also worth mentioning for those who may have played the first Croc remaster last year and felt intimidated by the tank control scheme. This time, analog is entirely in. Jumps are easier to time, and you can hop again as soon as your feet touch the ground, making it much more comfortable to line up a series of jumps over a lava cavern or across a batch of bomb boxes. The analog camera controls are a little slow compared to a modern release, but they didn’t feel at all cumbersome. I was able to get into a comfortable rhythm of jumping, breaking boxes, and even launching tail attacks with jump momentum after a little time figuring out the controls.
As a 3D platformer, Croc 2 gives you plenty of opportunities to jump, climb, drop into hidden areas, and poke around for collectibles. The levels themselves generally aren’t especially involved, but they offer a nice variety of objectives. Some have you rescuing Gobbos, others have you tracking down stolen items or chasing an escaped creature, while others still give you a little more freedom to explore. There are even racing and other special stages scattered throughout the adventure, and these helped keep the experience from feeling too repetitive. One of the first world’s water-racing levels in particular stands out as a fun change of pace.
The game divides its main adventure across four villages, each with a collection of standard stages, Guardian battles, and a special Golden Gobbo level. The normal levels are where most of the platforming happens, and each one has five Colored Crystals to collect alongside a Golden Gobbo. Finding all five crystals opens a special crystal door near the end of the stage, leading to a separate challenge where you can claim that level’s Golden Gobbo. These sections give you another reason to poke around the environments rather than simply heading for the exit, although failing during one of these bonus challenges means restarting the level.
Luckily, progress on things like Colored Crystals is saved even if you have to restart. This is a wonderful change from the original release, which would have you going back through all the collecting from zero. It’s a small quality-of-life improvement, but one that makes the game’s completionist side considerably less frustrating.
Collecting Golden Gobbos across a village unlocks its Golden Gobbo Door, which leads to a dedicated challenge containing a Jigsaw Piece. Gathering all of the Jigsaw Pieces eventually opens the way to Baron Dante’s Secret World and the game’s final collection of lost Crocodile Eggs. Guardian levels provide another progression gate: completing three normal stages unlocks the first Guardian, while finishing the remaining normal stages opens the second. Defeating that Guardian allows Croc to move on to the next village.
There are also crystals to collect for Swap Meet Pete’s shop, which can be used to purchase items, giving some of the exploration a purpose beyond simply clearing a stage. Between the Colored Crystals, Golden Gobbos, Jigsaw Pieces, shop currency, and the various objectives tucked into each level, there’s quite a bit sitting underneath Croc 2’s relatively straightforward platforming.
It’s not a particularly complicated 3D platformer, and I think that works in its favor more often than not. The levels are generally compact enough that you can understand what they’re asking of you without feeling overwhelmed, while the extra collectibles and secret areas give you reasons to revisit them. Once I got comfortable with Croc’s movement, jumping from platform to platform, breaking boxes, and exploring for hidden goodies became a surprisingly satisfying rhythm.
Playing Croc 2 on Nintendo Switch 2 also gives me an interesting perspective on what happens when a game from this particular era gets a little modern attention. The HD presentation certainly makes the colorful worlds easier on the eyes, and the game benefits from being brought forward without losing the visual identity that made it recognizable in the first place. It still looks like Croc 2 – just a considerably cleaner version of it.
The quality-of-life changes are arguably more important than the visual upgrade, though. Small improvements to how progression and collectibles are handled make the experience less frustrating than I remember it being. Being able to retain collected Colored Crystals when restarting a level is particularly welcome. The original game’s willingness to make you repeat your collecting from scratch could turn what should have been a fun little completionist challenge into a test of patience, so having that progress persist feels like exactly the sort of modernization an older game benefits from.
And that’s really where this version of Croc 2 works best for me. It doesn’t need to completely reinvent the game to make it more approachable. The core experience is still very much rooted in 1999, awkward camera and all, but some thoughtful improvements make it easier to appreciate what was enjoyable about it in the first place.
With this release, we’re able to switch between the PS1, PC, and remastered graphics with the press of a button, alongside options for the soundtrack, draw distance, and more. There’s even a gallery of media covering things like merchandise and other aspects of the game, with additional entries unlocking as you play and complete objectives. It’s a nice little extra for anyone interested in the history surrounding Croc 2, rather than just the game itself.
Revisiting Croc 2 has been a surprisingly nostalgic experience, but it hasn’t been nostalgia alone carrying me through the game. There are absolutely places where you can feel the age of the design, and anyone coming to it after playing modern 3D platformers will probably notice those rough edges immediately. The camera isn’t perfect, the levels aren’t particularly elaborate, and some of the game’s mechanics can feel dated.
But that’s also part of the charm! This may be a hard sell to those accustomed to modern niceties, but from a historic perspective, I feel like this is something not to miss specifically if you want to show newer gamers the kind of kid games you cut your own teeth on. Croc 2 doesn’t have the polish of Super Mario 64, nor does it really need to. What it has is personality, a surprisingly comfortable platforming rhythm, plenty of things to find, and the kind of straightforward adventure that makes it easy to pick up and play.
Croc 2 Kingdom of the Gobbos isn’t a forgotten masterpiece that has suddenly been uncovered. It’s something more interesting: a piece of gaming history that still has enough charm to make its way from one generation to another. Personally, I think that’s a pretty good legacy for a tiny little green crocodile with an iconic, toothy smile.
Croc 2 Kingdom of the Gobbos copy provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.
More: Argonaut Games, Croc 2 Kingdom of the Gobbos, highlight, top
