Croc 2 (Apr 30, 1999 prototype)

A prototype of Croc 2 for the PlayStation.
==Differences (from final)==
Game:
*OmniPlay is referred to as "Share Play" in this beta's Pause Menu
*The credits at the game-end go-by way-less-fast in the beta than in the final
*In the boat and kart racing stages, and the snowball-rolling stage, after you collect the final coloured-crystal of those stages you instantly just get the Golden Gobbo in this beta; whereas in the final, the statue will appear near the finish-line (or on the final path, in the snowball stage) in the final
*The Golden Gobbo icons, which, in the final, float near the entrance to each stage after you have got the Golden Gobbo Statue on that stage, are not present in this beta; you'll have to remember which stages you've managed to do it for!
Levels:
*Swap Meet Pete's General Store: if you press LEFT while on the Heart Container, or RIGHT while on the Clockwork Gobbo, Croc will rotate and the door behind you becomes selected. When all dialog is finished, you can press X to exit. However, pressing TRIANGLE while no dialog is active also instantly exists, just like in the final. The door is removed in the final: pressing LEFT or RIGHT doesn't loop around.
*Find 3 Lost Treasure Chests: in the final, this is titled "Find 5 Lost Treasure Chests". Despite the loading-screen in this beta asking for 3, there is actually 5 chests in the stage itself, just like in the final.
*Kaboom! It's Roger Red Ant: in the section where you have to stomp the four timer-switches, the Gobbo you need to rescue is on top of a giant TNT (bomb icon) crate, like you see later in the stage; in the final, it's on top of one of the smaller bomb crates, and is tied to one of the small, round wooden casks
*Find the Wheels in the Mine: in this beta, it's possible to get 101 of 100 crystals in this stage.
*Hang Glider Valley: unlike in the final, Croc has a smoke-effect trailing behind him in the beta while gliding; similar to the one that emits from the back of the 'plane in the "Dante's Peak" boss stage
*Caveman Tribe - Secret Mine: (1) near the start of the stage, the track loops right and there is a crystal you quickly have to press RIGHT to collect before pressing LEFT again to avoid falling off the broken track. Each time you die, this one crystal returns. (2) It is not possible to collect all crystals in this stage, as at-least a few of them are misplaced on the tracks and Croc will not collect them while riding over them. (3) One section of track leads into a room containing a heart; if you run-around between the end-of-the-track and the bone-styled buffer, it's possible to fall through the floor.
*Save 25 Gobbo babies! (1) while the loading-screen refers to 25, the stage itself, just as in the final, contains 30 babies. (2) In the large, square area, where you find floating wooden-platforms and the yellow gem, the beta features some "two-teir trees" you can use to reach the platforms; in the final, these are all removed and the only way up is to use the circular building in the top right-hand corner via the ledge above the nearest doorway. (3) The babies will cry a lot easier in the beta compared to the final -- for example, in the beta, if a baby comes out of a vase, Croc must catch it as it falls. However in the final, the baby can land on the floor, as long as Croc is very near to where they fall. (4) In the final version, all of the vases break when Croc simply runs towards them; in the beta, you have to tail-attack them. (5) Some of the babies' locations are different in the final, such as there being no baby hidden on-top-of one of the small bridges you run under. (6) In the final, there is a crystal placed on top of a ledge that you can only reach by doing a triple-jump (X three times) from a nearby locked cage -- meaning if you have the gold-key in your inventory, this cage will vanish, leaving it unobtainable. In the beta, no crystal appears atop this ledge.
*Climb the Waterfall: the second time you cross the waterfall (the first time where there are no stepping-stones), there is a tree and a snake in this beta. The snake's tail is too far-out to grab, however, so it seems this was placed as a trap, to make Croc fall over the edge. This was likely removed in the final as testers were thinking this should be the only way to cross the falls, whereas you actually just repeatedly keep jumping through it, same as in the final
*Goo Man Chu's Tower: in the final room, where Croc meets Goo Man Chu, the camera-angle in this beta is an overhead, pointing-down one, so you cannot clearly see Goo Man Chu! In the final, the camera is in a much-lower position
Dialog:
*Venus Fly Von-Trappe: the Gobbo standing to the right of the door to this stage says "I keep hearing strange noises" and then nothing more. In the final, this Gobbo says "Mmm... Gobbo hear strange noises coming from forest..."
*Swap Mete Pete (before Inca Village): after completing all stages in Caveman Village you enter Swap Mete Pete's store to advance to the next one. In this beta, he says "Well Croc, it seems that", then cuts off, and starts instead telling you the price of the middle Gummi, just like if you'd entered the shop normally. Once he has finished (or if you skip this dialog) you will still advance to the final village, as expected.
*Capitalisation: there are many instances where dialog or load-screens contains words either capitalised or not compared to the final. For example, in this beta, whenever you speak to a Gobbo after completing the stage they stand next-to they will usually say "Thank You Croc" and Croc will reply "No Problem.", compared to "Thank you, Croc" and "No problem!" in the final.
Sound-effects:
*The sound played when picking up a crystal often corrupts, or cuts-off early, especially when collecting many quickly
*No sound-effect plays when picking-up a Heart Container
*When riding a mine-kart, some stages lack the sound-effects for jumping, and crashing/falling-off the track (notably the Caveman Tribe - Secret Mine stage)
*During any of the "race" stages, Croc doesn't give a "Yay" or "Wahoo" when winning
==Notes==
*Different legal disclaimer
*Additional character in the initials input screen
*Memory card icon occasionally appears in the top right of the screen
*Differences in the dialogue
*Miscellaneous Notes:
**Game is emulatable: Yes (as of April 17, 2021).
**Game contains dongle protection: No.
**Game contains debugging symbols: N/A
**Dump was originally scrambled: No
==Screenshots==
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0000.png
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0002.png
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0003.png
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0004.png
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0005.png
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99-0006.png
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-Find3LostTreasureChests1.png|While this beta's loading-screen says to find 3...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-Find3LostTreasureChests2.png|...you do actually still find 5 chests in the stage, same as the final
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-SharePlayPauseMenu1.png|"OmniPlay" is called "Share Play"
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-SwapMeetPeteExitDoor.png|The beta offers two ways of leaving the store; TRIANGLE or via the door
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-GooManChu1.png|(1/2) The beta camera-angle in Goo Man Chu room is rather low...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-GooManChu2.png|(2/2) ...making it hard to see what he looks like!
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-HangGliderValleySmoke.png|The hang-glider emits a trail of smoke in this beta
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-FindTheWheelsInTheMine-96.png|(1/3) In the "Find the Wheels in the Mine" stage...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-FindTheWheelsInTheMine-100.png|(2/3) ...it is possible to...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-FindTheWheelsInTheMine-101.png|(3/3) ...end the stage with 101 crystals.
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-VenusFlyVonTrappe-IntroDialogue.png|The Venus Fly Von-Trappe door Gobbo has very truncated dialogue
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-SWP-BeforeInca-DialogueCutOff1.png|(1/3) This is all Swap Meet Pete says before taking you to the Inca Village...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-SWP-BeforeInca-DialogueCutOff2.png|(2/3) ...before the game seems to think you're doing a standard visit...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-SWP-BeforeInca-DialogueCutOff3.png|(3/3) ...though fortunately it does still take you to the final hub!
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-Save25GobboBabies.png|You still save 30 babies in the stage itself, same as in the final
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-BrideOfTheDungeonOfDefright MovingBox1.png|(1/2) Unlike in the final, the crystal-countdown in the moving-box room...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-BrideOfTheDungeonOfDefright MovingBox2.png|(2/2) ...only begins after you break the box, and use the key in the lock
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-ReturningCrystal.png|In the Caveman Secret stage, this crystal near the start returns after each death
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-HeartRoom2.png|(1/2) In the "heart room", in the Caveman Secret stage, run between the track and buffers...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-HeartRoom3.png|(2/2) ...and you can fall through the floor!
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-UncollectableCrystal1.png|(1/3) In the Caveman Secret stage, some crystals cannot be collected...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-UncollectableCrystal2.png|(2/3) ...the one in the previous image; then two here (only one shown)...
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-CavemanSecret-EndTotal.png|(3/3) ...so you cannot get all 100 in this stage in the beta, unlike in the final
File:Croc2-30Apr1999-UpTheWaterfall MissingSnakeTree.png|In the "Climb the Waterfall" stage, this tree and snake were removed in the final from the second crossing section
File:Croc2-IncaSecretDoorNotOpening.png|The secret-stage door in the Inca Village won't open in the beta
File:Croc2 FINAL GoldKeyCageCrystalLedge.png|This beta lacks this crystal; in the final, it can become inaccessible once the locked-cage is gone!
==Origin==
File:PSX - Croc 2 4-30-99.jpeg|Disc front.
==Files==
==Acknowledgments==
A huge thanks to Iniche for doing the initial research on this prototype!
==See also==
*Project Deluge: PlayStation 1, Saturn, and CD-i (April 17, 2021)
*Cutting Room Floor (TCRF)
*Internet Archive (IA)