News Star Fox Studio Argonaut Is Back, And It's Remastering Croc

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Argonaut Games – the British studio which helped Nintendo create the legendary Star Fox – is back from the dead, it has been confirmed.

Originally established in the 1982 by teenager Jez San, Argonaut went on to produce 3D titles such as Starglider, Birds of Prey and Starglider 2 before teaming up with Nintendo to work on both Star Fox and the Super FX chipset which granted the SNES impressive polygon-pushing power for the time.

Argonaut would later branch out on its own and create Croc, the 1997 3D platformer which became a critical and commercial success on PS1 and Saturn – and the revived Argonaut has revealed that it is remastering it for a new generation.

Coming to "current consoles" and PC, the game will be updated with HD visuals, improved controls and the Crocipedia, "an extensive and meticulously curated digital museum containing long-lost development assets such as game design documents, concept art, animation tests, team member interviews, and much more."

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Gary Sheinwald, an industry veteran who worked with San at the very beginning, is stepping on board as Co-CEO of the new-look Argonaut Games. "I worked closely with Jez on the design and production of Starglider, Argonaut's first big hit back in 1986," he says. "So to take up the mantle of relaunching Argonaut Games nearly four decades later brings me full circle, and we have further exciting announcements in the pipeline in the coming months."

San, who has been very successful in the worlds of online gambling and blockchain gaming since Argonaut collapsed in 2004, is excited to see where the company can go in its new guise. "I'm thrilled to see the Argonaut name back after twenty years away. Argonaut was always about pushing the boundaries of what's possible in gaming. I'm excited to see how the relaunched Argonaut Games builds on that legacy, starting with the Croc Legend of the Gobbos remaster."

Those of you with long memories will recall that the existence of "Croc HD" was revealed by San himself in response to an article we posted on this very site last year.

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Speaking exclusively to Time Extension about his tweet, San says:

When I innocuously replied to James' tweet I didn't think it was a big deal. But within a few hours there was an unexpected deluge of news stories and social media posts based only on the fact that I'd mentioned that an HD version of Croc was in early development. I'm just glad that I'm finally allowed to get off the naughty step!

Argonaut's Co-CEO Gary Sheinwald adds:

Internally, we refer to that as 'The Naughty Tweet!' On the one hand we were operating in stealth and weren't ready for any publicity so early in the development process, but on the other hand we were working in a vacuum just hoping that the world wanted to play Croc again.

Argonaut Co-CEO Mike Arkin says that the positive reaction to Jez's tweet encouraged the team:

The overwhelming response to Jez's tweet validated our decision to remaster the game, and it gave the whole team an extra boost.

We'll bring you more news regarding Argonaut, Croc HD and future projects as and when they happen.