Reviewed: August 24, 2006
Reviewed by: Blake Kenny
Publisher
Konami
Developer
Digital Eclipse
Released: June 12, 2006
Genre: Arcade
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Everyone
6
7
7
7
6.6
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
I’ll come right out and admit it, I’ve never been a huge fan of Frogger. Why you might ask, well that’s simple: I suck at it. I’ve never been all that great at it and I’ve never really felt any sense of accomplishment with doing something as mundane as manuevering a frog across a busy street and a raging river in order to get to the froggy hideaway. Granted, the game is a classic and does have its fans, as well as a place in the videogame history books, but for me, it’s nowhere near the top of the list for reliving my gaming past.
The game came out in 1981 and with it’s release via Xbox Live Arcade and the first release for Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday’s, it’s celebrating it’s 25th anniversary with new enhancements and features. So is this release warrants the 400 Marketplace points or is it better left in the annals of videogame lore?
The premise of the game is rather simple. Hop your little froggy across busy lanes of speeding traffic then bound upon turtles and logs in order to reach the safe zone on the opposite side. Get 5 froggies across the game screen and you move on to the next level - where the vehicles drive a little faster and the river gets a little more treacherous.
While it sounds simple enough, you’re not likely to get too far very quickly as the game is brutally difficult. It’s no wonder that kids in the 80’s could blow through their entire allowance in about 15 minutes with games like this out there. You can blow through your 3 frogs in seconds if your timing isn’t right – and even when you’re sure you made the perfect jump, the game seems to relish in the cheap kills it can elicit. A perfectly executed move can be the death of you, even when you’re positive you’ve nailed it.
All in all the trek to the top of the screen is a perilous journey for your amphibious friends, as alligators, snakes and other enemies seek to thwart your efforts, not to mention the problem with the fact that you’re the only frog in history that dies instantly if he touches the water.
Exactly like the original coin-op, this version of Frogger comes with your traditional single player mode as well as 2-player versus, in which your sole objective is to rack up the most points. This can be achieved in numerous ways as rescuing stranded lady frogs and gobbling up bugs for bonus points can add to your chances.
For a little something extra, the game also features a few online modes. VS, which is a simple battle between two players to get the high score. VS Speed, in which two players compete to see who can get their 5 frogs across the level first, and lastly Co-op where two players work together to reach an accumulated high score. You have the choice of player matches, ranked matches, and the usual options for playing a quick game or creating one of your own. Truth be told, I had little luck with finding an online game to involve myself in. Obviously the idea of playing Frogger online has as much appeal with me as it does the rest of the Xbox community.
[Editors Note: I too tried to play Frogger online, and even though I had better luck finding other players, the lag was so "horrible" the game was virtually unplayable, even when both players showed four green bars for "ping". Cars, logs, and anything else that moved in this game jerked and warped around the screen, and in a game where timing and precision is paramount, Frogger is totally worthless (and unplayable) both in versus mode and cooperatively, which means I will never get that final achievement.]
As with all XBLA games, Frogger offers the player the opportunity to earn 200 Gamerscore. Admittedly these Achievements are far harder won than they are in Galaga, or perhaps my aforementioned inability to play this game with any level of skill is the real problem. Some achievement, like reaching the other side within 45 seconds may have you tearing your hair out at the roots. Some are rather easy to get, while some are too infuriating to even bother with. Regardless, the fundamentals of the game are intact, and Frogger fans are sure to gobble up it’s many improvements like so many tantalizing flies.
At first glance the game is liable to look just how you remember it in the arcades. However, old games seldom look the way you remember them. Frogger features enhanced graphics, an update to the original look – and while the game still looks like a dog’s dinner, one only needs to pause the game and turn off the enhancements to see how the original Frogger truly appeared. You know that dog’s dinner I was talking about? Well the original look of Frogger is more reminisce of that dinner coming out after it’s trip through the digestive track. Truly gross. Simply put, seeing the game in its original ummm… form, really makes you appreciate these new visuals.
Like the graphics, the enhanced version of the game also includes improved sound effects - and like the graphics, the sound is still fairly awful and really doesn’t do anything but make an aurally generic game marginally more tolerable than the original.
Frogger does however play a few neat little jingles when you reach your objective successfully, and I found it enjoyable to try and get my next frog across the obstacle course before these celebratory tunes ended. Overall Frogger sounds the way it should, no frills or gimmicks.
If you’re a huge Frogger fanatic and you simply have to have it, then 400 Marketplace points is a drop in the bucket. You can’t get Xbox Live Arcade games any cheaper than this. Add the online modes to the basic game (if you can find anyone to play with) and it’s hard to find room for complaint. Still, like all arcade games on live, you can always download the trail version and give it a whirl before you take that non-refundable plunge. Who knows, maybe like generations past, you too may become a fan.
I suppose the greatest asset to owning the classic games that have become available on XBLA is not only their value for nostalgia buffs, but also their appeal. These games are simple to learn, but difficult to master. While the idea of moving a pixelated frog from one side of the screen to the other might sound like child’s play, it’s not as easy as it seems.
Remember, these classic arcade games were designed for one solitary purpose - to suck those shillings out of your pocket as quickly as possible. Then suck them out of the pocket of the poor slob waiting in line behind you. Running out of quarters came about quickly, as did the end of your game. Which brings me to the main point; Frogger is quick and fun, pick up and play arcade action at it’s best. Got 5 minutes to kill, this game can help you with that. You don’t always have the time to commit yourself to 5 hours of Oblivion, but surely you can squeeze in a few minutes of Frogger.