Frogger - Review - Ross Soombeark

Updating a classic game for modern audiences is catchy business organization. Change it too much and y'all'll plow off people who liked the original. But stick too closely to the original and it might not appeal to today's gamers. For examples of perfectly accurate classic ports that are unlikely to gel with people living in the now, run into Asteroids Palatial and Lunar Lander. The Windows Phone port of Frogger, oddly plenty, is simultaneously also similar and too dissimilar to make much of an impression. It'south not as bad every bit getting hit by a auto, simply Konami could have washed a lot ameliorate.

What qualifies Frogger as a classic? The game made quite a splash when information technology debuted in arcades in 1981. Its premise and game play are adequately unique: help a group of frogs cross the highway, one at a time, and make information technology safely to their homes. Almost importantly, it inspired a terrific early Bad Religion vocal.

Leap beyond the street and past the break for our full review.

My way or the highway

frogger 1

In each level, players take to become five frogs from the highway to their homes. Of course, you only accept limited lives to do so – four in the Windows Phone version. The road is filled with cars and trucks who don't think twice about running over a helpless amphibian. Truth exist told, I probably wouldn't even discover if I hit a frog with my motorcar. Hitting a turtle, on the other hand – that'd make me feel terrible! Konami should accept made a sequel with turtles instead of frogs, or possibly turtles that eat frogs.

A river runs through it

Anyway, get in across the street intact and the river becomes the next challenge. The river basically consists of v lanes, with either turtles or logs floating by from the left or right side of the screen. Strangely, the game's frogs die if they fall in the h2o, so gamers must hop skillfully from turtles to logs in order to cross. Pink lady frogs occasionally prove upward on a log; impact one and she'll follow y'all to base, which is worth a few extra points.

Predators

frogger 3

Falling into the water isn't the only reason for caution on the river – frogs have natural enemies to bargain with. Snakes appear both on shore and logs, slithering dorsum and forth. Otters swim around in the water, waiting to consume any frog they find on the edge of a log. Then there are alligators. Much like Pitfall!, information technology's prophylactic to land on the dorsum of an alligator and use it similar a log, but not the molar-filled region above the neck. Gators volition sometimes appear in a frog base of operations too, rendering that base unusable until the reptile disappears seconds later. Flies also show upward in bases for cursory periods of time, but they are the one brute that'southward prophylactic for frogs to swallow (for points).

Taking information technology to the next level

But past the river are 5 modest bases – time your jumps from the concluding row of logs carefully, as less-than-perfect jumps to a base also kill the sad frogs. One time all five frogs make it to their bases, information technology'due south on to the next, more challenging level. Only after clearing five levels does the subsequent level get easier, but then the difficulty starts ramping up once more.

Not easy being greenish

frogger 4

Frogger has never been an easy game. With every new level, the cars get faster and denser until somewhen information technology'due south a pain even getting to the river. Enemies increase in numbers and turtles offset diving in the water, making the crossing that much harder.

The left-most frog base can exist especially hard to reach: the frog dies if the turtles it'southward riding in the fourth lane hit the border of the screen. You have to jump across to a log or alligator in the fifth lane and immediately jump again into the base of operations in social club to survive. But sometimes the frog ends upward all the way at the left with nothing to bound on, resulting in unavoidable death. Considering how many arcade games in the eighties permit characters leave one side of the screen and reappear on the other, it'southward always been peculiarly cruel of Frogger to buck the tendency.

As if there weren't already enough ways to die, every life is timed besides. The timer constantly ticks downwardly, killing the little green protagonist when it runs out. All of these factors combine to create likewise much pressure and claiming after the tertiary level, severely limiting Frogger'southward fun gene.

Not quite the arcade

frogger flyer

Flyer browse courtesy of the Arcade Flyer Archive.

The arcade game was fairly colorful for its time and had better than average music thanks to its use of dual processors. Unfortunately, the Windows Phone version completely ditches the original graphics and music. The new fine art way comes from artist Emily Steigerwald. It's generic and barely recalls the wait of the arcade classic. The new music (whose composer goes uncredited, probably to his or her do good) has nothing on the original tunes, either. The championship screen music in particular gets quondam virtually before it fifty-fifty starts. If these elements were optional (similar in the Xbox 360 version) so their poor quality wouldn't thing and then much.

The port's not all bad, though! Touch-screen controls often suffer in arcade ports like Pac-Man, but not in Frogger. In the arcade game, tapping the iv-way joystick moved the frog one space at a time – no buttons or fast-turning involved. The touch-screen swipes of the mobile version actually replicate those controls very well.

There is also a new Phantom Mode that works just like the ghost mode in racing games. The game saves the replay data of the role player'south best play through; the ghost frogs of that play through tin then be played against. I suppose it could be useful for anyone who actually likes Frogger enough to want to strop his or her game.

Achievements

Frogger's Achievements match its overall difficulty. Remember, the game gets tough equally nails later level iv. Thus, four separate Achievements for reaching afterwards levels (vi, ix, 12, and 15) will be way too hard for almost gamers to get.

Overall Impression

Unless you lot're a pattern-memorizing, loftier score-chasing sometime-school gamer, Frogger is a game that'due south all-time played in short doses. The idea of weaving between cars and over logs is perfectly sound, but the difficulty ramps up too quickly to play for very long. The Windows Telephone version'due south annoyingly tough Achievements and gaudy audiovisuals don't do it any favors either. Only die-hard Frogger fans who tin can overlook the cheesy new expect will get annihilation more a few minutes of fun from this frog. Everyone else should drive over the sucker and on to improve games.

Frogger costs $2.99 and there is a complimentary trial. Promise over hither (Zune link) in the Market to get it.

Elden Ring: Which class should you choose?

Starting off on the right foot

Elden Ring: Which class should yous choose?

Picking a class is one of the most important things you lot'll ever do in Elden Ring. Here'southward a detailed breakdown of everything y'all need to know about each of the game's classes so yous tin can make an informed conclusion.