Arcade Action Game Review: Frogger

 

Frogger is a successful and influential arcade game that was developed by Konami and distributed by Sega/Gremlin in the United States of America.

Like the best games of the 1980s, it is easy to pick up but difficult to master. The goal is to take frogs across a street, across a river, and then onto a lily pad. There are several obstacles in the way, including automobiles, tractor trailers, snakes, and alligators. The latter can also be used as objects to hop onto in the river, much like the logs. However, the gators open their mouths and become a danger to the frog if it comes into contact with the gaping maw. Once all of the lily pads are filled with frogs, the game jumps to the next level.

As the game goes on, the highways become more packed, the river becomes more populated with alligators, and the logs become more filled with snakes. The vehicles also become faster and the river gets quicker. The latter makes it more difficult to jump into lily pads without becoming gator food. The logs also are less able to be stood upon, as when the river takes them beyond the game playfield, the frog loses its life.

The game is packed full of sound. Beyond the bloop sound that is meant to represent the frog's jumps, there are 26 different song fragments played throughout five stages. After that, the stages loop back to the first, albeit much harder than before. The game has an opening jingle, as was common in arcade games of the early 1980s. But, from there, each stage contains music loops. There is also music for restarting a level after dying, completing a level, and getting a game over. Beyond that, there are a ton of songs that play when a frog has arrived home on a lily pad, with a total of 20 different song fragments used. This was definitely a very lively arcade game, and the variety of songs kept it from feeling too repetitive.

Frogger is a great arcade game that inspired many clones and competitors. It's also one of those games that stood the test of time. There are a ton of frogger clones on various app stores, showing the longevity of the concept. It's very easy to pick up, and super addictive. There's tons of music too, which helps the game remain fun way into the era of constant music in most video game soundtracks. It's likely you've at least come across a clone, but if you haven't played the original, you owe it to yourself to give Frogger a try.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5