Frogger

Moby ID: 1517
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

This is a late-90s remake of the original arcade classic Frogger. Navigate Frogger by hopping left, right, down and up through jungles, busy streets, sewers, and even the clouds to save his five little buddies, as well as the golden frogs of myth. Dodge cars, rats, and man eating alligators to stay alive. Snag some bugs for special abilities and points. Play against a friend online. Just remember, don't hop on sinking turtles.

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Credits (Windows version)

82 People (65 developers, 17 thanks) · View all

Project Leader
Lead Programmer
Lead Artist
Programmers
Artists
Level Design
Mapping
Development Assistant
Executive Producer
AV Manager
Music
Sound Effects
Video Post Production
Lead Tester
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 66% (based on 27 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 40 ratings with 5 reviews)

Yet another awful arcade remake...

The Good
The graphics and audio are great, with cute characters, a slick interface, and clever level designs...

The Bad
...but that's not enough to save it from falling apart at the seams.

Frogger is a PC version of Hasbro's remarkably atrocious PlayStation version of Frogger. While this is an improvement over the PlayStation version (better controls and some minor bug fixes), it isn't enough of an improvement to make it a good game. It's quite obvious that the game was rushed for release to either:

  1. be released before the arcade gameplay was outdated, or
  2. be released in time for the holiday season.

Don't even get started on how this ended up selling 4 million copies on the PC and PlayStation: it's merely because it's a remake of an excellent arcade title, and fans of it were anxious to see a mid-90's remake. And I can see why rabid Frogger fans would rush out to buy it, as the concept of taking the original formula into a modern platformer with true-3D graphics and more variety than the arcade version sounds all well and good. And it is for about five minutes, until you get an ugly-looking "Game Over" screen, enter your name into the high scores list, and get kicked out of the game altogether, resulting in a self-induced punch of the fist into your computer monitor.

Why is it so easy to get a "Game Over" in Frogger? Well, the game box does state that the game's 9 environments are "challenging" and that the game has the "same addictive gameplay as the arcade classic", but I must say that this is wrong. (Even a quoted magazine score on the back of the box is totally incorrect; it states that Computer Gaming World gave the game 4 / 4 stars but actually gave it 3.5 / 5 stars. Shouldn't Hasbro get sued for misquoting a score?) If Hasbro thinks that "challenging" means "continually frustrating the player with poorly designed puzzles, unresponsive controls, a drunken third-person camera, and horrendous collision detection", that's exactly what they did in Frogger, but by no means is that challenging. Challenging puzzles should be difficult, but possible to complete. Challenging puzzles do not frustrate the player because they thought that something in them was totally unfair. In fact, most challenging puzzles don't make the player emit any frustration at all, contrary to popular belief.

The Bottom Line
Just don't play this game. You'll save yourself lots of frustration and proverbial torture. Go play the arcade version of Frogger instead, or go play the vastly superior sequel to this game, "Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge".

Windows · by Spartan_234 (424) · 2006

A true classic that has been completely overlooked.

The Good
This is what happens when you combine astounding music, good graphics, and great gameplay mechanics to an already established series. I must admit, Frogger 3D is the second videogame I have ever played, everytime I see the game and hear the music, a great sadness follows. I try to grasp the fleeting emotions I affiliated with this masterpiece during my childhood. Therefore, I will always hold a special place in my heart for Frogger. The graphics are very good, especially if you have a DirectX5-7 card, they are defined and crisp. You can see the reflections on the water, as well as the landscape below (Time Flies, Boulder Valley). Every zone and level has a very distinctive feel; such as the quiet forest or being on a lonely cloud thousands of feet over the city. The music is jaw-dropping and filled with emotion. Every zone has a distinctive soundtrack that throws you into the game without relent. My favorites would be the distant sound of Airshow Antics (everytime I look at the night sky, I'm reminded of this song), the native-American style of Honey Bee Hollow, and the industrial sound of Platform Madness. No matter how varied your musical tastes are, you will fall in love. The game takes a mild amount of skill to pass; it took the combined effort of seven children to pass it in my house. Even though I'm older, it's still a little difficult. Gameplay requires good memory, reflexes, and develops patience: I highly recommend this game for growing children whose imaginations are still flourishing.

The Bad
For one, my family members came down with a vicious case of Frogger fever. Therefore, everyone in the house would try to set their own high score. I owned Airshow Antics, Uncanny Crusher, Platform Madness, Slime Sliding, and Boulder Valley. It didn't take long before an exploitation was found. By simply hopping back and forth, you can accumulate enough points to topple the highest player. In fact, in one life, you can make enough points to start the process all over again, making the player who spends the longest time on the level have the highest score. I wish that Hasbro had implemented a time-based scoring system instead of a score based one. Also, the final zone should have contained at least a second half for rescuing all of the yellow frogs.

The Bottom Line
I was shocked when I read several reviews claiming that this game was unbelievably glitchy, annoying, and difficult. Honestly, I have never had the game crash or pause once. There are a few exploits, but they usually require skill and timing to execute. I have seen the PS1 version, and it doesn't look great compared to the PC version. So maybe that's where the negative emotions are coming from. I loved this game so much that I bought it twice: once when the old disc wouldn't read, and again to bring back the memories. Now that I have lost my disc, I believe it's time for a third purchase. When this game was made, a bad title could literally push a company out of business (although Hasbro was well established). So companies actually tried to materialize an excellent title; unfortunately this is not the case for today's games. I have watched Frogger slide off into the abyss over the past few years (as well as any Sega game made after Sonic Adventure 2) with their fairy-tale antics and sword gameplay. I can honestly suggest Frogger 2 - Swampey's Revenge because the level design is so interesting (I refuse to say the same for the story), but anything after that is trash in every sense of the word. If you like Hasbro, Galaga - Destination Earth is also a very good title (music is the best I have ever heard in a videogame). My last suggestion is to Youtube Frogger: He's Back!, Frogger 2: Swampey's Revenge, and Galaga: Destination Earth just to see what they're like.

Windows · by tom fregosi (3) · 2007

Hop to it !

The Good
This was one of the first PC games I really ever remember playing, so I've always had a place for it in my collection. Although a re-visioning of the original, it's still a insanely fun game.

Gameplay-

Talk about addictive ! The levels are arranged in blocks from beginning to end. The first level block consist of the "retro" levels, remakes of the original game. Cross the road, river, and logs to get to the baby frogs. Simple. But it gets faster as time goes on and gets hectic. The next level block is made of pond and road levels. But you get to ride on birds, balloons and turtles. But these levels are fairly non-linear. Which means you can get the frogs in any order you want to. And the levels have numerous enemies throughout them. Dogs, bats, rats, slugs, raccoons and spiny slugs. It's a heck of a lot of fun especially in the western levels ( yes western levels) when you have to avoid falling boulders ! But the later levels make good use of Frogger's new abilities: power croak, super hop, and a long bug grabbing tongue. Most of the bugs are worth about 60 points though. Super hop is good for jumping over certain enemies. And croak lets you here the baby frogs croak back to get a better idea of their location.

Sound-

Do do....do do DO DO.....do do do do do do DO DO ! Um... sorry about that. He he..I got the western level music stuck in my head. Needless to say the music is catchy. All of the level blocks have their on music and different music for most of the levels. Plus if you put the game disk in a cd player, you can listen to all the tracks ! The sound effects while good, sound a bit scratchy at times. Like the sounds of the bugs. But everything else is well done. Like how Frogger gulps when he swallows a bug. And the croaks all sound realistic.( I know I'm running out of stuff to talk about when I'm discussing frog croaking sounds.)

Graphics-

This is where I could go on forever. For a Windows 95 game, the graphics look shockingly smooth and have held up pretty well. When I say smooth, I mean the textures aren't pixelated at all. Nice and clean. Despite having a polygon look to it, it's done in a unrealistic style that's almost like...OK I hate using the cartoon analogy, but that's the only comparable thing I can think of. But anyway, another cool aspect of the graphics are some of the subtleties. You can see the clouds in the car windows when they pass by, or out on the water. The rats in the sewer levels shake their heads when they land on the pipes. The baby frogs kick their legs in anticipation of your arrival. Fish in the water. Dead fish skeletons in the water. Plus the water looks thirst inducing. Too bad you die when you jump in it.Sigh

Tech specs-

This whole review I'm trying to do different. For any PC games I review in the future, I'll include this. As for the specs, they are not bad at all ! 640 by 480 resolution, support for the Voodoo 1 video card, and you can't beat the cd format. Plus it takes up almost no space. So if your a freak about hard drive space consumption fear not.

The Bad
Tech specs-

I'ts somewhat tricky and tempermental to try and get running on new machines. It will run, but be prepared to fool around with the display properties for a while. I can it running on my new machine, but no music. I gave up on why weeks ago.

Gameplay-

Some of the longer levels tend to be repetitive. And after you find a frog, it sends you back to the start of the level. Err. And why is it Frogger STILL can't swim ? That's totally absurd. Frogs ARE amphibious ! Oh well.

The Bottom Line
If you want a good game to unwind with, I 100 percent recommend this game. If you're looking for game with tons of replay vale, try Frogger 2. But If you like games overall, get it. You'll love it !

Windows · by GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) · 2008

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

References

  • The promo commercial for this game had a humorous Six Million Dollar Man theme that saw Frogger getting run over, then being reconstructed because "we have the technology."
  • The last sewer level is named "Reservoir Frogs". A spoof of the movie Reservoir Dogs.

Information also contributed by DANIEL HAWKS !

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  • MobyGames ID: 1517
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Michael Reznick.

PlayStation added by Adam Baratz.

Additional contributors: Patrick Bregger.

Game added May 30, 2000. Last modified March 19, 2024.