| Frogger | |
|---|---|
Screenshot of Frogger |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Sega/Gremlin |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Overhead View Action |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| CPU | 2x Z80: Z80 (@ 3.072 MHz) Z80 (@ 1.78975 MHz) |
| Sound | Sound CPU: Z80 (@ 1.78975 MHz) Sound Chips: AY8910 (@ 1.78975 MHz) |
| Display | Raster, 224 x 256 pixels (Vertical), 99 colors |
Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of hazards. Skillful players may obtain some bonuses along the way. The game is regarded as a classic from the golden age of video arcade games and was noted for its novel gameplay and theme. It was also an early example of a game using more than one CPU, as it used two Z80 processors.[1] Frogger is still popular and versions can be found on many Internet game sites.
Contents |
The player starts with three, five, or seven frogs (lives). The player guides a frog which starts at the bottom of the screen. The lower half of the screen contains a road with motor vehicles, which in various versions include cars, trucks, buses, dune buggies, bulldozers, vans, taxis, bicyclists, and/or motorcycles, speeding along it horizontally. The upper half of the screen consists of a river with logs, crocodiles, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen. The very top of the screen contains five "frog homes" which are the destinations for each frog. Every level is timed; the player must act quickly to finish each level before the time expires.
The only player control is the joystick used to navigate the frog; each push in a direction causes the frog to hop once in that direction. On the bottom half of the screen, the player must successfully guide the frog between opposing lanes of trucks, cars, and other vehicles, to avoid becoming roadkill.
The middle of the screen, after the road, contains a median where the player must prepare to navigate the river.
By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of turtles, the player can guide his or her frog safely to one of the empty lilypads. The player must avoid crocodiles, snakes, and otters in the river, but may catch bugs or escort a lady frog for bonuses. When all five frogs are directed home, the game progresses to the next, harder level. After five levels, the game gets briefly easier yet again gets progressively harder to the next fifth level.
There are many different ways to lose a life in this game, including:
Frogger is available as a standard upright or cocktail cabinet. The controls consist solely of a 4-direction joystick used to guide the frog's jump direction. The number of simultaneous players is one, and the game has a maximum of two players.
The game's opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children's song called Inu No Omawarisan (The Dog Policeman). The song remained intact in the US release. Other Japanese tunes that are played during gameplay include the themes to the anime Hana no Ko Lunlun and Araiguma Rascal.
The game was originally going to be titled "Highway Crossing Frog," but the executives at Sega felt it did not capture the true nature of the game and was changed simply to "Frogger". In addition to inspiring numerous clones, this game inspired an unofficial sequel by Sega in 1991 called Ribbit which featured improved graphics and simultaneous two-player action.
Like many games of the early 1980s, Frogger was ported to a wide variety of home systems for personal use. In the United States, Frogger was licensed by Sega to multiple companies for conversion: Parker Brothers held ROM-cartridge rights, while Sierra On-Line held magnetic-media rights. Several platforms were capable of accepting both ROM cartridges and magnetic media, thus these systems received multiple versions of the game. Sierra also sublicensed their magnetic-media rights to developers who published for systems not normally supported by Sierra (eg Cornsoft published the official TRS-80 and Timex Sinclair 1000 ports); because of this, even the Atari 2600 received multiple releases: a cartridge from Parker Bros. and a cassette for the Supercharger from Starpath. The Tomy Tutor version was directly licensed from Konami themselves, although it is not clear if they developed it.
In addition to these official releases, there have been numerous unofficial clones including Froggy for the ZX Spectrum released by DJL Software in 1984, Acornsoft's Hopper (1983) for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, A&F Software's Frogger (1983) for BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum, Solo Software's Frogger for the Sharp MZ-700 in the UK in 1984, and a version for the NewBrain under the name Leap Frog.
Hasbro Interactive released a new version for Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation in 1997 (in this game, Frogger is green with an orange stripe). The ports to the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NES in 1998 were the last games released for those consoles in North America. A Java port of the game is currently available for compatible mobile phones.
A prototype game based on gameplay elements of Frogger was developed for Sega Game Gear, but never released—presumably due to legal issues between Sega and Konami. The prototype wasn't a direct port of the arcade game, as it had additional features and redesigned levels.
In 2005, InfoSpace teamed up with Konami Digital Entertainment to create the mobile game Frogger for Prizes,[2] in which players across the U.S. compete in multiplayer tournaments to win daily and weekly prizes.
A port of Frogger was released on the Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 on July 12, 2006. It was developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Konami. It has two new gameplay modes: Versus speed mode and Co-op play. Some of the music, including the familiar Frogger theme, was removed from this version and replaced with other music.
The 1981 Atari 2600 game Freeway is often considered a clone of Frogger, but both games were developed independently of the other, and both were released in 1981. Freeway, too, had a similar working title as well, "Bloody Human Freeway".
Unlike the arcade version, the home versions had numerous sequels, including:
In many of the recent games (starting with Frogger: The Great Quest), Frogger is shown as bipedal, wearing a shirt with a crossed-out truck.
Froggy takes one step at a time
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme
He hops and jumps, dodges and ducks
Cars and buses, vans and trucks.
On December 22, 2009, Pat Laffaye of Westport, Connecticut, USA, scored a Frogger world record high score of 896,980 points.[11] No other Frogger gamer has been verified as having beaten the fictional George Costanza Seinfeld score of 860,630 points.[12][13]