User Reviews

I'm quite impressed by what Hasbro did with classic Frogger. This game was obviously redone in 3D with improved sounds and new music. The first levels involve you crossing the road just like in the classic game. However, people nowadays (as of 1997) would expect more than that, and Hasbro lived up to these expectations. There are now all sorts of different types of levels in many different worlds - I think it's just terrific!

Of course, no game is perfect. The main problem is that the controls can be just a little slow responding at times. The problem when you need a really fast move to save yourself. It's best, instead, to avoid getting into "near death" situations. The only other thing you have to adapt to is the fact that Frogger takes a split moment to land after hop, meaning you shouldn't expect to make a jump onto a moving object at the very last second. Other those two things, though, this game has quite fine game-play.

I've played both the PC and playstation version, and have favored the playstation because it is more challenging in several ways. One way is that you only get 3 lives to start with instead of 5. The other thing is a time limit modification. Starting with "Lily islands" each level on the playstation version has only 2/3 the time limit of the levels on the PC version. (Except for Looney Balloons, Crumpled point, and Big Boulder Alley, where the modification is about 3/4) For example, in the PC version, on Scorching Switches, you get 60 seconds but, on the playstation, you only get 40.

Here are some tips for people playing this game: First, you're on a timer, so when presented with a new level, just expend some lives to explore it and try to learn where the frogs are so you know what you're doing next time. Second, always be aware of your surroundings and avoid getting into hazardous situations that easily warrant death. Third, never be disheartened if you get a game over, the more times you play a level, the better you learn how to do it. Overall, the keys to playing this game are: Awareness, timing things well, patience, and most importantly, practice! You can beat any level with these four things.

In summation, this is a very proud remake with few downfalls. And it's even good for general video game skill-building.

Fans of '80s arcade games may find the concept of welding a classic arcade game (in this case, the 1981 arcade classic Frogger) with modern 3-D technology, a catchy soundtrack, and more varied levels to be all well and good. Unfortunately, the gameplay that made the arcade Frogger such a classic has been lost in translation. Since gameplay is the most important thing in any game, you know you've got problems.

The game is constantly frustrating, and at times, is unplayable. Frogger puts together many small annoyances to make it a bad game. Instead of putting in whole new gameplay mechanics to make it feel like a computer game, Hasbro kept the old gameplay mechanics in -- most likely to purposely cause frustrations. It goes like this: You start out with 5 lives for your frog, and if you get hurt JUST ONCE, you instantly die (there's no health meter). If you have any extra lives, it takes away a life and you start the level over again. If you don't have any extra lives when you die, however, you get a "Game Over" screen, type your name into the high scores list, and it kicks you out of the game altogether. If you've been playing arcade games for a long time, that might not sound bad at all. But due to the unbalanced nature of the game (there are too many obstacles to overcome), and the fact that there's no difficulty adjustment, it quickly becomes a problem.

However, I might not have been half as frustrated playing Frogger if it weren't for the myriad of bugs that'll make you wonder if Hasbro even have a beta-testing team. Even with the most current v3.0e patch, too many of these bugs still remain. The game's controls are unresponsive, and will have you yelling at the computer "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!" every two minutes. In fact, about 60% of all of my deaths in the game were caused by the game's failure to "listen" to commands. There is a time limit to how long you can live before you lose a life (what was Hasbro even thinking?) The camera is also screwed up as well, because certain objects like tree branches can block your view, and if you're in an area heavy with obstacles when this happens, this is a really bad problem. But if that doesn't bother you, the camera's inability to show enough of your surroundings will. There are also some collision detection issues: sometimes, when I'm at least 2 feet away from a car that is going to run over me, I get killed! (And the car didn't even run over me yet!) Sometimes, I even fall through a log into the water and end up getting killed!

Great graphics, audio, and level design are no excuse for frustrating games like Frogger. If Hasbro paid more attention to the playability of the game, then Frogger most likely would've been an addictive, immersive, and challenging 3-D platform game. But as it stands, Frogger is only recommended if you're a masochist or like to laugh at a game's inept gameplay. Everyone else is likely to punch their fist through their monitor in frustration when they get a "Game Over" screen.

Don't play this game! Go to your local arcade and play the original arcade Frogger, or you can pick up the vastly superior sequel "Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge", which has all of the woeful gameplay removed. Or, if you're into visually stunning platform games, pick up "Realms Of Chaos" or "Abuse", which have stunning graphics and features without the frustrating gameplay.

Overall Score: 3 / 10 (Bad)