Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Hasbro Interactive Developer: Blitz Games Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Arcade/ Puzzle/ Action
Graphics & Sound: Frogger in 3D was a big hit previously on PlayStation, but some questioned whether there was any real quality behind the face-lift. For Swampy’s Revenge, it’s safe to say that most of the gameplay everyone loved about Frogger in the arcade is now here behind the sweet looks. All the backgrounds and levels are fairly smooth, with cool character designs that generally match a theme. The “retro” Frogger levels are larger than you remember them from the arcade, but they’re true in design and sound. Music for the new levels is well done, and matched to a theme. CG cut-scenes look fairly generic, but nobody (hopefully) is buying Frogger 2 expecting Square-quality cinemas...
Gameplay: Frogger hops, stops and hops again, but Swampy’s Revenge does a nice job of adapting the classic gameplay to a new format. Much in the same way Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man have done a good job moving to 3D, Frogger 2 manages to pull off fun platforming action without giving up the qualities we loved back when. The first thing I noticed was no analog. Only the four D-pad buttons are used to move, so even though you’re hopping in 3D, you’re still just hopping. Buttons on the right side control a jump and double-jump used to get past certain obstacle and reach hard-to-get prizes. Also, you can send out a “croak” that bounces off baby frogs to show where they are. Oh yeah, the Baby Frogs are missing. They’ve been snagged by Swampy the Croc, but he tends to drop them as he moves around, leaving Frogger the task of gathering them up. While gathering baby frogs, you can eat bugs to earn extra lives and collect coins to open up retro levels and secrets. Each level in Story Mode is set up as a sort of maze, and you’ll play as both Frogger and Lillie Frog once they split up, searching for all the baby frogs. Unlike the real “maze” format of Pac-Man, Frogger 2 plays more like Crash Bandicoot in that you’re going forward most of the time, but have obstacles and bad guys to get around. Since Frogger doesn’t have any real weapons, it’s all about avoidance. Some enemies are guarding baby frogs, but others are patrolling near switches, power-ups, or paths you’ll need to finish the level. You’re done with a level when you’ve collected all baby frogs, and the score you get depends on how much time you took and how many coins you picked up. Outside of Story Mode, you cash in coins to play the retro levels. These are done in 2D, and are a spitting image of Frogger in the arcade. Unlike the arcade version, you still collect baby frogs, but the traffic, snakes, logs, and everything else is what you have to work around. Apart from Story Mode and Frogger’s Arcade, the multiplayer levels are mighty cool for Frogger 2. Split into three gameplay styles, multiplayer is a lot of fun. Capture the Frog plays much like the main game, but you’re squared off with a buddy in a retro level. Whoever gets five baby frogs first wins the level. Race Mode is set in the 3D levels, and you try to go from Start to Finish without being sliced and diced with a friend hot on your tail. The final multiplayer mode is Snake. In what can only be a tribute to the light-cycle levels in “Tron,” Snake Mode has you hopping around a grid with a friend. Thing is, each hop raises a grid in the square, and you keep hopping until the other guy bites a wall.
Difficulty: Unlike my memory of the first Frogger on PlayStation, Swampy’s Revenge controls better and doesn’t leave you with too many cheap deaths. Of course, control can always be better, and I found the camera was sometimes panned out a little too much or pointed the wrong way. But on the whole, you can throw this game in the “Everyone” category, big-time.
Game Mechanics: As I mentioned, moving Frogger around doesn’t get much easier, and grasping the objectives in each level is also fairly easy. Avoiding bad guys and obstacles is just like it was in the old arcade version. You need timing, and lots of it. The jump and double-jump helps a little bit, but mostly you’re stuck with single-hopping around like a madman. The options and extras from the main screen are nicely put together and interactive, and you even have the chance to view movies from each completed stage. It’s a little confusing at first glance in Frogger’s Arcade, but the basic structure is that you can replay any completed level to get better times and secrets once you beat it in Story Mode by getting all of the baby frogs. Also, there are special retro levels that can only be opened up by finding all coins in a particular level. Judging by the fact that Frogger was a sleeper hit on PlayStation, this game should be a big seller. I can’t say there are miles of depth to Swampy’s Revenge or that it breaks new gaming ground, but it’s fun. And fun is sometimes harder to find than you might expect. If only as a rental to relive some old memories in Retro Mode, or even as a great game for anyone too young to have played the original, Frogger 2 is surprisingly strong.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
Fox Sports Soccer ‘99 Grind Session