Frogger Prototype

I have some arcade perennials I obsess over and one is FROGGER.

Now, I have played me some Frogger. In fact, just this week I had the pleasure of putting my grubby little (sanitized, I promise) hands on an classic cabinet (arcade Frogger is kinda fussy hit-box wise, so we won’t speak of the score). My favorite version of Frogger is currently the 1991 Sega Game Gear prototype. Here’s why:

Frogger is tasked with rescuing child frogs. Frogger can eat things with their tongue, including bug as well as (inexplicably) apples. Frogger can also consume ice cream cones. It’s unclear why a frog would want to do this or what nourishment it provides. Saving the children is not enough, Frogger must collect them and then return home. And as you can see, by stage 2 the situation rapidly escalates, and there are crocodiles and tanks. It obviously wasn’t properly bug tested, and in some ways it almost ends up being a bit of a puzzle game where you have to navigate inconsistent hitboxes and collision maps. It is cute as shit.

Why was it never released? Legal Reasons (tm) is probably the right guess. Evidently by 2000 everyone stopped suing everyone, and Frogger 2 on the Gameboy Color attempts to go in a similar, adventure-oriented direction, with a rather disturbing emphasis on avoiding vehicular collisions and Frogger’s self-awareness of the likelihood of becoming road kill. Later games like Frogger’s Adventure 2 take the adventure aspect even further. There are a LOT of Frogger adventure games and I’m honestly at a loss to explain why, and I say this as someone who really likes Frogger.

I still favor handheld ports of most games. There is a very serviceable arcade port on Gameboy Advance as part of the 2002 Konami Collector’s Series: Arcade Advanced. It does all the things a Frogger should do, and you will probably die a lot so enjoy that (and Gyruss while you’re at it, which is included).

Despite my enjoyment of the SGG prototype, I think this game truly shines when the emphasis is on the twitchier elements, which is why I really enjoy it’s modern arcade cousins. Games like Crossy Road Arcade take directional controls entirely out of the equation and have the player focus only on timing forward momentum.