There used to be a Papa Gino’s near my house that my parents would take me to when I was a kid. It was one of those deals where on your birthday you could make your own pizza behind the counter and everything. Anyways, they had a pretty small arcade in there — not more than one or two games — but they did have a this sit-down version where you sat across from a buddy and played against each other. Most places had Pac Man, but Papa Gino’s had Frogger.
I wasted many a day playing Frogger at that Papa Gino’s. When I found out that Frogger was available on the iPhone, you know I had to scoop it right up and give it a shot. Would it bring me back to my youth and those garlic-tinted days at the pizzeria, or was it just bad roadkill? Let’s find out.
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Technically Speaking
There are quite a few variations on the Frogger theme in the App Store, but the one that appealed to me the most was Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition. Not only is it the most recently updated version, but it’s also packed with extras. This is like Frogger on steroids, and I’m good with that.
So the directions are pretty simple.
That means that yes, the OG version of Frogger is present. But it also means that the game has multiple other versions on that same theme, including different styles and graphics. And then there are the levels that take the basic Frogger concept, mash it up a bit and then spit it out on the other side — it’s got that, too.
The Basic Concept
If you haven’t played or heard of Frogger before, well then I think you should find the Papa Gino’s right off of Route 9 and get to it. But let’s assume you already drove down Flutie Pass to get to that Papa Gino’s and play a game or two, here’s what you’d have found.
Frogger in its most classic form.
Frogger is a very simple game. You’re a frog, and you want to get to your home on the other side of the screen. In your way are five lanes of traffic, a waiting strip and then five lanes of water obstacles. You have to jump around all of these issues by moving forward, back, left or right. There is no virtual joystick, it’s all just swipes one way or the other. It doesn’t get much simpler than this.
The Hyper Arcade Concept
So we’ve sorted out that there’s a Classic version of the game, and it’s just like the one I used to play with smears of tomato sauce around my mouth. But there’s also several other variations on the theme. For example, there’s Castlevania mode, which substitutes trucks and cars for characters from the classic NES game, Castlevania. The same goes for DDR Karaoke Revolution, and, I assume, Contra. With that last one though, I’m not sure because it never became an option I could select, it just always stayed grayed out.
Lots of options here.
The other modes include Paint, which has you wandering around the road and coloring within the lines to win the game. Tile Capture sets you against three other players to try to capture the most tiles — just hop over them to collect, and so on. There are quite a few different modes here to choose from, so it’s not likely that you’ll get bored anytime soon.
The Other Stuff
There are a few little things that bear mention. The soundtrack is weird. Good weird, but weird all the same. There’s lots of electronic music that seems like it would be found in a club and not a video game, and some of them can get a bit repetitive. Fortunately, you can change the tune with each track, so it works out OK.
Castlevania? Sure, why not.
Also, the game is set at a weird angle, almost like you’re looking down at a table. Now that’s fine, but the frog is awfully small, so that might frustrate you as it did me on occasion. It also takes a bit away from the 8-bit appeal of things, particularly in Castlevania where the characters get a bit drowned out. Now this is a universal app, and on the iPad (even the mini) it looks great. The iPhone got the short end of the stick on this one, though.
Final Thoughts
I like Frogger. I enjoy the nostalgia aspect of the game, plus that it’s something that’s easy to pick up and put down at any moment. You’re not going to lose four hours of your day to it, but it’s handy to have for those brief windows when you want to play something quick.
So ultimately, I dig it. Although it’s not my favorite iOS game ever, for a buck I get taken back in time to a moment when I didn’t have a car payment, mortgage or taxes to worry about, and my only goal was to make sure I beat the next level in Frogger. That’s worth it for me.