1980's Games - Frogger

Frogger

Frogger was one of the very early arcade games developed by Konami and released worldwide by
Sega and Gremlin. The game is a key example of addictive early arcade games and was, at the time, one of the earliest examples of games running upon more than one CPU.

The game was centred on the story of helping a group of frogs cross many dangerous situations, roads and rivers, to get to the other side. You played the role of each frog guiding their every move and leap. Once one frog makes the other side and is safe you move on to guiding the next frog. Once all are safe across the other side you switch to a harder level and start all over again; gaining points.

There is no true end to the game apart from death for the player, until it becomes too hard for them to carry on and lose too many lives. The true goal, in the end, is the gaining of points for how many frogs you get safe and how. Each level is also timed so that if you do not complete the level in the set amount of time you lose. The scores you gained throughout the game were saved into a high score list and held bragging rights for gaining the most points thus holding a competitive edge against other players.

The story offered very little in the way of plot and backstory. The player is thrust straight into the situation of controlling the first frog and guiding them across the road and while there is not much in the form of aid, the aim of the game is rather clear.

Guiding the frog across the busy road by using the four directional keys, as you avoided cars and bicycles, was and still is a difficult task in itself. The game rewarded timing and forethought in action and consequences. Jumping straight away may move you forward one spot, but if you waited a few seconds longer you could have jumped three spots in rapid succession and made the other side in quicker time.

The game was hailed at the time for its novel concept in game play and setting. The idea of controlling a frog and helping it home was very new at the time and is very abstract compared to other games of the period. The game also sported a two player mode in which players took it in turns to guide frogs across the road and river.

The game truly is one of the classic early games which h many people remember as one of their first and favourite games. It has led to many clones and an unofficial sequel by Sega. While the story is very, very simple the game play and addictiveness of such a simple game is undeniable and can captivate a player as they strive to “beat their last attempt”.