Frogger

Features

• Based on the original arcade game
• For one or two players (alternating)
• For Game Boy and Game Boy Color

Okay, so you might not know exactly what Frogger is. Well, here's it in a nutshell: poor froggy needs to get to his home, one of five locations at the top of the screen. Problem is, there's a five lane highway and a wide river in the way. The first half of the game is to try and beat the traffic in order to not become a green and red smear on the treads of some Goodyears. Cars zip across five lans of traffic going both ways, in different speeds and groupings. That's only part of it. The second is maneuving over five flowing lanes of logs and turtles -- some of these shellbacks even submerge for a second or two. Worse is the timer you have to beat -- you don't get all the time in the world. If the clock runs out, the toad self-destructs.

There are other elements tossed in for good measure, both to help and hinder your froggy's progress. First are the female frogs. This is an interesting bonus -- mate with the frog and carry her with you back to your pad, and you'll score an extra 200 points. How appropriate. Also on the bonus list is a fly that randomly shows up in one of five locations -- land on it and earn another 200 points. In more difficult levels, logs turn into crocodiles. You'll be able to board these reptiles, but not on their mouths. On the same side of the coin, a crocodile will randomly show up in one of the five homes -- land on it and perish. Lastly is the snake that shows up on level four and beyond. He moves back and forth on the safe island. If he touches you, you're snakefood.

Frogger was originally released by Sega and Konami in 1981, and it's one of those games that just holds up extremely well over time. Sure, it doesn't have that graphical flair or formulaic plot-devices -- you're a frog trying to cross a street and a river, for crying out loud. There's really no end to the game -- it just increases in difficulty, either by the speed, direction, or intensity of the traffic, turtle shells and logs, or the quickness of the clock. You keep going until your backlog of poor little toads can't outrun the traffic or beat the clock.