Check out our RetroGamer post on this arcade classic here:
https://www.retrogamer.net/retro_games80/frogger/
It is a deceptively simple premise; move from the bottom of the screen to the top. Some early arcade games required rote memorization of each level to be successful. In Frogger, you could definitely memorize an ideal route, but there were lots of paths to victory available.
Story: You’re a frog who wants to go home.
Gameplay: Use the joystick to move one space at a time (Up, Down, Left, or Right). Sometimes the best path forward meant backtracking to avoid catastrophe.
Dodge a variety of cars and trucks when trying to cross the highway part of each level. On the river portion of each map, you need to hop from log to leaf in an effort to avoid being swept away by the water or running into predators that were looking to eat you.
Play: There are no shortage of Frogger ports available for just about every platform. The Atari 2600 version was a faithful adaptation that was massively popular. It has also remained popular as technology advanced due to the quick pace of levels and very basic control structure.
A solid version can be played via web browser here:
http://www.happyhopper.org/
Popular Culture: Look, I’m not going to lie...I watched the cartoon series as a kid. I loved it at the time, but have my doubts that it would hold up after all these years. In the series, Frogger was an ace reporter because back in the 1980s it was tough for amphibians to get jobs in most fields.
The most famous example of Frogger in media has to be the episode of Seinfeld where George decides to preserve his record high score via wacky antics.
Pro Tip: In the river section of each level you’ll want to be on the lookout for insects that pop up. Landing on those earns bonus points. You may also find another frog on the screen. Landing on this frog results in an even bigger bonus, but it can be risky to try to go back for it. It’s all about doing a risk/reward analysis on the fly.
Frogger was one of those games that everyone has heard of, even if they never played video games. Did you ever see the cartoon? How about that episode of Seinfeld? Let us know what you think of the game!
