I know you’ve heard of the wildly popular game of Frogger – a game that’s been around for several decades. In fact, Frogger is one of those games that helped usher in the golden age of video games. While the gameplay is pretty straightforward there are also a few other things going on in the Frogger atmosphere that will either surprise you, help make the gameplay even easier, or show you what you’ve been doing wrong the entire time you’ve been playing (I mean, unless you’ve been playing for decades there are definitely a few mistakes that you’ve been making while playing the game). I used to play this game all the time and I just ran across explicit rules detailing how to play it. In this article, we’ll go over the following things:
- A brief history of Frogger
- How to Play
- Important points (such as the purpose of the Pink Frog)
*hint: the pink frog is just there to follow you across the road. If you can get both you and her across the road safely (yes, it’s a female frog) then you will be able to get bonus points.
Video of Frogger gameplay
History
Frogger was initially developed in the year 1981 by Konami, a Japanese game producer of the 1980s. It was officially licensed for development by a combination of both Sega and Gremlin and Sega themselves (not something that was uncommon in those days). While there is no wild story regarding the development of Frogger (like you would see for a game such as Pong or Computer Space) the game is still something to be admired.
A few extra things you want to take note of regarding the Frogger franchise is that it was one of those pioneering games during the Golden Age of arcade games. This was primarily due to both the simplicity and difficulty associated with its gameplay. Really, all you had to do was be able to cross a road but, the creators of the game realized that to make the game harder all they had to do was speed up the game and add a few obstacles that force you to think. It was simple really.
How to Play
The entire focus of Frogger is to learn how to safely navigate your player, the frog, from point a to point b. Of course, there are a few other things that come into play with this but you basically want to make sure that you’re able to jump across, time your landings, and follow the patterns of the game without causing injury to your frog. If you mess up once while trying to do this you are very likely to end up as a pancake in the middle of the road.
On a more technical note, there are a few things that you want to notice about the gameplay of Frogger.
First, you want to make note of the fact that you don’t actually have a way to defend yourself. Literally, if you fall prey to some kind of truck, river, etc. you will die. It’s very straightforward. Each stage in the Frogger gameplay is very different, not in the structure it has but in the way that you’re forced to approach it. For instance, while the levels may all be structured so that you’re able to see the patterns between them you will still have to run into a number of different enemies, varying levels of speed, and of course difficulty in each of the levels.
So, you’ll want to make sure that you pay very close attention to the first few levels of the gameplay. Doing this will allow you to get an understanding of the patterns in the game – a thing that will very likely give you an understanding of what you need to do in subsequent levels. The biggest thing you want to pay attention to in Frogger is cars. Why? Well, they will run you flat – you’ll literally be roadkill. During every stage in Frogger, you’ll run across 5 lanes of traffic on the highway section – these will lead you to the 1st ever safety area in the game.
*there are also a number of different snakes/crocodiles that will show their faces while on the highway.
If you want a piece of safety before you get ready to jump back into danger your best bet is to get used to rest for a few seconds on the median. Let’s also not forget the fact that you’ll find yourself having to jump across the river in Frogger as well. Since Frogger can’t physically jump in the game you’ll want to make sure that you learn how to efficiently land on floating turtles and logs. You also want to avoid snakes, as they are also deadly to Frogger.
You may be asking yourself, “What exactly is point b in Frogger?” Point b in Frogger is the Swamp, the place where the frog here, you will lead all other frogs in the game to safety. In order to get here you’ll have to be able to cross the river and subsequently learn to manage the number of lilies they give you to help the other frogs cross the swamp.
*these lilies tend to disappear each time you successfully manage to get a frog across the perilous river.
Additional information:
- You don’t really get to stop the game – unless you die. Frogger has infinite gameplay so you’ll be forced to continue going through with it until you die unless you don don’t. The goal of Frogger is to gather as many points as you possibly can while avoiding each of the obstacles you encounter during gameplay. Points are rewarded for getting your fellow frogs across the swap while also eating some of those nasty flies you’ll encounter.
- You get 3 lives typically, but, there have been a few instances where arcades have been able to completely reset and boost the number of lives that players get when they first start out.
Here is a brief overview of the first 5 levels so you can get an idea for the pattern:
First Level
The first thing you’ll notice in the first level of Frogger is that you’ll have a few different lanes of traffic with the first 3 of which having 3 cars moving at an average pace. In that last single lane, you’ll see that there’s a fast-paced vehicle moving forward. If you move towards the right f the screen you’ll have time to evade in case the single fast car shows up. If you move too close to the right side of the screen you’ll have to watch out for crocodiles, especially since they tend to show their faces occasionally.
In another fifth lane, you’ll see 2 additional vehicles. They will be moving at an average pace and thus should be easy to evade. The next step would be to pay attention to the median that you’ll see next. There will be 4 diving turtles directly on the other side of the river. *, remember the cues to jumping on diving turtles.
In that second part of the river, you’ll see 3 floating logs. You can use these to jump to one of the diving turtles which you’ll then use to jump to the normal length logs. After you do this you’ll then be able to jump to the riverbank and find a spot in the swamp.
Second Level
In the second level of Frogger, you’ll find that there are four different cars with each of them traveling at the normal speed (and this is only in the first lane). You’ll find the exact same thing in the second lane in this stage as well. The third lane will have 3 cars but they’ll each be moving at the normal speed. In the fourth lane, you’ll find 2 car with each of them moving at a slightly faster rate of speed. You’ll want to time your hop to be directly after the second fast moving car moves past frogger-this will make sure that you’re able to get past the car in time.
When you get to the river you’ll find that there will be 3 diving turtle moving in a group. After you get past these turtles you will find that there are 3 short logs waiting for you in the next area. After you get past this obstacle you’ll have to wait for a long log to come up at the next obstacle. Now, you’ll have to deal with the most challenging thing in the game so far. You’ll find that there are 4 diving turtles that you’ll have to get past before you’re able to get to the next obstacle. Then, it’s a matter of choice. You’ll have to decide between three normal length logs – one of which will contain a crocodile. You can always wait for the crocodile to how or you can move fast enough to get right past the crocodile. However, if you wait too long you’ll have to make sure that you run directly to the swamp.
Third Level
Warning, if you don’t like snakes you probably shouldn’t play this level (except that it’s unavoidable). In both of the first lanes, you’ll find that there are 4 cars, each of which are moving at a standard pace. There will also be 5 cars moving in that fifth lane. The fourth lane is actually pretty simple since it has only 2 cars, each of which will be moving at a slow pace. You’ll want to make sure that you time your jumps in a way that you are able to get past the 3 medium speed cars that will be moving in the fifth lane.
You’ll want to take a very quick stop on the median and immediately move on to avoid dying via drowning on the backs on one of the diving turtles (there’s 3 of them). After getting past the turtles you’ll want to use the 3 logs to move across the second part of this stage. After getting past the 3 logs you’ll then find yourself being forced to jump on to the long log that’ll be found in the middle of the river.
There will then be another group of turtles (four of them more precisely) that you’ll find in the fourth section of the river. After getting past the turtles you’ll be faced with the daunting (not really) task of getting across three logs, a snake, and a crocodile (which will be immediately in front of the swamp). To get past these crocodiles you’ll want to make sure that you wait until you see both the crocodile and the snake before you jump on a log. Next, you’ll want to find your spot in the swamp and you’re home free.
Fourth Level
In the fourth level of the game, you’ll find yourself faced with 3 lanes (there are more but these are the first 3) each equipped with 4 cars moving at an average speed. Next, there will be the fourth lane with 3 relatively fast moving at a fast speed. Last, you’ll find 3 cars moving at an average pace in the fifth lane. In the river, you’ll find a number of groups of turtles in the river, with about 3 of them being diving turtles. After you get past the turtles you’ll want to jump on 1 of the short logs that’ll appear – by doing so you’ll set yourself up to jump on to the longer log that’ll show up. Last you’ll want to NOT jump on the diving turtles and jump on one of the mid-length logs to get in the swamp – easy enough. Make sure that you don’t jump on the crocodile that’s disguised as a log.
Fifth Level
In the 5th level of Frogger the first thing you’re goin gto run into is a first lane with 5 cars going at a normal speed. In the second lane you’re going to run into four cars and in the third lane you’re going to run into 5 cars in the third lane. All of the cars in these lanes will move at a very normal pace. It shouldn’t be very difficult to get past them. After you get past the first few cars the next step will be to get past the 2 diving turtles you’ll come across in the first part of the river. Lastly, you’ll come across a group of logs (2 short, 1 long) and 3 diving turtles. After you get past them you’re at home stretch. In the last part of the river you’re going to run into nothing but crocodiles – which means you have no choice but to jump on to one of their backs. To avoid being eaten remember to stay as far from their heads as you possibly can.You also don’t want to get too close to the tip of the crocodile either. Once you gte past the crocodiles you’re basically free to find your spot in the swamp.
*these are the basic five levels. After you get these down everything else should come very easily.
Things to pay attention to
Pink Frog: The pink frog in frogger is the frog you’ll run into when you’re crossing the river. This frog will typically be found on a log and can be rescued by jumping onto that very same log with her. Once you get to the log a noise will be made and the pink frog will disappear. If you’re able to get Frogger back to safety(the swamp) without dying you will gain extra points.
*you won’t always see this pink frog but when you do, it’s usually a good idea to go and rescue them.
Alligator Head: You need to be especially careful with the logs mainly because alligators like to use them as hiding spots to use to eat Frogger (probably ot him specifically but, they will eat you). You can always see the alligators in the logs as they’ll have their heads poking out of them. They’ll constantly open and shut their mouths, simply waiting for you to jump into them. You’ll be safe if you jump on the log itself but, if you jump into the alligators mouth you will be eaten.
What happens if you float off-screen: Well, if you float off screen you’ll typically end up fine, in the first 2 levels at least. When you do float off-screen you’ll find that you’ve moved slightly. In some instances, you’ll find yourself in a completely different area than where you started. For example, you’ll find yourself floating on water sometimes – you won’t fall in immediately but if you do end up in this predicament you’ll want to get to safety ASAP.
What about snakes?: You’ll even occasionally find snakes in the game (as you get to more difficult levels). S long as you steer clear of these dangerous beings you won’t have to worry about Frogger being “taken out”. Dying. I meant dying.
Watch out for otters: The funniest thing in the game is seeing your frog being taken out by a roaming river otter. In this game, you’ll find that there are Otters who will come by, very quickly at that, and try to take your dear frogger off of a log, turtle, or alligator. The only way to avoid this is by completely avoiding them (the otters).
To play the game online you can go here
Fun facts about Frogger
Below are a few things that you’ll want to make sure you pay attention to during the Frogger game play.
- The goal of the game is to get Frogger from the beginning of the screen over to the home bay/swamp. Each time you’re able to accomplish this objective you get points – it’s very simple.
- If there is a home bay already occupied by another frog Frogger won’t be able to get into that bay. Also, if your frog, Frogger happens to hit anything on the sides of that Home Bay (greenery) he’ll die – it’s very simple.
- You don’t want to jump into a home bay that has an alligator’s head showing. If you do, you’ll die. If the head is only just beginning to show you’re good to jump in.
- If you’re able to jump into a home bay that has a fly just sitting there ripe for the taking you get free food and points. Whoever said that there was no such thing as a free lunch is a liar, lol.
Levels of difficulty
There are typically 4 different levels of difficulty when it comes to Frogger – they range from 1-4.
The phases each entail the following things.
Level 1: In this level, Frogger can actually float off the screen without dying. The difficulty will raise automatically after you bring 5 frogs back home.
Level 2: In this difficulty, you can still float safely off-screen. You’ll start this level, however, with the pests (alligators, otters, etc.) that are designed to kill you.
Level 3: You will not be able to float off the screen without dying. The difficulty of this level will also continuously increase after every 5 frogs you bring back.
Level 4: You won’t be able to float off the screen and the game will begin with the pests that I mentioned in the level 2 description.
*In every Frogger game you’ll be able to play either a 1 player or 2 player game. In the 1 player gaming format, you’ll see your points being displayed on the bottom left side of the screen. On the other hand, in a 2 player game, your (the left side player’s ) score will be displayed in the bottom left-hand side of the screen. And vis versa for the right.
You make (or gather) points by doing the following things.
- Every successful jump in the forward direction will give you 10 points
- Every successful trip back to the swamp (home) will give you 50 points
- Every successful delivery of 5 frogs back to the swamp will give you 1000 points
- Every time you take a pink frog back to the swamp you’ll gain 200 points
- Every time you eat a fly you’ll gain 200 points
- Every second early that you finish the game you get 10 points
*hint: every time that you accumulate 20000 points and have less than 4 froggers you get an extra one. This will typically(or always) show up as an Extra Frog on the riverbank.
Conclusion
And there you have it – everything you’ll need to know about Frogger. For more check out the resource below.
The information in this article was sourced from Wikipaydeo
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogger