Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition review

Recommended

by M.W. Moriearty

Why did the frog cross the road? To get to the other side. This is not just a bad joke, but the very premise of genre-defining video game Frogger. So many early video game genres originated through the act of shameless imitation of notable industry successes. Consider the advent of the roguelike, how Pac-Man's legions of copycats invented the maze game genre, and how Donkey Kong represented the birth of the platform game. Not recognized often enough, however, is the ubiquity of the Frogger-clone in the video game industry. Upon its release, Konami's Frogger saw a wave of imitators cannibalizing its simple and instantly recognizable gameplay, such as Atari's Pacific Coast Highway and Frostbite, and these mimics continue today in the form of cheap licensed online games and casual mobile apps like 2014's Crossy Road. Frogger today feels much like the modern casual games it would inspire, with its simple objectives that nevertheless require rapid reflexive movements and the development of a certain degree of muscle memory: avoid the traffic, take a quick breath, cross the rushing stream, hop into the safety of your lily pad, and repeat, seeing how many more frogs you can rescue this time than the last. Like your average mobile game, it is repetitive, but addictive in its repetition. As a cathartic, low-intensity time-waster, it practically sets the bar. What Frogger lacks in artistic merit, it makes up in the genius simplicity of its endlessly imitable premise. While direct clones of Frogger and games that merely cannibalize its gameplay are ubiquitous and easy to find, some official releases stand above the rabble. This particular HD rerelease of Frogger transforms the simple single-player arcade classic into a compelling, if only briefly diverting, party game, adding several new multiplayer modes on top of the original gameplay. The new puzzle-driven single player modes are also thoroughly addictive, using the basic Frogger gameplay to construct entirely new scenarios. It also features updated HD graphics in multiple different styles (including cute homages to other Konami classics like Contra and Castlevania), as well as a number of charming, albeit deviously ear-wormy, electronic-influenced music tracks, including a modern remix of the original arcade game's background music. These improvements all go a long way toward making the game much more visually appealing and lively.