Frogger (series)

Last updated
Frogger
Frogger-logo.svg
Genre(s) Platformer
Publisher(s) Konami
First release Frogger
August 1981
Latest releaseFrogger and the Rumbling Ruins
2022

Frogger is a Japanese video game series published and owned by Konami, and developed by multiple studios. The series generally involves a frog trying to travel across roads and rivers of high traffic and danger. The first game in the series was the 1981 arcade game Frogger , and new games in the series have been released in the following decades. In 2021, Frogger became a game show series on Peacock.

Contents

Games

The first game in the series was the 1981 arcade game Frogger , developed by Konami. The gameplay involves a frog trying to travel across roads and rivers of high traffic and danger. It was highly successful, being one of the first video game "smash hits", and "helped pushed the industry into the mainstream", according to PCMag . [1] It was ported to many devices. [2] A sequel, Frogger II: ThreeeDeep! , was released in 1984 for multiple consoles and computers.

Frogger is also the name of a 1997 game for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. There was also a 1998 Game.com version named Frogger Another sequel, Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge was released in 2000 for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Microsoft Windows, and Dreamcast.

The sixth generation of video game consoles, and sometimes Windows, were the platform for Frogger: The Great Quest in 2001, Frogger Beyond in 2002, Frogger's Adventures: The Rescue in 2003, Frogger: Ancient Shadow in 2005, and Konami Kids Playground: Frogger Hop, Skip & Jumpin' Fun for the PlayStation 2 in 2007. [3] The Game Boy Advance had four Frogger games, Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog in 2001, [4] Frogger Advance: The Great Quest in 2002, Frogger's Adventures 2: The Lost Wand in 2002, and Frogger's Journey: The Forgotten Relic in 2003. There were two mobile games in this time, Frogger in 2003, [5] and Frogger Puzzle in 2005.

The seventh generation of video game consoles saw the release of Frogger on the Xbox 360 in 2006, [6] Frogger 2 for the Xbox 360 in 2008, [7] Frogger Returns in 2009, and Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition for the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS, and Android in 2012. That generation of handhelds saw Frogger: Helmet Chaos in 2005 and My Frogger Toy Trials in 2006. The J2ME platform saw Frogger Evolution in 2006 and Frogger Beats 'n' Bounces in 2008. [8] In 2007, Frogger Launch was released for Windows Mobile and Frogger Hop Trivia was released as an arcade game. [9]

Starting in the 2010s, the majority of Frogger games were released for handheld or mobile devices. These included Frogger Inferno for the iOS in 2010, [10] Frogger for mobile devices in 2010, [11] [12] Frogger 3D for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, [13] Frogger Decades for iOS in 2011, Frogger in Toy Town for Apple Arcade in 2019, [14] and Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins for Apple Arcade in 2022. [15] Frogger Pinball was released as a web game in 2011, Frogger's Crackout was released for the Windows Store in 2013, [16] Frogger: Get Hoppin was a casino game released in 2017, [17] and a new version of Frogger is being planned for the Intellivision Amico. [18]

Other media

In 1981, a Frogger board game and jigsaw puzzle were made.[ citation needed ]

In 2020, in preparation for the 40th anniversary of the series, Konami Cross Media announced a Frogger-themed card series and board game. [19] In 2021, NBCUniversal created a Frogger game show TV series for the Peacock streaming service, named as such. [20] [21]

Related Research Articles

<i>Frogger</i> 1981 video game

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and published by Sega. In North America, it was distributed by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct five frogs to their homes by dodging traffic on a busy road, then crossing a river by jumping on floating logs and alligators.

<i>Time Pilot</i> 1982 video game

Time Pilot is a multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto and released by Konami in 1982. It was distributed in the United States by Centuri, and by Atari Ireland in Europe and the Middle East. While engaging in aerial combat, the player-controlled jet flies across open airspace that scrolls indefinitely in all directions. Each level is themed to a different time period. Home ports for the Atari 2600, MSX, and ColecoVision were released in 1983.

<i>Salamander</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Salamander, retitled Life Force in North America and in the Japanese arcade re-release, is a scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Konami. Released in 1986 as a spin-off of Gradius, Salamander introduced a simplified power-up system, two-player cooperative gameplay and both horizontally and vertically scrolling stages. Some of these later became normal for future Gradius games. In Japanese, the title is written using ateji, which are kanji used for spelling foreign words that has been supplanted in everyday use by katakana. Contra, another game by Konami was also given this treatment, with its title written in Japanese as 魂斗羅.

<i>Konami 80s Arcade Gallery</i> 1998 video game

Konami 80's AC Special (known in Japan as Konami 80's Arcade Gallery is a compilation of arcade video games, originally released in arcades in 1998. It was later ported to the PlayStation in 1999, where it was renamed to Konami Arcade Classics for its North American release. It was supposed to be released in September 1999, before the game was delayed to its release date of December 9, 1999. Unlike most of Konami's PlayStation games, the PlayStation version was not released in PAL regions.

<i>Frogger Beyond</i> 2002 video game

Frogger Beyond, known in Japan as Frogger, is a 2002 video game from Konami, released for GameCube and Xbox in 2002–2003, for Windows in March 2003 in North America, and for PlayStation 2 in June 2003. It is a sequel in the Frogger series of games.

<i>Contra</i> (series) Video game series

Contra is a video game series produced by Konami composed primarily of run and gun-style shooting games. The series debuted in February 1987 with the Japanese coin-operated arcade game of the same name, which has since spawned several sequels produced for various platforms.

<i>NHL Hitz 2002</i> 2001 video game

NHL Hitz 2002 is an arcade-style ice hockey video game released by Midway. It is the first game of the NHL Hitz series. Midway launched this game along with NFL Blitz.

<i>Virtua Tennis 3</i> 2006 sports video game

Virtua Tennis 3, known in Japan as Sega Professional Tennis: Power Smash 3, is the second arcade game sequel to Sega's tennis game franchise, Virtua Tennis. The arcade version of Virtua Tennis 3 is powered by the PC-based Sega Lindbergh arcade system board. Ports for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 consoles are also available with a traditional collection of tennis minigames that the home versions of Virtua Tennis are known for. In 2009, Sega updated and re-created Virtua Tennis 3 in Virtua Tennis 2009.

<i>Frogger: Helmet Chaos</i> 2005 video game

Frogger: Helmet Chaos is a video game of the action-adventure genre released in 2005 by Konami Computer Entertainment Hawaii. It was released on the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable. It is the first 3D portable Frogger title.

<i>Small Arms</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Small Arms is an action video game, developed by Gastronaut Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released for the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2006 at Xbox Live Arcade.

<i>Frogger: Ancient Shadow</i> 2005 video game

Frogger: Ancient Shadow is a platforming video game developed by Hudson Soft and released in 2005 by Konami as a sequel to Frogger's Adventures: The Rescue. It is based on the original 1981 Frogger arcade game, and contains similar hop-and-dodge style gameplay.

<i>TwinBee</i> 1985 video game

TwinBee is a vertically scrolling shooter released by Konami as an arcade video game in 1985 in Japan. Along with Sega's Fantasy Zone, released a year later, TwinBee is credited as an early archetype of the "cute 'em up" type in its genre. It was the first game to run on Konami's Bubble System hardware. TwinBee was ported to the Family Computer and MSX in 1986 and has been included in numerous compilations released in later years. The original arcade game was released outside Japan for the first time in the Nintendo DS compilation Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits. A mobile phone version was released for i-mode Japan phones in 2003 with edited graphics.

<i>NBA Jam</i> (2003 video game) 2003 video game

NBA Jam is a 3-on-3 basketball video game published by Acclaim Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2003. It is part of the NBA Jam series. The game was announced on May 12, 2003. The play-by-play is voiced by Tim Kitzrow. There was also originally to be a GameCube version of the game.

<i>Trials HD</i> 2009 video game developed by RedLynx

Trials HD is an Xbox Live Arcade game developed by RedLynx and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on August 12, 2009 as part of the second annual Xbox Live Summer of Arcade and was later re-released in a retail pack alongside Limbo and 'Splosion Man in April 2011. It is a 2.5D puzzle/racing game. The player must guide a trial motorcycle with exaggerated physics through various obstacles to reach each stage's finish line. On September 6, 2012 it was announced that a Microsoft Windows version of Trials HD would be bundled inside a special version of Trials Evolution, dubbed Trials Evolution: Gold Edition—although this version changes the physics of the game. It is the third game in the series. On February 11, 2016, Microsoft added Trials HD as part of its backwards compatibility program for Xbox One.

<i>Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game</i> 2010 video game

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Chengdu and published by Ubisoft, based on the Scott Pilgrim series of Oni Press graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley and tying in with the release of the film of the same name. The game was originally released digitally for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network in August 2010 before being delisted in December 2014. An updated re-release for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One and Google Stadia titled Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition, was released on January 14, 2021.

References

  1. Wilson, Jeffrey L. (2011-09-07). "Frogger Turns 30". PCMag . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2024-03-03. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  2. "Frogger (1981)". IGDB . Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  3. "Hop, Skip, and Jump". The Seasoned Schemer. The MIT Press. 1995. pp. 36–61. doi:10.7551/mitpress/6109.003.0005. ISBN   978-0-262-28788-3 . Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  4. Harris, Craig (2001-12-13). "Frogger's Adventure: Temple of the Frog". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  5. "Frogger (2003)". IDGB. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  6. Perry, Douglass C. (2006-07-12). "Frogger Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2024-08-09. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  7. Ahearn, Nate (2008-06-11). "Frogger 2 Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  8. Andrew, Keith (2008-08-08). "Frogger: Beats & Bounces". Pocket Gamer . Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  9. "Frogger Hop Trivia (2007)". IGDB. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  10. Jacobson, Sarah (2010-04-04). "Frogger Inferno for iPhone". Macworld . IDG Communications. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  11. Buchanan, Levi (2010-11-04). "Frogger Windows Phone 7 Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  12. "Frogger (2010)". IGDB. Archived from the original on 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  13. "Frogger 3D Review". Nintendo Life. Hookshot Media. 2011-10-08. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  14. Goslin, Austen (2019-09-10). "Apple announces a new, exclusive Frogger from indie darling Q-Games". Polygon . Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  15. Kennedy, Victoria (2022-06-01). "Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins hops onto Apple Arcade this month". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2022-06-04. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  16. "Frogger's Crackout (2013)". IGDB. Archived from the original on 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  17. Cooper, Daniel (2017-02-24). "You can now gamble while playing 'Frogger'". Engadget . Yahoo! Inc. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  18. Altland, Rikka (2020-03-18). "Intellivision Amico console targets a fall release with new woodgrain stylings". 9 to 5 Toys. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  19. Buckley, Madeleine (2020-12-01). "CELEBRATE 40 YEARS OF 'FROGGER' WITH NEW MERCH". The Pop Insider. Archived from the original on 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  20. Porter, Rick (2021-02-23). "'Frogger' Competition Series Based on Video Game Leaps to Peacock". The Hollywood Reporter . Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  21. Burton Senior, Jamie (2021-09-09). "How Peacock Turned the Video Game 'Frogger' Into a Real-Life Game Show". Newsweek . Newsweek Publishing. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2024-09-04.