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Frogger 2 Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Frogger 2 Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Ribbet, Ribbet!
This One’s About Frogs

I thought Frogger was in the past! I hadn’t sat down to play Frogger since the original PlayStation. That game wasn’t all that fun, but it was a nice twist from the original. The first attempt at Frogger on the Xbox Live Arcade was less than fair, and this second one greatly improves upon the formula but still fails to deliver. So what does Frogger 2 have to offer and who should look into it? You’ll find the answers below:

Frogger 2 screenshot

Once upon a time, there was a game available for download at the Xbox Live Arcade. People had heard of the title before, and they happily remembered how much fun they used to have when playing it on their Atari 2600 or at the arcade. This new game only cost ten dollars, and since it was about 27 years after the first one came out, everyone thought: “Wow. This must be great. I can’t wait to see the graphics upgrade and all the fun new levels included!”

Several megabytes and ten dollars later, the game was added to our Xbox Live Arcade collection. The game starts with an introduction to the main story. A UFO falls from the sky, and an unlucky but extremely cute alien named Pico pops out. Frogger is hangin’ out at the pond and meets the interesting creature. It turns out the spaceship has broken into pieces and several of them have been scattered throughout the area (Anyone remember Pikimin?). Frogger, excited like no other, accepts to help his new friend and sets off in search of the lost UFO parts.

Frogger 2 screenshot

The childish and static visuals, similar to those of a kid’s story book, are getting us all excited. After three seconds of preparation, the adventure starts. The screen is filled with lots of bushes of the same shape and color, pink flowers, a river, and logs and water lilies passing by. After learning the basic controls, we commence the quest, advancing at a good pace. We gobble up a few coins along the way (20 of them give you an extra life), and finally get to a check point. There we learn you can turn the frog around without moving a space by pressing the left or right shoulder buttons on the controller (LB / RB).

The game seems rather easy once you get the hang of it, but beware; not everything is as easy as it looks! Later on, we run into an area full of orange snakes. Moving at a careful pace and with their tongues sticking out, they go from left to right and from right to left. Bees move slowly, while drawing a square shape in the grass. We approach them carefully and, all of a sudden, the game’s reset to the last checkpoint. What happened? Don’t ask me! Last time I checked, bees only stung when they touched you, but this one just hit me while facing away…better luck next time, I guess.

Frogger 2 screenshot

Trying to remain concentrated despite the dreadful soundtrack in this stage, we finally reach the goal. Oh, Yeah. There it is! The antenna! Now we can go find all the other parts of the ship! And so we go onto the next stage. This location is full of lava, though there are some stable platforms where we can be safe. Smaller platforms move up and down and right to left. The visuals are almost making us cry. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful! Even the coins have a shiny sparkle next to them (of course, I’m kidding).

Frogger 2 screenshot

Things get better as you advance to the following stages. You’ll hang out at the factory, the woods, etc. We run into new obstacles like electrified gates, more moving platforms, and those darn electric robots that go back and forth. Sometimes crazy bosses make things even tougher by attacking us at the end of the stage.

At that point the music is perforating our eardrums. I don’t know what’s best, listening to a Dora The Explorer episode or this! It doesn’t seem to get any better, and the repetitive sound the frog makes every time it jumps is really getting to me. As if that wasn’t enough, some platforms move too fast, and sometimes Frogger lands on the edge while others he just falls to his doom for no explanation. Talk about frustrating…Okay. I’m done. I’m just going to save the game and start fresh another day. Luckily, I can save whenever I want, which is great. If my patience runs out, I can easily quit and run away. Maybe next time I’ll even change the color of the frog to yellow, blue, or red. Interesting…

The best way to play the game is in very small doses. Also, you’ll be better off taking it step by step, timing your jumps correctly, and not advancing further than necessary. Besides, the screen won’t show you exactly what’s coming next, so you might have to backtrack a few times to find the right path. You can also stop by certain areas and pick up music notes. By collecting four of them you’ll open up a warp that will take you to a secret area full of coins. You can keep tucking away the coins till you get a couple extra lives.

It looks like after all, with or without bosses, this game is not that different from old-school Frogger, and the visuals are too simple and cutesy to appeal to the masses. The sounds, repetitive and sickly sweet, will drive you crazy, and the controls will throw you off every few seconds. So what’s there to like about Frogger 2? Perhaps the online gameplay, as long as you can find opponents in the ranked, quick, or custom matches. You can race against up to three others in one of five maps, or you can compete against someone else to see who keeps the precious jewel. My precious…!

Frogger 2 screenshot

This game has no excuse. It’s very expensive for what it has to offer, and if I were to polish my Flash and ActionScript knowledge, I could have created it myself! Unless you love Frogger to death, don’t be fooled by Xbox Live shovelware! I guess it’s not just for the Wii anymore…

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.0 Graphics
A game like Frogger doesn’t require much detail, but I think the devs took it the wrong way. It’s very childish-looking and lacks creativity. 2.9 Control
The analog stick will betray you when you least expect it, but you can also use the D-pad. There’s no consistency in the collision detection system. 2.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Sounds like a Noggin show or a day at the circus…childish and repetitive. 3.1 Play Value
If you get the hang of it and enjoy it enough, there are 15 levels to plow through, plus online multiplayer for those who like to compete. 2.6 Overall Rating – Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Gameplay: Dodge new enemies, obstacles, and engage in thrilling boss battles.
  • Hours of fun: Take on more than fifteen levels of action across five exotic environments.
  • Multiplayer modes: Challenge your friends as you compete in two new online multiplayer modes. Try Race Mode to see who can finish an enhanced version of the original Frogger level first. Or hang on to the jewel in Jewel Duel, and prevent your friends from taking the jewel.
  • Screen Resolution: Up to 720p (Standard HDTV, Widescreen).

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