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In the late ’90s to early ’00s, Hasbro and a few other companies including Activision got made some new titles in classic first and second-gen game series like Pong, Centipede, and Frogger after getting the rights to those classic games.\u00a0 Opinions on these games in restrospect seem to often be mediocre, but I got and always liked the Centipede remake from Hasbro, and have liked most of their other ones I’ve played too, including Frogger 2, Missile Command, Pong: The Next Level, and Q*Bert. Activision’s Space Invaders is fun, though I haven’t played Asteroids.\u00a0 The only one I disliked really was Frogger, the first one, but I haven’t played too much of it.\u00a0 These late ’90s to early ’00s classic reboots are good games! I like most of them, and they are absolutely worth checking out.<\/p>\n
On that note, though reviews for the first Frogger remake (released on PC and PSX in about 1997) weren’t great, it clearly sold well, because its success inspired Hasbro to make many more classic remakes.\u00a0 Several years later, Hasbro made a sequel to the game, Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge.\u00a0 It was released on PC, Playstation, and Dreamcast. A handheld title for the GBC, called simply Frogger 2, was also made; Frogger 1 for GB and GBC is a port of the arcade original, not a new title, but the second one is entirely new.\u00a0 I will review that game separately.\u00a0 The two games both released in 2000. I don’t remember hearing a lot about the games, though I think they got okay reviews.\u00a0 However, when I got Frogger 2 for Dreamcast in 2011 or so, my expectations weren’t especially high; sure, I’d liked some of Hasbro’s remakes, but I remembered the poor reviews of their Frogger 1… so, well, let’s just say that the game far exceeded my expectations.\u00a0 Frogger 2 has some issues, certainly, but is a pretty good game overall.<\/p>\n
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GameFAQ’s DC version screenshots are unfortunately bad quality.<\/p><\/div>\n
Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge is, like the first new Frogger game before it, a 3d arcade-style platform\/action game with Frogger-inspired gameplay.\u00a0 This game is hugely improved over the first one.\u00a0 I find it interesting how much it feels like the classic original title — while it is a new game, they clearly were working from that early ’80s playbook as well.\u00a0 It doesn’t change as much as people would think from the original formula, and that is part of why it’s such a good, and challenging, game.<\/p>\n
Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge is, as the title suggests, a sequel to the first game. Wanting revenge from his defeat, the evil croc Swampy has kidnapped numerous baby frogs!\u00a0 Now Frogger and his friends have to go rescue them.\u00a0 Yeah, it’s a pretty basic plot, but it’s good enough I guess, and some of the CG cutscenes are amusing. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 In story mode, Frogger and the pink girl frog Lilly Frog team up to rescue the babies from Swampy.\u00a0 You play as each in certain levels, though functionally they are the same.\u00a0 In addition to the main two though, there are five other frog and toad characters playable in the other modes. Some of them must be unlocked.<\/p>\n
The most important mode is of course the main Story mode, but there are several other modes of play.\u00a0 First there’s the expected single stage mode, where you can replay any level you’ve beaten and try to collect everything or complete the level in a faster time.\u00a0 This is good for going back and improving performance in levels later, after beating the game.\u00a0 Second there’s Super Retro mode, which I will explain later.\u00a0 Last, there’s a four player multiplayer mode.<\/p>\n
Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge uses 3d, overhead-angle graphics.\u00a0 The game has decent graphics, but doesn’t come close to pushing the DC’s hardware.\u00a0 This game was clearly designed to run on the PS1 also, and the mostly overhead camera does not allow for sweeping vistas or the like.\u00a0 Still, the game looks nice enough, and has good sharp graphics, as expected on Dreamcast.\u00a0 As for the music, it’s there, but forgettable.<\/p>\n
Despite the 3d graphics, the game plays traditionally — like the original Frogger games, this game works on a grid.\u00a0 Pressing a direction on the d-pad will move your frog one square in the direction you press.\u00a0 There’s no auto-movement, you need to press for each move.\u00a0 Also, it often allows you to walk off sides of platforms, so watch out! Don’t expect everything to have walls, that would make things too easy. The camera is far enough back that you can get a good view and see all of the potential dangers around you; in the first game the camera was far too close.\u00a0 In addition, you usually can’t kill enemies, either; you do far more avoiding threats than defeating enemies.\u00a0 This is key to the Frogger feel, if you could just kill the monsters at will it wouldn’t be as tense, or as much like classic Frogger. There is a powerup that lets you destroy some, but still, there is far more avoiding than destroying in this game.\u00a0 The characters can take a couple of hits, but not many, and of course instant-death hazards are everywhere.<\/p>\n
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A later level.<\/p><\/div>\n
In addition to standard movement (that is, jumping to the tiles around you with the d-pad), Frogger and the other characters also can jump upwards up to a higher platform in front of them with A, jump forward over two tiles in the direction you are facing by double tapping A (DC controls), use a Power Croak which lets you identify if any babies are nearby, and use your Bug-Seeking Tongue which lets you grab bugs, which will each refill your health one.\u00a0 There are several powerups as well, including extra lives and a quick-hop powerup which allows you to move by just holding down directions on the dpad, as well as a few others.<\/p>\n
In each level, your primary goal is to get to the end, but along the way you should find the five kidnapped baby frogs.\u00a0 You’ll need them if you want to really complete the stage. Some are kind of hidden, so explore around and find them.\u00a0 There are also 25 gems to find in each level. Some are well hidden, as you’d expect. There are 16 levels in story mode. More might be nice, but sixteen felt like enough to me, considering the challenge and replay value — collecting everything and getting a good time add plenty of replay for anyone interested.\u00a0 The difficulty gradually increases as expected as you go through the game. There’s a nice variety of settings, and the graphics are pretty nice.\u00a0 Sure, this is a port and not a DC original, but the sharp, clear graphics look good and certainly far better than anything the PS1 could put on the screen. (Oh, the game is d-pad only; no analog stick support.\u00a0 Given the strict grid system movement though, that makes sense.\u00a0 Some levels, like the Aztec pyramid-style stage, gave me a lot of trouble.\u00a0 Between worlds there are short CG cutscenes showing the next bit of the story. If you die in a level you restart from the last checkpoint in the stage, but if you run out of lives and get game over — and with only five lives, this is easy to do — you’ll have to start the level over.\u00a0 Nice, classic design.\u00a0 Exploring each level, figuring out what to do at each challenge, and then getting through successfully was both fun and rewarding.<\/p>\n
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A pyramid.<\/p><\/div>\n
Super Retro mode stages are unlocked as you make progress through the main campaign. There are ten levels in this mode.\u00a0 Each one is a level played in a straight overhead perspective, original Frogger style, and your goal is to get five frogs to the five spots at the other end of the level.\u00a0 That is, it’s a modern update of the original Frogger’s gameplay.\u00a0 I loved these levels, and they were one of my favorite things about the game; the main game is very good as well, but these were just fantastic.\u00a0 The levels are set in settings from the main game, but the stage designs get nasty, and some of these levels are pretty hard to just finish, much less finish with a best time.\u00a0 So many moving platforms to move between, so few safe spots… Fun stuff.\u00a0 Frustrating when you’re losing, certainly, but fun. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
As for the multiplayer, I haven’t played it myself, but there are three multiplayer games for up to four players on the DC, or on PSX as well with a multitap.\u00a0 One is a race mode with two specially designed courses — try to be the first player to the end.\u00a0 Snake mode is a cross between the classic game Snake and Tron –you create blocks behind you as you move, can’t stop, and try to get the other players to crash into your trails.\u00a0 Your trail gets longer as you grab more coins.\u00a0 There are three stages. Last is Time Trial mode.\u00a0 Played on three stages from Super Retro mode, there are five babies in the stage and the players try to get as many as they can.\u00a0 The player with the most wins.<\/p>\n
Overall, Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge is a good game.\u00a0 The graphics, audio, and story are decent enough to do, but it’s the gameplay that carries it.\u00a0 The simple, oldschool style is pretty fun. Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge gets a solid B<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 The game probably plays just as well on Playstation, but doesn’t look nearly as nice, of course, so get the game for Dreamcast or PC for sure.\u00a0 After this game’s apparent success, Konami took back the rights to the Frogger series that they had originally created, so all subsequent Frogger games come from Konami.\u00a0 However, the same team that made Swampy’s Revenge made another similar title a few years later, sans the Frogger license — Zapper: One Wicked Cricket.\u00a0 There are two versions, one for GC\/PS2\/XBox and the other for GBA.\u00a0 Both versions are good as well; I cover the GC version in my recent GC Game Opinion Summaries list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another review from 2012!\u00a0 This is a good game, and the review was mostly good as-is too.\u00a0 I did improve a few parts and get new screenshots, but that’s about it. Title: Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge Developer: Blitz Games Publisher: … Continue reading