DESCRIPTION

Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge continues the lillypad-leaping fracas started by the original 1980 arcade game Frogger and continued through several sequels (and countless ripoffs) over the last two decades. Though the Frog himself has undergone several graphical and motivational renovations over the years, the idea remains the same: jump like a madman at all times, and try not to get killed.

In the interest of modernizing the game, Blitz incorporates a series of animated 3D cutscenes between every level, as well as at the beginning of the game, which relay the between-action proceedings. Frogger and his significant other Lillie Frog are calmly sitting around one day, minding their own business, with their dozens of illegitimate children bounding all around them. Never quick to notice something amiss, they remain blissfully unaware of their children being grabbed one by one, and stuffed into a bag, by the evil Swampy the Alligator-or-crocodile. Needless to say, once they notice, they are mad. . . and what does a frog do when it is mad? It hops around, eats butterflies, finds its kids, and not much else.

The environments that Frogger and Lillie Frog hop through are all three-dimensional, with the camera angle frequently changing to suit new perspectives on the level. Frogger 2 supports most 3D cards, and provides resolutions from 640x480 to 1024x768, optionally windowed, to play in. Musically, the title ranges from funk to jazz to rock, and provides a variety of amphibious-mammal related sound effects.

Frogger 2's title screen involves Frogger hopping to choose either setting options or starting the game, and is indicative of the whole nature of the game, hopping. Once the normal game is underway, the main screen takes over, and basically the entire display is devoted to the play area. There is a display for the number of your children you have found in the level, and one for your number of lives remaining, but other than that, the entire screen is game area.

Most every level of Frogger 2 takes place in a different environment from the one before, often with new backgrounds and enemies. The objective of the level remains the same, however: collect your five babies using any means necessary, eat a bunch of insects, and try not to get squashed, sliced, eaten, blown up, drowned, or killed in any other of the myriad ways the game wants you dead, and salvage your relationship with your estranged mate.

There is no question that Frogger 2 does its best to provide the PC market with a console or arcade-style game, and preserve the legacy of Frogger for a few more years. Whether it succeeds, however, is entirely up to you, taking Frogger's life into your hands. Godspeed, and good luck, frog controller. ~ Drew Hunt, All Game Guide