Konamitober- The one that hopped over the top: Frogger!

Hey Arcaders!

If Scramble was Konami’s first hit, Then this next game was the big hop into the stratosphere- everyone knows this arcade game from 1981, Frogger!

The objective of the game is to guide a frog to each of the empty homes at the top of the screen. The game starts with three, five, or seven frogs, depending on the machine’s settings. Losing all frogs is game over. The player uses the 4-direction joystick to hop the frog once. Frogger is either single-player or two players alternating.

The frog starts at the bottom of the screen, which contains a horizontal road occupied by speeding cars, trucks, and bulldozers. The player must guide the frog between opposing lanes of traffic to avoid becoming roadkill and losing a life. After the road, a median strip separates the two major parts of the screen. The upper part consists of a river with logs, alligators, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen. By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of turtles and alligators, the player can guide the frog to safety. The player must avoid snakes, otters, and the open mouths of alligators. A brightly colored female frog is sometimes on a log and may be carried for bonus points. The top of the screen contains five “frog homes”. These sometimes contain bonus insects or deadly alligators.

The opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children’s song called “Inu No Omawarisan” (“The Dog Policeman”). Other Japanese tunes include the themes to the anime series Hana no Ko Lunlun and Rascal the Raccoon. The American release has the same opening song plus “Yankee Doodle”.

 

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I loved the cabinets Sega made at this time- very warm and inviting.

Let’s take a look at some gameplay- and see what it takes to get all the frogs home!

There were so many ports and sequels of this frogtastic game… It would take over 40 years to see them all! Let’s check em’ out!

The first sequel was the best in my opinion- Frogger 2: Threedeep!

The frog was so beloved, there was a cartoon on the amazing Saturday Supercade…

…On an episode of Seinfeld…

… And even a game show!

Arcade 1UP released a Frogger cabinet as well!

You can now play the arcade original on your modern systems through the Arcade Archives. No relation.

 

 

Have you ever Played Frogger? Have you ever gotten all your frogs home?

Let me know in the comments!

Keep Playin’ Like It’s 1981!