Frogger

Frogger (フロッガー) is a 1981 arcade game developed by Konami and licensed for North American distribution by Sega-Gremlin. It is regarded as a classic from the golden age of video arcade games, noted for its novel gameplay and theme. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one by crossing a busy road and navigating a river full of hazards. The Frogger coin-op is an… early example of a game with more than one CPU, as it used two Z80 processors.[4] By 2005, Frogger in its various home video game incarnations had sold 20 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States.[5] The game starts with three, five, or seven frogs (lives), depending on the settings used by the operator. The player guides a frog which starts at the bottom of the screen, to his home in one of 5 slots at the top of the screen. The lower half of the screen contains a road with motor vehicles, which in various versions include cars, trucks, buses, dune buggies, bulldozers, vans, taxis, bicyclists, and/or motorcycles, speeding along it horizontally. The upper half of the screen consists of a river with logs, alligators, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen. The very top of the screen contains five "frog homes" which are the destinations for each frog. Every level is timed; the player must act quickly to finish each level before the time expires. The only player control is the 4 direction joystick used to navigate the frog; each push in a direction causes the frog to hop once in that direction. On the bottom half of the screen, the player must successfully guide the frog between opposing lanes of trucks, cars, and other vehicles, to avoid becoming roadkill. The middle of the screen, after the road, contains a median where the player must prepare to navigate the river. By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of turtles and alligators except the alligator jaws, the player can guide his or her frog safely to one of the empty lily pads. The player must avoid alligators sticking out at one of the five "frog homes", snakes, and otters in the river, but may catch bugs or escort a lady frog for bonuses. When all five frogs are directed home, the game progresses to the next level, with increased difficulty. After five levels, the game gets briefly easier yet again gets progressively harder to the next fifth level. Softline in 1982 stated that "Frogger has earned the ominous distinction of being 'the arcade game with the most ways to die'".[6] There are many different ways to lose a life (illustrated by a "skull and crossbones" symbol where the frog was), including: Being hit by or running into a road vehicle Jumping into the river's water Running into snakes, otters or into an alligator's jaws in the river Jumping into a home invaded by an alligator Staying on top of a diving turtle until it has completely submerged Riding a log, alligator, or turtle off the side of the screen Jumping into a home already occupied by a frog Jumping into the side of a home or the bush Running out of time Frogger is available as a standard upright or cocktail cabinet. The controls consist solely of a 4-direction joystick used to guide the frog's jump direction. The number of simultaneous players is one, and the game has a maximum of two players. The game's opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children's song called Inu No Omawarisan (The Dog Policeman). The song remained intact in the US release. Other Japanese tunes that are played during gameplay include the themes to the anime Hana no Ko Lunlun and Araiguma Rascal.