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We've all seen the tabletop retro arcade machines at a hipster-ish coffee shop, or maybe at
a family friendly restaurant, and honestly, who hasn't been tempted to put in a few coins
to relive (or just try out) a few classics? Eventually the rose-tinted glasses aren't
enough and you realize why we've moved on - it's nice to pay a visit to the forefathers
of modern gaming, but you wouldn't want to stay there.
Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition attempts to gussy-up the original classic and package
it for a modern audience, but unlike its console releases the multiplayer aspect - the one
thing that managed to separate it from the arcade original has been curbed with AI-only
opponents.
Aside from playing a smoothly scaled version of the original gameplay, you can choose to
play in one of 5 different modes. A sixth is on offer, but it's merely an amalgamation
of all the others.
These modes include a pixel-painting game where any move outside the image results in
death; three 'versus' modes that include variations on 'King of the Hill', 'Capture the Flag'
and an area control based mode; lastly, if you fancy yourself a true hardcore Frogger
player, a 'twin' mode forces you to get two frogs home at a time.
By now, some younger or newer gamers may be lost. Frogger, for those who aren't familiar,
is a game about survival and procreation - more specifically, you need to cross a hazardous
highway, then brave the river rapids, only to plant down in one of the available slots
at the top of the screen. Fill them all up and you move on to a harder stage.
In a way the graphics have been revitalized by using a voxel-like system where each pixel
is in fact a 3D cube. This makes for pretty explosions when anything dies, but on smaller
iOS devices it's honestly hard to make out any real change from the original. Of course
there are plenty of alternative 'themes' to choose from, including Castlevania, Contra
and DDR, but no matter the skin or music loop you choose, it feels the same.
As mentioned already, the inability to play against friends means the AI supported stages
quickly wear out their welcome, leaving the arcade original as the only real harbor for
lasting replay value. Sadly for Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition, we already have plenty of
remakes and 'clones' on offer already, making this one for hardcore fans who enjoy the pretty
themes they can choose from.