Superfrog Sells Out! (Superfrog)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Superfrog
Date:	04/08/06 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun and definitive platform style, with great graphics.

Disadvantages: Dated, and nothing too original.

Construct a basic platform game, sell sponsorship rights to an energy drink manufacturer, and think of an animal that hasn’t been anthropomorphised in any major video game manner before. Well, apart from in Frogger, but that’s different. Enter Team 17’s surprisingly entertaining sell-out platform game, ‘Superfrog!’

What fellow Amiga character Zool did for Chupa Chups and James Pond did for Penguin, and what Smith & Jones, alas, did for anyone willing to give them money, Superfrog does for Lucozade. Not only does the player’s health counter increase by collecting bottles of the disgusting amber stuff, but it’s revealed in the nice animated introduction that Superfrog acquired his powers of super-speed, might and limited flight from drinking that very same fizzy nectar. Leaving issues of artistic credibility aside, Superfrog was one of the finest platform games to grace the Amiga system, a lovingly detailed, intricate and whimsical romp through six worlds and multiple levels in pursuit of Superfrog’s human girlfriend and the witch who turned him into an amphibian in the first place.

Superfrog leapt onto the Amiga 600 and 1200 in 1993, two years after Sonic set the standard for platform games. Team 17’s designers owe a lot to Sega’s blue hedgehog, especially evident in Superfrog’s impressive speed, but it’s also clear that they’ve done a lot of research to come up with something special, a perfected platform game made by dedicated fans of the genre. Each stage features hidden areas, some more obscure than others, providing a whole dimension of replay value. Not that the game itself is a breeze, as it becomes increasingly difficult in relatively even steps as each level progresses.

Gameplay is the standard platform fare: the player controls Superfrog with the Amiga’s joystick, which can be moved left or right to move the character, with up to jump and down to duck. This game makes full use of the Amiga’s analogue response as opposed to the digital joypads of competing game consoles, as pushing the joystick further in each direction achieves a greater effect, whether it be increased speed or buoyancy respectively. Enemies can mostly be dealt with by bouncing on their heads, although this can be tricky, but Superfrog can collect a little green ball thing to use for less risky missile attacks. Other collectables include the afore-mentioned Lucozade bottles for more health energy, wings that allow a momentary period of flight (often essential for progress) and extra lives. In order for each level to be cleared, the player must not only find the exit, usually at the far right of the stage, but must also collect the required number of coins. Again, similar in premise to the equally speedy Zool.

The game excels in sheer playability as much as it impresses with its cartoon graphics. The opening animation and title screen / box art was created by popular Amiga animator Eric Schwartz, who provided comic strips and animations for top selling Amiga magazines of the early 90s such as Amiga Format and CU Amiga. The in-game graphics can’t be expected to live up to this standard, but the main character and enemy sprites are all animated smoothly and delicately, to the extent that it almost feels like controlling a cartoon. The colours are bright and garish, and you might get pretty sick of green by the end of the woodland stage, but there are no flaws to pick apart here, especially for a 16-bit release. That said, Superfrog’s inane, relentless smile does start to irritate me a bit after I get impaled on spikes for the fifth time in a row. The game’s music isn’t up to the standards of the Sonic series, but its bouncy melodies suit the graphics perfectly, and sound effects are always appropriate.

Superfrog fits on a single floppy disk, meaning there’s no annoying disk-swapping. The game can’t be saved to the hard drive, meaning that save games aren’t possible. Instead, passwords can be obtained from the fruit machine bonus levels at the end of each stage, although these aren’t always forthcoming. Progress is extremely difficult, which will be a positive thing if you enjoy games that require patience and skill, but will only be a source of frustration if you’re looking for something to pick up and speed through. I’ve never managed to complete the game. The game proved fairly successful, despite being overshadowed by the Team’s later releases such as the smash hit ‘Worms,’ and was re-released for both the Amiga CD-32 and PCs of the time.

This is as good as independent platform games get, despite being very taxing. The main character looks good, but it was clear he was never going to be the Amiga’s answer to Sonic or Mario, however much of a cool wise guy the box art mistakenly tried to make him. Does Superfrog ever track down his girlfriend? Does the witch reverse the spell and turn him back into a human? Would his girlfriend really prefer a weedy, average human being over a supercharged man-size frog? I never found out.

Did the less-than-subtle product placement cause a brief surge in popularity for Lucozade energy drinks in the 7-14 consumer age group? No.

Summary: Created by Team 17 for the Amiga.