Frogger

Frogger is a classic arcade action game that was developed by Konami in 1981. The game starts with three, five, or seven frogs, depending on the settings. The objective of the game is to guide a frog to each of the empty homes at the top of the screen. The player uses a 4-direction joystick to hop the frog once in the desired direction. Frogger can be played either single-player or with two players alternating turns.

The game is divided into two parts. The lower half of the screen contains a busy road filled with speeding vehicles such as race cars, dune buggies, trucks, and bulldozers. The player must guide the frog between opposing lanes of traffic to avoid becoming roadkill.

After crossing the road, a median strip separates the two major parts of the screen. The upper half consists of a river with logs, alligators, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen in opposite directions. By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of alligators and turtles, the player can guide the frog to safety. However, the player must avoid snakes, otters, and the open mouths of alligators.

The very top of the screen contains five “frog homes”, which are the destinations for each frog. These sometimes contain bonus insects or deadly alligators. When all five frogs are directed home, the game progresses to the next level with increased difficulty. After five levels, the difficulty briefly eases and yet again progressively increases after each level. The timer gives 30 seconds to guide each frog into one of the homes, and resets back to 60 ticks whenever a life is lost or a frog reaches home safely.

Frogger was positively received and is considered one of the greatest video games ever made. It was followed by numerous clones and several home-only sequels in the Frogger series. The 1982 Atari 2600 version from Parker Brothers sold 4 million cartridges, making it one of the best-selling Atari 2600 games. By 2005, 20 million copies of its various home video game incarnations had been sold worldwide. The game continues to be popular and has inspired many sequels and adaptations. Enjoy playing Frogger!