Review: Frogger (Atari 2600)

In this review, we try another port of the strategy game Frogger. This version is for the Atari 2600.

This port was released in 1982. Previously, we reviewed the Atari 5200 port.

Surprisingly, this game largely remains intact for this system. So, we’ll simply discuss whatever differences there are.

One thing I noticed was that it is possible to simply ride the objects in the river off screen. You simply re-emerge on the other side. In other versions, you die when you hit the side of the screen. This certainly made the goal on the far left hand side of the screen easier to access. While it was still technically the hardest given the short reflex time allotted while wrapping around the screen, it was only marginally harder to accomplish which was nice to see.

Graphically, some liberties were made to accommodate the lower hardware specs of the system. While understandable, it was annoying to see the frog flicker with every line the animal occupies. While not a huge impairment to the overall experience, it was a bit annoying.

The audio was pretty good for a game on this system. There was even some small bits of music laid into the gameplay. The audio was also pretty impressive for a game on this system.

Overall, I was worried when I thought about playing this version simply because of the systems reputation for mutilating some games that played well on other systems. This was actually surprisingly well done. You can wrap around the screen in this version. The graphics were good minus the flickering for every line the frog occupies. The music was great to hear and the sound effects were also quite decent. A nice interpretation of this game to say the least.

Overall
Furthest point in game: High score: 1834

General gameplay: 19/25
Replay value: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 4/5

Overall rating: 76%

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.