Frog Dude

From Sega Retro

FrogDude title.png

Frog Dude
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Twilight
Development timeframe: 1991-11 to 1992-02
Status of prototype(s): Prototype ROM released

Frog Dude is a platformer for the Sega Mega Drive developed by Twilight sometime in the mid-1990s. It was never released.

Andy Swann, a programmer at the firm released a prototype version of the game online in 2014. The ROM was originally demonstrated at ECTS 1993.

Very little progress is thought to have been made on Frog Dude. Though the prototype is fully playable, it consists of a small stage littered with apples but devoid of enemies or obstacles. The player can switch between "human" and "frog" form with A. B presumably attacks (although there is nothing to attack) and C jumps. While in frog form the player can jump higher at the expense of speed. B can also be held, Super Mario Bros.-style to make the character run, although the speed increase is fairly minimal.

It is impossible to win or lose. The player is not affected by what is assumed to be bottomless pits, nor is there any way to complete the level. There is also no music or sound.

History

Development

According to an interview, most of the game was developed between November 1991 and February 1992, during a period of "down time" for the company after finishing work on the Amiga and Atari ST versions of Mega Twins. Andy Swann programmed the game (using groundwork developed by Stuart Cook) and Peter Tattersall created the art.

The game was not in development long enough to get a story, however plans were made to have the character swing with his tongue. The static and strangely placed arms in the prototype were meant to throw the character up high.

Development was shelved in favour of Alfred Chicken which was also being worked on by Twilight, while Swann spent most of 1992 writing the Amiga version of Cool World. Despite their efforts, Twilight did not release a single Mega Drive game during the console's run.

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1 93b50bc93a3cbd510190fa7f0920ca4e07ba86ab
97.4kB Download.svg (23 kB) (info)

External links

References