Frogger

n/a

Frogger
System(s): Arcade (Galaxian hardware), Sega Mega Drive, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, IBM PC, Intellivision, Macintosh, Odyssey², TI-99/4A. Timex Sinclair 1000, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, VIC-20
Publisher: JP Konami US/EU Sega Majesco Parker Brothers
Developer: Konami Morning Star Multimedia Parker Brothers Template:TI994a James Wickstead Design Associates
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2 (alternating)
Release Date RRP Code US 1983 $? ? EU 1983 £? ? US 1983 $? ? EU 1983 £? ? US 1983 $? ? EU 1983 £? ? BR 1983 $? ?
ESRB

Mega Drive title screen

Frogger (フロッガー) is a video game originally developed by Konami and released in 1981. It runs on Namco's Galaxian hardware, and was a huge success for the company during the early 1980s. It was also a huge success for Sega, who picked up publishing and distribution rights for the game in western territories.

Gameplay

The basic idea of the game is to move the frog across the road avoiding cars, then across the river making sure not to fall off platforms to get to one of five desitnations. Once Frogger has got to all five desitinations, the difficulty increases, often by making the game move faster, reducing the amount of time or adding new obstacles.

Sequels and Re-releases

Sega distributed three different arcade versions of Frogger, one of which ran on the modified version of the Galaxian hardware used by Nichibutsu's Moon Cresta.

Between 1982 and 1984, Frogger was brought to almost every home console and computer on general sale in North America, with every port licensed by Sega. The legal status surrounding these versions today is unknown - Konami took back the license from Sega in the mid-1990s and has subsequently produced many games under the Frogger brand - most, if not all Frogger games released in the 1980s (other than those Konami handled themselves, such as the MSX version) have been ignored.

ROM cartridge rights were picked up by Parker Brothers, who subsequently brought the game to all major consoles - the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Odyssey² and TI-99/4A, as well as some computers, including Atari's range of 8-bit home computers, the Commodore 64 and the Commodore VIC-20. Some versions also made it to Europe and Brazil.

Magnetic media rights were held by Sierra On-Line who distributed many of its versions under the short-lived SierraVision brand (with the title The Official Frogger). Sierra released its copies of the game at around the same period as Parker Brothers, with copies available for the Apple II, IBM PC, Macintosh, TRS-80 and TRS-80 CoCo computers. Curiously Sierra also released Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 versions (on disk/cassette) which differ from Parker Brothers' efforts. Perhaps most notably is Seirra's Atari 2600 version, built to take advantage of the relatively obscure cassette-based Supercharger peripheral by Starpath - it is one of only twelve games officially released in this format.

Unofficial versions of Frogger exist for the BBC Micro and ZX Spectrum, though neither were officially licensed by Sega. Strangely an official copy did make it to the Dragon 32, however, in which Microdeal converted the TRS-80 version to that system. Multile LCD and VFD versions of the game from the 1980s were also licensed by Sega (although more modern variants are licensed by Konami).

Sega never brought Frogger to any of its own consoles, however did give Parker Brothers the rights to produce a sequel, Frogger II: ThreeDeep!.

Following Konami's buy-back of the rights to Frogger, a licensing deal was struck with Hasbro Interactive, who in turn licensed out the franchise to Majesco for various home console versions. This led to a North American release of Frogger on the Sega Mega Drive in 1998 - the last Sega Mega Drive game to be released in in the region (and was a North American exclusive). Coincidentally Frogger was also the last SNES game to be released in that region, and marked the first opportunity for a Frogger game to be released on a Nintendo console. Both the Mega Drive and SNES copies of the game recycle box art from Frogger 3D, a three-dimensional sequel released a year earlier.

The Mega Drive version still holds the Sega copyright instead of a Konami copyright. It is unfortunately, however, a straight arcade port, with no enhanced graphics or sound, bar a new title screen. According to the programmer, he built the port by reverse-engineering the arcade version ROMs and comparing to an emulator (presumably MAME), using Genecyst to develop and test.

Plans for a Sega Game Gear version of Frogger were also put in place, but were ultimately scrapped - it is rumoured that licensing issues caused this, though a working prototype of the game has since been found.

Physical Scans

Mega Drive Version

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart

Apple II Version

Apple II, US
Cover

Atari 2600 Version

Atari 2600, US
Cover

Atari 2600, US (alt)

Atari 2600, US (Supercharger)
Cover

Atari 2600, AU

Atari 2600, BR
Cover

Atari 5200 Version

Atari 5200, US
Cover

Atari 8-bit Family Version

Atari 8-bit family, US (cartridge)
Cover

Atari 8-bit family, US (cassette)
<div style="margin:auto; max-width:px"> 320x120px Cover

Atari 8-bit family, US (disk)

Atari 8-bit family, EU
Cover

ColecoVision Version

ColecoVision, US

ColecoVision, US
Cover

Commodore 64 Version

Commodore 64, US (cartridge)
Cover

Commodore 64, US (disk)

Commodore 64, US (disk) (alt)

DOS Version

DOS, US

Dragon 32 Version

Dragon 32, UK
Cover
Cassette

Intellivision Version

Intellivision, US
Cover

Intellivision, EU
Cover

Intellivision, CA
Cover

Macintosh Version

Macintosh, US

Odyssey² Version

Odyssey², US

Odyssey², EU
Cover

Odyssey², BR
Cover

TI-99/4A Version

TI-99/4A, US
Cover

Timex Sinclair 1000 Version

TS 1000, US
Cover

TRS-80 Version

TRS-80, US
Cover

TRS-80 CoCo Version

TRS-80 CoCo, US

VIC-20 Version

VIC-20, US