Frogger was a product of the popularization of "cute" games throughout 1981 that moved away from alien and explosion themes. In the game, you must direct a frog through traffic, and across a crowded river, and in to one of five enclosures at the top of the screen. Frogger isn't credited with many innovations, but it did break ground in continuous background music that changed contextually based on the action in the game.
In 1982, Parker Brothers was determined to become a major player in the video game industry. As such, they joined the race with Atari, and later Coleco, to acquire the home conversion rights to several popular arcade hits. Along with Q*Bert and Popeye, they scored the rights to release Q*Bert for home systems and computers. In an ironic twist, they only acquired the rights to publish cartridges, and as such, Sierra Entertainment bought the rights to publish the game on cassette and diskette, providing some systems with two official conversions of the game.
Since then, the Frogger license has been brought back like many classic gaming icons. Updated versions have appeared on the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast and the PC. These newer versions are produced in 3-D and involve many puzzle solving elements.
Story
Frogger must return to his lily pad home in the swamp, and it's your job to guide him and direct across five lanes of traffic, and over the turtles and logs of the river, to reach his destination.
Table of Contents
Gameplay summary
- You control Frogger, guiding him in four directions with the joystick.
- You must guide Frogger to each of the five empty slots at the top of the screen in order to advance to the next stage.
- You start at the bottom of the screen beneath five lanes of traffic.
- You must reach the sidewalk in the middle of the screen without getting hit by any vehicles.
- You must not fall in the water on the way to one of the slots at the top. Ride the turtles and logs to the top, but don't get pulled off the side of the screen.
- Beware of diving turtles. If Frogger is on them when they dive, he loses a life.
- Avoid crocodile mouths, catch flies in the slots for bonus points, and bring the lady frog to your home for more bonus points.
Pac-Man Fever Lyrics
| Pac-Man Fever | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Buckner & Garcia |
| Publisher(s) | Columbia Records (1982); Buckner & Garcia Productions (1999); K-tel Entertainment (2002 version) |
| Release date(s) | 1982 |
| Genre(s) | Rock / Disco |
| Media | LP, Cassette, CD |
| Website | www.bucknergarcia.com |
| Tracklisting |
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Just for fun, here are the lyrics to the "Froggy's Lament" track on the Pac-Man Fever album:
Spoken:
Ribbit.
Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy.
Froggy takes one step at a time;
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme;
He hops and jumps, dodges and ducks
Cars and buses, vans and trucks.
Chorus:
Go, Froggy, go!
You've got to keep on hopping till you get to the top.
Go, Froggy, go!
You've got to keep on hopping you can never stop.
Go . . . go, Froggy, go.
Spoken:
Hiya, kids.
Froggy takes one step at a time;
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme;
There's snakes and insects, otters and things;
At times I wish Froggy had wings.
Chorus
Froggy takes one step at a time;
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme;
The diving turtles have fooled him again;
I guess for old Froggy, it's sink or swim.
Chorus
Spoken:
Ribbit!
Froggy takes one step at a time;
The way that he moves has no reason or rhyme;
He rides on the logs all the way to the top,
And into his cage with one final hop.
Chorus
Spoken:
Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy.
Chorus (keep repeating and fade)