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News: Tom Morello stars in Guitar Hero III
Activision has announced that Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, will guest star as a boss character in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Click here to read the article.
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Frogger Beyond
If you are old enough to remember the arcade Frogger and loved it, please don't play Frogger Beyond -- You'll be very dissapointed. If you are a parent of a yound child and are looking for a new game to buy your kid, keep reading.
It is clear from the beggining of the game that this game is aimed at the younger crowd what with Frogger's look and style of cartoonish graphics.
For those of you that don't know the kind of game Frogger is (shame on you) let me fill you in. You basically go around avoiding enemies and road-blocks, trying to get to the end of the level... only to do the same in the next level but with different enemies and obstacles. This formula was great the first time around and even the follow ups, but now in 2003... it seems as though the whole Frogger genre is dying out.
Gameplay wise, Frogger will probably frustrate you. You will constantly die due to some not go good level design. You'll swear there was something there that you could jump onto... but then you realize you can't and you die. This isn't fun... guessing if something is capable of jumping on or not.
The whole story behind Frogger Beyond is that you are becoming a "man". On this birthday of yours, you must undertake a quest in order to become a "man". Frogger will have to pass through eight different worlds broken up into seperate levels. Pass these and you become a "man". Quite bad in my opinion.
You will hop your way through each of the levels trying to avoid the obstacles. To make things easier though, you have 'power ups'. They are speed, invinsibility, and sticky tongue. You use the D pad to hop. The A button to jump. The Left and Right Trigger to rotate.
Not much variation in gameplay and sometimes the camera becomes a pain. It moves on its own, you have no control which leads to many deaths.
Visually, Frogger Beyond is OK... for an early PS2 game. But this is an Xbox game. In the land of bump-mapping and pixel shading, Frogger will be seen as a rushed game with no special detail to graphics. The game flows well with no slow down... of course there shouldn't be, after all its just a frog jumping around... nothing complicated like a war battle going on. Overall, graphics dissapoint. They could have been so much better. I dont think anyone would have complained if the game got delayed a month or so to be polished up some more.
Sound is average. The music flows with each level. If you are playing in the jungle then you will hear jungle music... you know-- drums and stuff. Environment sound effects are minimal. Voice acting is aimed at kids so the words are easy and with no depth. Frogger's voice is a bit annoying though, in my opinion.
Overall, Frogger Beyond could have been a much better game. I see this as an insult to the great game that was Frogger. The franchise should be treated with more respect. Retire it already Konami, before you kill the good name that is Frogger. Not worth a purchase but a rental will do.
Report Card:
Gameplay = 6
Graphics = 6
Audio = 6
Replay Value = 6
Overall: 6/10
Click here for the Frogger screenshots gallery!
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