Frogger Beyond
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.png) This is how you do a 3D Frogger game, take note Great Quest.
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Frogger Beyond, known in Japan as just Frogger (フロッガー Furoggā?) is a video game from Konami, released for Nintendo GameCube and Xbox in December 2002, for PlayStation 2 in March 2003, and for Windows in April 2003 in the US. It is a sequel in the Frogger series of games, taking place immediately after Frogger's Adventures: Temple of the Frog.
Plot
The time has come for Frogger to go through his "rite of passage." He has reached an age where every frog must make the transition from boy-frog to teenage-frog.
In order to make that transition, Frogger will journey to the Chamber of the Elders on his most significant birthday and stand before the eight venerable members of the Elder Council. Upon meeting the council, Frogger will be asked to enter a magic portal that will warp him into each one of the elder's worlds. These worlds serve as a personal test for Frogger to prove that he is a teenager.
Why It's Beyond Rocks
- For starters, despite having some flaws, the game is a massive improvement over Great Quest, with this game adding more things to it, going back to the traditional gameplay, and improving pretty much every point of Great Quest (even those that we're good at, such as the soundtrack). In fact, it is so much of an improvement (save for some bad qualities) that it ended up being one of the best games of the series and maybe the best 3D Frogger game ever made.
- Awesome graphics that are a big improvement over those from Frogger: The Great Quest, since here they have pretty much everything that a good looking game had, which will be listed:
- To start with, the graphics are really colorful and vibrant for it's time, since the colors are bright (in a good way), and they are very good looking, not like the awful colorcolor palette of The Great Quest that not only looked bad but made the graphics so much worse to look at.
- They are They are also very detailed to the point that it can almost look like an early Xbox 360 game.. InIn a similar vein to Pac-Man World 3, it is helped by the fact that the game uses the RenderWare engine, which is known for making good--looking games.
- The backgrounds are also really good to look at, since they are very colorful, detailed, and vibrant to look at,at, as well as fitting for the Frogger franchise; some of those might even be some of the best looking backgrounds of the franchise.
- The character models (or designs for that matter) are really great for a 2002 game, since here they are very detailed and the character designs are miles better than those of The Great Quest, since here the Frogger design is way better and the other characters had great designs as well.
- Very good gameplay that came back to the traditional 2D gameplay of the previous games and is mostly based on the PS1 games (especially Frogger 2), and the gameplay is now once again fast-paced and extremely fun, despite the fact that the game is really hard.
- Not to mention that there are some things added to the gameplay, such as a huge jump that lets you jump high to collect coins or even some of the variety that will be talked about later on (even though most of the other gameplay parts are flawed compared to the main gameplay).
- While not as good as the controls of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, they are quite solid despite not being always responsive, since they are tight,tight, and for the most part, they are responsive despite what was stated before. They are also a massive improvement over the controls from Great Quest.
- The rap on the title screen is really good and catchy to listen to listen to, as well as being one of the most famous parts of the game (mostly due to Nitro Rad).. It is also just as good as themes such as the DK Rap (yes,(yes, really), and it is somewhat similar to the theme song from Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
- Speaking of the rap, the soundtrack as a whole is great and also an improvement over The Great Quest, since here the music isis very catchy, well composed, and way more fitting than the aforementioned game.
- It even had some of the best music of the entire franchise, such as the title screen theme, the music from the Underground area,area, and more.
- Some of the game overs are really hilarious and very memorable.. Since it involves a parody of the game over from the game Metal Gear Solid, and the way Frogger responds is clever, this alone is probably the most memorable part of the game,game, along with the rap in the title screen.
- "What is this? Frogger Gear Solid?" is also a hilarous line.
- The bosses are great and are a massive improvement over the ones from Great Quest and even Frogger's Adventure: Temple of the Frog, since they are very challenging and balanced (for the most part), they are also quite epic and could be considered to be some of the best in the entire series.
- Rain Forest boss is a fun boss since you need to time out for pressing the button to throw the barrels that the boss throws, even though it is nothing special compared to other bosses in the game.
- UnderWater boss is where it starts to have unique and awesome boss fights in the game, since it is a really challenging boss and had a great concept that was greatly executed.
- The High Tech boss is also great but quite hard, since he can shoot you easily if you don't move, but he is still an awesome boss due to having once again a great concept and that he is fun enough to fight, and while he is hard, he isn't as horrible as the boss from Underground.
- Mountain Boss is a bit poorly executed since he had a decent concept but is too easy, and his second phase is also extremely easy; just wait until he shoots at you, and then you escape until he takes his own projectile, and it's finished.
- Future boss is great though, and one of the best bosses of the entire game. Since he is really challenging and his concept is once again great, he might also be one of the most challenging bosses of the game (the one that is the hardest is the Underground boss), and for good reasons, unlike the boss from the next world.
- Underground Boss is an extremely bad boss and is one of the most frustrating parts of the game (see BQ #1).
- Magic Boss is a decent last boss since he got a different path and is challenging and fun enough; nothing special, though.
- The cutscenes, despite being a tad bit too long, are really good and a massive improvement over those from The Great Quest, since here they are funnier, make more sense, and also have a much better art style and animation.
- The art style of them is probably the best thing about them, since the art style here is quite unique and looks colorful, detailed, and vibrant. It can even be compared to the cutscenes of Bomberman Generation due to how good the cutscenes look, though to be fair, both games had very good graphics for being a 2002 game.
- The voice acting is pretty good and so much better than the previous games, since here the voices are more fitting and they also sound funny. Here is a list of examples:
- Frogger voice is good and is way better than the one he was given in The Great Quest, since here not only does his voice fit more but also he sounds like a young frog like he is (though to be fair in Great Quest he also sounds like a young person, but not as fitting nor as good).
- Lumpy had better voice acting than in the previous games since here he sounded more fitting and even funnier to hear than in The Great Quest, and it also fit his personality well.
- The characters are likable and are all great, with many of them being the voice of reasons or even funny at times. This includes:
- Frogger redeems himself here and will do the challenge without having fears, and he is way more likable here; he is also way more mature than in The Great Quest and is also funny at times.
- Lumpy is more than a best friend to Frogger. He is a mentor who has witnessed Frogger's growth from a little tadpole to the brave tile-hopping, enemy-dodging frog that he is today. Today is a big day for both Frogger and Lumpy. As Frogger sets out to prove his maturity to the Elder Council, Lumpy wishes the best of luck for his "Little Buddy.".
- The Elder Council has existed for as long as Firefly Swamp has. The Council was created to maintain order and balance among the seven represented worlds. It consists of the Head Elder and one representative from each of the worlds, for a total of eight members. The Elders are not randomly selected to stand in the council but must earn their position by proving their worth through brave and selfless deeds. Each member wishes for nothing but Frogger's success.
- The Head Elder is the wisest and oldest frog in Firefly Swamp. He is respected for his kindness, but he can also be stern at times as he leads the other council members. He sees Frogger's great potential and pushes him to mature and succeed all the time.
- The soft-spoken Rainforest Elder is the newest member of the Elder Council. He may not be young, but avoiding the creatures that lurk in the shadows of his world has made him quick and nimble. The Rainforest World is the first of a series of challenges that Frogger must face to complete his Rite of Passage.
- Gloria the Underwater Elder is as kind and wise as the ocean. She may be young, but she has seen much in her time and brings to the council knowledge of a world that few have traveled to. She, along with the rest of the Elder Council, is eager to see Frogger successfully complete his rite of passage.
- The High Tech Elder, with his gruff voice, is usually heard long before he is seen. He does live up to his intimidating first impression on others, but deep down he has some issues that he needs to address. His high-tech world is chock-full of obstacles and enemies that would instill fear in the hardiest of adventurers.
- Often the Mountain Elder, with her serene aura, seems to be off in a world of her own. Nonetheless, the collection of knowledge that she has accumulated over her journeys is boundless, and so her lectures seem endless. However, if you can decipher her message, it is worth lending an ear to.
- The level design is pretty great, with many unique levels and some that had some of the best level design of the franchise. Most of them are also challenging in a good way, but for the most part, the levels are designed to be fair.
- The story is quite good, especially for a Frogger game, since it is unique and it resolves the fact that Frogger needs to do challenges to prove that he is mature enough to be a teenager, which wasn't done before.
- For the most part, the game is decently challenging and has a balanced difficulty, even though there are a lot of moments where the game can be frustrating.
Bad Qualities
- While it doesn't outright ruin the game or be unbalanced like Frogger: He's Back, the game at times can be extremely difficult and can be one of the most frustrating games of the whole franchise. There are many examples of difficulty spikes that can be listed, including bosses (with one of them being infamous for it).
- The platforming sections (where you need to jump for progress) can be really hard and, at worst, really annoying and nearly impossible to do without dying at least once since you don't do the jumps with timing but when you are next to a platform, which can be hard for the fans that we're used to timing jumps.
- Sometime, you need to jump over enemies to progress, but the problem is that it is hard to do in some levels, and in some of these moments, the enemy placements can be rather poor.
- In the later levels, there are a lot of obstacles that are extremely hard to dodge without dying at least once. This includes enemies, platforming sections that are hard to do (to an extent), and the projectiles thrown at you.
- Sometime, the controls can also be unresponsive, and this might make you get cheap deaths. This is especially true with the later levels, even though the controls are actually good and not bad.
- Sometime, there might be some awful enemy placements that are so bad that it makes some of the levels a really hard task, and also, it isn't helped by the fact that the jump here isn't the best compared to Frogger 2.
- You still die on only 1 hit, which makes the game very frustrating, and it isn't helped by BQ #1. This case here is also way worse than in Frogger 2. since that game was easier, but still, it was also a problem in that game too.
- The controls, while good, are unresponsive, and in some other parts of the game, in the other gameplay variations, for example, the controls are pretty bad in some of these parts.
- The controls in the mine cart part are absolutely terrible, since they are horribly clunky and unresponsive and also stiff. The jump is also very hard to do correctly, and due to how bad they are, this section of the game is extremely terrible and almost unplayable.
- While great, the rap sometime sound like Frogger swear, such as the line where he say "chill with a fish", it sound like that he say "chill with a b*tch", or when it sound like that he say "Jumping at bastards since i was a tadpol".
- For some weird reasons, in other languages, the cutscenes don't have sub-titles, even The Great Quest had those subtitles in all of the languages, and it came out in 2001, even though the game's cutscenes were terrible.
- It also doesn't help that this is one of the only Frogger games to be released in other regions than America for the 7th generation consoles, since the other games that would be released after this (with the exception of The Lost Wand since that one got a PAL and Japan release) until Helmet Chaos came out, the Frogger games would be released only in America, and because of this, the only 3D Frogger game with translated text in the cutscenes would be Great Quest.
- The bosses suffer from massive difficulty spikes, despite being great overall. This includes:
- The Underground boss is easily the worst offender and the absolute worst boss because of this, as well as not just suffering from difficulty spike but being really poorly designed compared to the other bosses, to the point of being one of, if not the hardest boss.
- His first phase involves him throwing crystal at you, which is fine, and it isn't really poorly designed compared to what will follow.
- His second phase is also okay, since it involves him throwing four fires at you and you need to run away, which is not really tedious and is fine for now; nothing special though.
- His third phase is where it starts to be a horribly hard boss that might make you rage quit this game for good (despite not being a bad game), since it throws a lot of fires where you need to either jump on the platforms if you're even close to them or just wait until he decides to throw them and dodging his second path, but it is still hard since you need to be fast to do it, otherwise you die. In fact, that part was so bad that it almost made Nitro Rad rage quit the game, and that part alone even made him have less fun with the game than what he did before that and the mine cart part.
- The Underground boss is easily the worst offender and the absolute worst boss because of this, as well as not just suffering from difficulty spike but being really poorly designed compared to the other bosses, to the point of being one of, if not the hardest boss.
- The jump is a severe downgrade to the one from Frogger 2, since here there aren't any double jumps, and it also had poor hit detection with some enemies, making it hard to jump over the enemies. This is made even worse in the later levels.
- The game is very short, even when compared to The Great Quest, since here you can beat it in only 2 to 3 hours, and there aren't that many replay values.
Reception
Frogger Beyond received mixed reviews by critics and mixed to positive reviews by gamers, with a score of 60 on Metacritic for the GameCube port.
The game was praised for the graphics, the gameplay and soundtrack but was criticized for it's huge difficulty and also a little bit for the level design.
Trivia
- Unique to the Japanese version of the game, the boss of High Tech World, known in the credits as "Boss Computer" (ボスコンピュータ), is given a voice, played by Kanako Tateno.
- The Rainforest Elder's name in the Japanese version is the "Jungle Sage" (ジャングルの賢者), and is the only character name difference between the English and Japanese versions of the game.
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