Welcome to the 87th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This is a weekly feature where we share some our favourite games and the occasional "something else". Some may be well known, others I feel have been ignored but all are fantastic and deserve at least a play.
After a long hiatus...we're back!A long long time ago the excellent British developer called Team 17 and most of the games were excellent. Of course now they're run out of ideas and are just cruising off old ones but this is one of their golden titles that has now been turned into one of those "HD remakes that isn't anywhere near as good as the original" kinda of games.[prebreak][/prebreak]
The game was released on Amiga 500, PC & the CD-32. They're all pretty much the same but the PC version isn't as bright, CD-32 version would be great had it not been for the horrid controller but for me the best is the Amiga version, it has the looks and plays the best plus I get cheap thrills when I play on an Amiga...scarily perverted cheap thrills.
The story goes like this: There is this foppish Prince, who suddenly an evil witch turns him into a frog. The witch then kidnaps his Princess piece of skirt. He then mopes about a bit until he finds a bottle of Lucozade which he drinks and thus becomes SUPERFROG! He stops moping about and then goes on the quest to rescue his lady friend.
Like quite a few of Amiga's staple platformer games back then, it was sponsored by something. Zool was sponsored by the lollipop maker, Chupa-chups, James Pond 2: Robocod was sponsored by Penguin Biscuits and Cool Spot was at the time the mascot for 7up. In this game, the product placement in the game didn't really get in the way, you just saw Lucozade bottles around and you could collect them.
There are six worlds in the game and each world has three levels each, and to get through each level you'll have to avoid the many enemies. Some enemies can be jumped on and some you can throw this green creature called Destructospud which you can collect. Some enemies can only be avoided, which is nice as it makes it a touch more difficult. As well that there are many deadly traps around the worlds but most seasoned gamers shouldn't have too much trouble with those. To aide you on your quest you can collect Lucozade to top your energy up and also a pair of wings that will enable you to jump higher and also fly for a short period of time. At the end of each level there is of course an exit but the exit won't be open, to open the exit you'll have to make sure that you have collected enough coins. Then after you have completed each level you will be graded on your ability, Mr Ploppy is the lowest and Frog God is the highest. There is one level which isn't platform based and instead a version of Team 17's own Project-X scrolling shooter, this is called Project-F and plays just as well.
Another thing to aid you on your quest is a slot machine game that you can play after you have completed each level. You get to gamble to win little prices but the main one is to get a level code which you obtain by getting three cans of...you guessed it, Lucozade!
Team 17 made games very well and they also made them look great too as this game is a treat to look at. Bright colourful well drawn animated sprites against bright colourful well drawn background and its pretty damn smooth too, you can't really ask for more from an Amiga 500 2D game. The game screams out character and its all pretty jolly and wonderful.
The sound is exactly what you'd want from the game, well made and very memorable tunes and sound effects that will delight. The score is by Allister Brimble who has done some excellent scores for Team 17 as well as the Dizzy series & Descent II. The guy's scores are so good that many people actually listen to them on their stereos.
It is a pretty standard platformer with fairly generic level themes but its a game that is extremely well made, you can tell that the developers had a lot of fun making this and took care with each level. This game can be a little tricky but not massively hard but it is still a classic example of a great platformer and is absolutely fun all the way through. The game is predictable but never boring or tedious, you just don't care as its so much fun...it's kinda like digital Prozac.
Team 17 have recently released a HD remake for PSN & Steam and to be honest it didn't quite play as well, they made the game a lot easier (it even feels like it was made for touchscreen!) and they remade the graphics to look charmless and bland, especially the backgrounds. It's still good and offers a lot more levels as well but I'd recommend the original over it, just like with the recent Duck Tails remake.
Platform: Amiga/PC/CD-32
Developer: Team 17
Publisher: Team 17 / Ocean (PC)
Genre: Shooter
Year: 1994
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Awesome game at that, too bad the remake sucks 
