Frogger #30 Why did the frog cross the road?

Introduction

Your task in this arcade conversion is to guide a frog across a treacherous road and river, and to safety at the top of the screen. Both these sections are fraught with a variety of hazards, each of which will kill the frog and cost you a life if contact is made.

The road is full of cars and trucks, at variable speeds. The river water itself is fatal, as are the snakes which hover within on later levels. Frogger must use the arrangement of logs, turtles (which are only there for a short time) and alligators (but stay away form their faces), and then jump into one of the open home-cells, ideally one containing a fly for extra points. Once all holes have been filled, you move onto the next, harder, level.

In Frogger, if you fall into the water, you die. This makes no sense at all in the real world: Frogs are amphibious creatures, at home in the water as much as on land.

Getting Points

Jump into a new lane: 10
Jump onto a log or turtle: 10
Reach a bay: 50
Eat a fly: 200
Deliver log frog to bay: 200
Finish level (5 frogs): 1,000

It seems that you also get points depending on how much time is left on the timer when you deliver a frog to a bay. The more time left, the more points received. A warning bell (more like a cow bell) will sound when you have only 8 seconds left. Also note that you only get points the first time you reach a new lane, log or turtle. You can't rack up points by jumping back and forth between lanes.

EVERY 10,000 POINTS YOU GET AN EXTRA FROG! You need as many frogs as you can possibly get, because it is so easy to squash the little buggers. So enter the bays with flies while carrying the log frog in as little time as possible to score maximum points.

Hazards

Bay gators

They appear just inside the safety of a bay, waiting to gobble up unwary green travelers. You can still jump into bays occupied by bay gators, provided the head has not fully appeared (this has occurred when you hear it growl).

Swimming Crocodiles

Think of swimming crocodiles as green logs with a death trap on one end. These appear in level three and swim along in the last lane. You can jump on their backs and hitch a ride (you will have to eventually), but if you get too close to the head... * snap *

Snakes

It is appropriate to dread these reptiles, as they will swiftly bring death to Frogger should he wander near one's head. Again, you may jump on its body with no adverse effects. They appear first on the center wall and later on some of the logs.

Dragon flies

They appear randomly in the end bays of odd levels. Odd as in the opposite of even, not odd is in peculiar. If you eat one by jumping into a bay that it occupies, you get points.

Log Frog

Sits on a log out on the river and drifts peacefully by, hopping every now and then to attract attention. This valuable amphibian wants to get home very badly, and there's a 200 point reward for the one who sees that she reaches the bay safely. To do this, merely pick her up by bumping into her and you will flash red. This is to indicate that you are traveling with the log frog now. Enter a bay with you passenger, and you get to pass go and collect 200 points.

Diving Turtles

Some groups of swimming turtles dive underwater, leaving you to make a hasty jump to a safer foothold or plop into the raging river (which, by the way, is a cause of instant death). Every third group of turtles dives. They have four stages: Surfaced (they appear a normal yellow), and several stages of diving, in which they get smaller and darker three times and then disappear. You can stand on them until they submerge completely.

Levels

1

Start out with your first of five frogs. You must get him across five lanes of traffic, a stone wall in the center, three rows of logs and two rows of diving turtles.

UP makes frog go up, DOWN makes frog go down, LEFT makes frog go left, and RIGHT makes frog go RIGHT.

Move your frog up when possible and right or left to avoid the cars. In the sparse traffic stage 1 presents, you can probably just wait for a clearing and then charge right through. If not, hop horizontally between vehicles (you can hop as fast or faster than all vehicles except for the red sports cars in lane 4) until the next lane has an opening. Frogger often requires you to take into consideration several lanes at a time, and this will come with practice. The wall is a safe resting ground, but do not dally too long or your time will run out.

There will be three rows of diving turtles, one of which you must board. One group in three dives periodically and then comes back up. Jump preferable on one that likes the sunlight and go from there to one of the small logs, to the big ones in the middle. Try to pick up the log frog if you see it, because gaining as many points as possible in the early stages is essential for success later. Then catch a ride on a larger (but still stable) group of turtles, and than onto one of the long logs in front of the bays. From there you must press UP when in front of a bay to enter. Don't hurry to jump in too soon, or you'll go splat on the wall. Get the timing down now, because it only gets tougher in succeeding levels. Hard time deciding which bay to enter? If one of them harbors a tasty dragon fly, that should make the choice for you.

2

In stage two the traffic is still fairly slow and spread apart, and you should have no trouble if you do not get careless. The river still moves slowly enough, and there are no notable changes in the level other than the slight increase in traffic and the obvious bay gators at the end of the stage.

The bay gators should be none too difficult to thwart, just do not jump into a bay bearing the zipper-like grin of a fiendish alligator. Like I said earlier, if the bay gator is just beginning to move into the bay, jump in anyway. He will not hurt you unless he has fully occupied the bay. The log frog is especially important here because you won't get any flies.

3

This is where beginners often lose their first frog. It is also where most players gain their first frog. By the time the first three frogs have reached their bays, you should have surpassed the ten thousand point mark. The traffic has picked up considerably, and now there is also another major change. Swimming crocodiles alternate with the long logs just before the bays. You may have to jump on them to get into your desired bay, just stay away from the head. The flies have returned to raise your point total, so go for them if you can. The river is increasing in speed, so keep developing your reflexes.

If you are trying to get into a certain bay and you are riding on the last string of turtles and the log you would have to use is about to pass you up. As soon as you are lined up with the bay with a log between you, do a quick double hop forward and spring right from the log and into the bay. You will definitely have to employ this method in the faster stages.

4

No longer can the street be traversed in a straight line; you will need to maneuver between cars. A snake has appeared to trouble your one place to stand, the rock wall in the middle of the screen. It slowly and unwaveringly patrols its post. Most of the time you can skip right by him, but he will still limit what turtles you can climb on. You may end up sliding to the far left and be in danger of going off the edge of the screen.

If you find yourself in the aforementioned predicament on the first set of turtles, get to as far right as you can and wait until you get to the very left edge of the screen. Then, at the last nanosecond, jump up. You should land on the edge of a passing log.

Also, sometimes if you are waiting on the last lane of turtles to try and get in the left most bay, you will be pushed off the screen before a transport arrives. Note whether the last thing past was a log or a gator. There is more space between gators and logs than there are between logs and gators. If the last thing past you was a log, wait for the gator to show up and help you into the bay. If the last thing past was a log, get out of there fast; you aren't gonna make it.

5

It seems as though everything has suddenly undergone a dramatic increase in speed. You will need to sharpen your skills for this challenging level. The traffic has intensified into a moving wall, and the river is racing so fast. Stop for a moment and notice the traffic patterns before you hop blindly into the mix. You will really have to work hard to correctly time your jumps into the bays from the backs of crocodiles and the short wooden stubs that would have been logs in previous levels. Those stupid diving turtles always show up right where you need to hop, forcing you either to wait for the next ride and hit the edge of the screen or jump onto them and drown. In stages such as this and all those following, try to get in the left-most bay first, because it is the hardest to enter. Then go for the simpler ones. If you are transporting the log frog, go for the easy finish to ensure your points.

6

Just when you thought things could not get any worse. Now there is not only a snake at the wall, but also on the big log at the center of the river, and it has been too long since either has had a nice dish of frog legs with ketchup. You are lucky just to cross the street let alone traverse the rapidly flowing river.

7

This stage is so fast and frantic that if you are not careful you will be re-paving the road with frog guts. Not a pretty site. The river is flowing at extremely high speeds, the red sports cars are racing by in threes, and the relentless snakes are yet hanging around to make you miserable. If you can get through this level with a few frogs, you have a fighting chance at the last and most difficult frog trap yet.

8

Not only is the traffic going faster than ever, especially the red cars that cross the screen in a second's time, but also the cars are more evenly spaced so there are no large gaps. To make things worse, when you get out of the traffic, TWO vile serpents are patrolling the center wall. The river is racing at top speed, the logs have been shortened, and not only that, but now there no logs in the last river lane, just gators, and they have a lot of space between them. Already know you that which you need. You need only fine tune your speed and accuracy to make it past this final test of your amphibian abilities.

Beyond the Levels

If and when you complete level 8, you will be given a brief and highly anticlimactic message saying, "Great job! You wrapped the levels!" You start back at level 1 with all the traffic and things are back to normal, but all of the snakes are still there. You will have to get through the whole set of levels again, with all the snakes wearing you down and chipping away at your extra lives. Should you make it through this time, you will then start once again at !!!!! 1. Does this ever end? My personal opinion is, no. The purpose of Frogger is to get as many points as possible, mostly by getting through the levels as many times as possible. So go as far as you can until you either die or get bored.