Frogun

Frogun Review
Leap Frogging Retro Romp

Intro:
There is a certain fondness to the games many of us played in our youth. Since games have reached a high ceiling of graphical quality too it's all the more popular to make games that are intentionally designed to be of a ‘classic’ or retro style. Frogun is one such game that seeks to call back to simpler times of gaming, setting itself up to be like the sort of more straightforward 3D platformers of the Playstation 1 era of games. It is a game that seems designed to capture the magic and charm of those days of youth through all it offers.

Story:
Renata is the young daughter of a pair of archaeologist parents who travel the world, unearthing the secrets of the past in their journeys. Oftentimes they let her come along, but their most recent expedition was deemed too dangerous for the young girl to tag along. Renata’s parents leave their child at their campsite until they return and head off. (Not sure leaving a child who appears less than ten out on her own in the jungle is any bit more responsible to be honest.) After a couple of days, when her parents fail to return, Renata decides to go looking for them in the ruins, both out of concern and sheer boredom. She arms herself with her parents' quirky invention, the Frogun, a frog shaped grapple gun that also can talk and has a mind of its own. Filled with spunky energy and worry for her folks, Renata leaps into action to explore the ruins and bring her mom and dad home.

Gameplay:
Frogun is every bit a blast from the past gameplay wise. The only actions that are available are running, jumping, and using the frog tongue themed grappling hook in Renata’s employ. This simplicity doesn't make the game a shallow one by any means. Early on the game allows the player to reach the short level goals with ease, teaching the basic mechanics of platforming and how to use the Frogun to hook to walls and snare enemies or jars that can be fired off as projectiles. As the game progresses however so too does the difficulty, a fair bit in fact that by the later parts of the game much more precise use of the Frogun to perform multiple midair grapples is needed. In addition to simply clearing each level, there are multiple collectables and time trial challenges that will see players that wish to do it all revisiting each level more than once finding level designs that leave room for clever platforming experimentation to speed run.

Frogun takes old platforming design elements that work, while leaving ones that can be left behind in the past there, such as a lives or game over system, which is highly welcome in the more difficult sections of the game. The one downside to be mentioned of the game is the means to 100% it involves gaining enough coins from the levels to buy all the various hats that can be put on our plucky adventurer as well as various artwork for the game. Yet, after completing every level, and getting every collectible in the game, I still found myself short by quite a lot of coins. This resulted in hours and hours of grinding for coins in order to get the myriad of art I hadn’t bothered with in the game, taking what would have been a tight experience to fully complete and lengthening it out very artificially. Though, it should be noted, such a complaint really will only surface for those that like to see that 100% file before them.
Overall, fans of this more simple style will appreciate the era of gaming that Frogun calls back to, myself included.


Sound:
Just like the gameplay, the music harkens back to a bygone era of gaming. Each tune sounds like it could be straight out of the 16 and 32 bit time of video games, chip tune beats paired with small instrumentation of percussion and flute notes. The music is pleasant and adds to the charm of Renata’s adventure, staying simple, and keeping the player moving right along. Each song feels fitting to the accompanying area or encounter and does well to add some lively beat to this platformer.


Presentation:
Frogun was positioned from its kickstarter to be a game that sought to recapture the era of early 32 bit gaming and it does just that quite well. Textures on environments are kept simple and boxy, yet vibrant, colorful, and full of expression on the flat faced models. Those who are fans of, or are aware of, Megaman Legends or Ape Escape will have a nice frame of reference of what to expect. The game does quite well with what it sets out to do, nailing its intended style and all the nostalgic charm for so many that goes with it.



Conclusion:
Frogun was such a pleasant experience and a nice surprise to play. Having taken a chance on images alone I found myself with a game that will occupy a space in my heart right alongside old favorites of the 32 bit era, as though it were made 20 years earlier. It is a game I recommend to fans of that style of game, or those that may have missed out and want their own mascot to latch onto with Renata and her colorful cast of friends and foes. Frogun is a somewhat short romp through platforming ruins that sets out exactly what its aims to do, frog grapple hooking into the hearts of those longing for another adventure to add next to old favorites.

Pros:
Simple gameplay, nostalgic presentation, and short length.
Gameplay that evolves and rewards players for using the tools given.
Bright colors and beats that make a charming experience.
Cons:
Getting to 100% completion is a chore and likely to be abandoned by many.
Later gameplay jumps in difficulty and precision, which may hinder some.

Final Rating:
4 out of 5: Renata has grapple hooked into a place beside the classic platforming mascots. Right where she belongs