Superfrog Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]

Follow me on Twitter @ Get Great Retro Scene News @ Developed and published by Team 17 in 1993 Back during the heyday of the Amiga computer, Team 17 was one of the most talented and celebrated development studios producing games for the platform. Having had critical success with the Alien Breed games, the team turned their hand to the platform genre, just as many others had done, presumably in an effort to emulate the runaway success of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. The game also marks a period in games development where studios and publishers had started to include product placement and advertising in their games. Big name brands including Penguin biscuits, Quavers and 7 Up were all keen to get their products before a captive audience. Team 17 struck a deal with Lucozade to promote the notoriously sugary (yet undeniably delicious) fizzy drink in their game, even going so far as to make it the source of the main character’s powers. The game’s story is told through a rather lavish (for the time) animated introduction, created by artist Eric Schwartz and occupying an entire floppy disk. It tells the age old tale of a handsome prince turned into an ugly frog by a wicked witch, who kidnaps his betrothed and spirits her away to a dark castle in a distant land. The game is divided into six separate worlds, each comprising four levels. The objective of each level is to collect enough gold coins to open the exit and progress to the next stage. The number of coins required increases as the game progresses, with less lying around in the open and more hidden in secret areas, forcing the player to look for false walls and hidden entrances in the scenery. Don’t let the cutesy graphics fool you - this is a game with a core of diamond-encrusted steel! Each of the game’s levels is covered in spikes, pits and all other manner of traps that will turn our amphibian chum to paste in an instant. Certain enemies can be defeated by jumping on their heads, or hitting them with your trusty Destructo-Spud. However, more powerful enemies cannot be defeated by any means and must simply avoided, although it’s not always clear which enemies are invincible and those that aren’t. At the end of each level, the player can choose to gamble their high score in turn for the chance to win a password code in a fruit machine-themed bonus game, allowing them to continue the game from the last completed level should lady luck be on their side. It has to be said that the game really is quite a technical achievement. Not only are the graphics of high quality, but the game manages to maintain a rock solid 50 frames per second on a PAL machine without any hint of slow down, even on a basic A500. For me, however, the game’s stand-out feature has to be the audio. Not only is Allister Brimble’s music outstanding, it’s difficult to believe that digital audio of this quality is being produced by a consumer home computer first launched in 1985. The opening theme tune and world 1 music with various vocal ribbits and croak samples is completely in keeping with the game’s cartoon theme and is among some of the best to ever grace the system. Superfrog is undoubtedly one of the Amiga’s finest platform games and a shining example of what the machine was capable of. Fans of the genre, especially those enjoy a touch challenge will be sure to enjoy every moment that the game has to offer. #retrogaming