Frog, The Collector

Kudos on the implementation, but the gameplay quickly grows stale.

Let me start off by saying that I am no stranger to arcade games based on a single gameplay dynamic. Being old, I own an Atari 2600 and I spent many an hour blasting my way through asteroids or breaking blocks with a square ball and an eratic paddle.

Now on with the review...

Gameplay
The gameplay of Frog, The Collector consists of our hero, Frog, collecting fruit on the interstate. Arrow keys move Frog around the top-down view map in four directions, while crossing a fruit collects it. Traffic is the only hazard, but being struck by a vehicle results in instant death. Fruit randomly appears on tiles of the road.

While this is a novel take on the classic Frogger game, it quickly grows stale. I lost interest no long in. While I'm no psychologist, I think it is because there is no overarching goal of the game - my choices do not seem meaningful.

The cars do not move in any discernable pattern (beyond two speeds, fast and faster) nor does the next location of the fruit seem to be intelligently determined. The result is gameplay chaos. I acheived my highest score (69) mostly because of optimal fruit generation.

This game has potential, though. A few tweaks to the game design would make it very fun. Perhaps adding the concept of levels would provide the player with some motivation (where moving to the next level requires gathering all the fruit), with increasing levels resulting in increase in difficulty. Or perhaps moving fruit, or a variation in the traffic flow. Anything, really, to break up the tedium.

Story
What dire straits could have befallen our fabled hero Frogger that he must now venture afar from his swampy homeland to collect abandonned fruit upon a horrendously busy 10 lane highway? We may never know...

(It's an arcade game. There is no story nor should you expect one)

Music
Fantastic.

Absolutely fantastic.

Easily the best aspect of the game, and kept me playing longer than I would otherwise have. While not the expected beeps and boops of the visual style, it works with the game and helps keep up the intensity. Good choice.

Conclusion
Frog, The Collector is a well implemented game with some gameplay shortfalls, great music and some potential. Give it a go if you have 15mins to spare.

!! UPDATE !!
April 6th, 2009
After playing the updated version of the game (with levels!), I can see that Frog, the Collector has become a much better game.

Adding a simple goal of level completion adds the neccessary sense of accomplishment that this game desperately needed.

While the gameplay is still rather simple, it is much more enjoyable now. Therefore I am bumping the Score from a 2 to a 3.5.

Good work!