WHEN I KISSED THE LUCOZADE
Also for: Amiga, Amiga CD32, Blackberry, Windows
The poor prince! As he courts his fair princess-to-be on a meadow of green
grass, smiling trees and dancing flowers, a witch swoops by, kidnaps the
princess and turns the prince into a frog. Depressed, the prince-frog sits
down by a river and snatches a bottle as it floats by. It's Lucozade, and when
he drinks it, he magically turns into Superfrog, a green, bouncy
superhero with a cape. Let the quest to save his princess begin!
Replaying this game (from the classic studio Team 17) for the first
time since the 90:s caused me a lot of grief. My laptop died, which I
can hardly blame the game for - it's not like the old DOSBox-powered
Euro-platformer pushed the system to its limits. Signs pointed toward the hard
drive having crashed.
Other grievances can be pinned on the game, though, particularly the inferior
PC-conversion. My memory of the Amiga original was a technically spotless work
of art; a tight, fast, platformer with smooth controls. This version is
equally fast, but has the occasional graphical glitch, clipping and weird
collision detection. I had to back out of the game because I got stuck inside
the walls a couple of times. More than that, stuff is downright missing in
this version. The opening cinematic by Eric Schwartz is nowhere to be
seen, some enemies are removed and the short shmup-level between world 5 and 6
is cut.
The game is obviously influenced by Sonic the Hedgehog, revolving
around the same sense of crazy speed. You race back and forth across the
stages, bouncing high in the air at great risk, as hazards and enemies are
everywhere. Much like in Jazz Jackrabbit, the speed feels almost like a
hindrance, as the sensitive controls might make you overcorrect or race
straight into a fire pit or down an unknown chasm. I've never understood the
idea behind games that utilize the character's strengths and characteristics
against him.
In terms of presentation, the DOS-port is nearly identical to the original. It
displays colorful visuals that look like they were lifted straight out of a
cartoon. Most enemies have big, expressive eyes, and even the occasional
background detail, like the sun in the forest world, follows your movement
with its gaze. The music, composed by the legend Allister Brimble,
is catchy but some of the raw Amiga energy unfortunately got lost in translation.
I controlled the frog using my keyboard, a somewhat imprecise method that
allows for quick reflexes. It turned out well for the most part. The goal of
each level is to find a set number of golden coins and then head to the exit.
Six worlds exist, with four levels each, taking place in vastly different
locations as a forest, castle and circus. A short, fun title card
precedes each one to wrap the progress in some kind of story. The worlds have thematically relevant enemies that mostly just move back and forth. Closer to
the end, some of them start to shoot. They are your standard fare of low-IQ platform adversaries. The final fight against the witch, however, is one of the worst bossfights I've ever seen - it has to be seen to be believed.
I'm generally no fan of this genre, but this one has unusually good level
design. Most stages have a pretty clear linear throughline, but a few
offshoots provide you with valuables or other pick-ups. Many walls and floor
sections hide secret tunnels that may also act as shortcuts past tricky
situations. I find myself constantly skimming the walls to find hidden stashes
of extra lives or coins.
The core challenge is what works best; the frantic platforming, involving
leapfrogging great distances and heights, elevated further by trampolines.
Spikes are everywhere, and they're the real nuiscance since you lose all
health immediately upon touching them. Team 17 could've been real diabolical
with them, but I think they're overall sensibly implemented. You often get a
heads-up in the shape of a "Danger"-sign, or a cross, whenever they're close.
Your gadget pickups are mostly half-useless. The wings are supposed to help
you extend your jumps, but on PC the effect is almost negligible. The
yoyo-esque green ball can't kill anything but flying enemies, and the
collision detection is way off. The invisibility pill also makes you
invulnerable but since only your eyes are shown it's hard to platform in that
mode. Bottles of Lucozade are the most helpful, since they get your health
back to max and extend your timer.
Between stages you can play a slot machine mini-game, where the highest
prize is the numerical code for the upcoming level. If you get it, you just
have to type it into the settings screen and the game will start from there.
Winning is, however, a snowball's chance in hell. You get up to 15 tokens to
insert into that slot machine, depending on your performance in picking up
fruits, coins and how quick you finish the level.
To get the code, you need either three Lucozades in a row, or to win a hi-lo betting
game, or a ladder of gambling. I like the concept. Succeding causes the bliss of permanent progress, a sensation that reminds me of the relief of
reaching a bonfire in Dark Souls. But I would have preferred a
skill-based minigame rather than a luck-based one.
Overall, Superfrog today is as Superfrog was back then. The DOS-port is a
downgrade from the Amiga original (I just replayed its first world to
confirm), as it suffers from inferior collision detection and a bit of
jankiness. Jumping on enemies to defeat them is risky, as you need to hit them
dead centre or you'll lose health. The hitboxes for the spikes are equally
diabolical. These limitations make the game harder in a bad way, no less so
because the game is based on speed.
The Amiga version deserves 3 timeless stars, but I'll subtract half a star for the
DOS limitations, jankiness and omissions. To be fair, I should
review the original separately in an entry of its own someday. Deep down this game is
good and deserves to be represented positively in my review index.
[All screenshots are lifted from
www.mobygames.com]
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