Frogger 2 (Nintendo 64)

For other games that are also referred to as "Frogger 2", see Frogger 2 (disambiguation).

Frogger 2 is a canceled top-down platformer video game for the Nintendo 64 that was under development by Interactive Studios and was to be published by Hasbro Interactive. It was being developed as an alternate sequel to Frogger 1997, alongside Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge for other platforms.

Development[]

A planned sequel to Frogger 1997 for the Nintendo 64, but which was ultimately canceled. It was under development by Interactive Studios.

Frogger 2 was originally planned as a fully 3D platformer game (similar to Frogger: The Great Quest or Super Mario 64) with unique content like six worlds, special powers for Frogger, and a four-player mode. However, during development, resources at Interactive Studios were diverted to the game Glover instead (also on the Nintendo 64). After Glover was completed, development for Frogger 2 resumed, but its design direction shifted to a 2.5D style instead, similar to what later became Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge for other platforms, although the Nintendo 64 version was ultimately canceled before completion.

A prototype cartridge of the Alpha version of the game survived and has been sold and documented online, showing the game in its unfinished state. This prototype build was released by Team CARROT on October 23, 2005. It includes two levels, a faithful port of the original Frogger arcade game, and a set of development tools, although it is completely devoid of sound.

Gameplay[]

As the game's prototype is still in its Alpha phase, what remains is largely incomplete. The prototype only contains two playable levels and it completely lacks sound. Gameplay is largely similar to the latter title Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge; unused text also hints as having similar objectives, like rescuing Baby Frogs in the levels and using the frog's tongue to catch surrounding power-up bugs.^[1]

The first level takes place at the docks, where the player has to dodge working forklifts, evade rats, and jump on floating crates while trying to make their way to the end goal.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Frogger 2 - The N64 Beta Project

Trivia[]

It is possible that many of the ideas for the initial full 3D platformer design of Frogger 2 for the Nintendo 64 ended up implemented on Glover instead when resources at Interactive Studios were diverted to the latter game's development. While merely speculation, there are some aspects that seem to hint so. This is further supported as Interactive Studios later rebranded to Blitz Games, developers of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge; and in fact, many of the programmers that worked on Glover also worked on Swampy's Revenge. Some of these aspects include:
- The names "Glover" and "Frogger" are phonetically similar.
- In Glover, there is a cheat code that turns the glove title protagonist into a frog, possibly hinting how Frogger would have looked like and maybe even using the same model of what had been made of the character so far.
- In Glover, there is a minigame where the player controls a frog. Gameplay is similar to Frogger 1997 and Swampy's Revenge, with the playfield seen from a top perspective and the frog hopping one space at a time.
- The decision to shift the full 3D platformer design of Frogger 2 to a 2.5D top-down platformer after the completion of Glover could hint that the developers had already implemented and exhausted most of the original ideas for Frogger 2 into Glover, so they had to restart the project from scratch with a totally new design.

References[]

↑ Unused Text | Frogger 2 (Nintendo 64) at The Cutting Room Floor.

External links[]

Frogger 2 (Nintendo 64) at The Cutting Room Floor - Contains a downloadable ROM of the prototype.

[1] Unused Text | Frogger 2 (Nintendo 64) at The Cutting Room Floor.

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