- For other games that are also referred to as "Frogger 2", see Frogger 2 (disambiguation).
Frogger II: ThreeeDeep! is a 1984 action video game developed and published by Parker Brothers for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, and IBM PCs. It is a sequel to Konami's 1981 arcade game Frogger and has similar gameplay.
Gameplay[]
The objective in Frogger II: ThreeeDeep! is to safely maneuver frogs to the berths at the top of every screen; once all the berths have been filled, the player progresses to the next level. Unlike its predecessor, ThreeeDeep! features three consecutive screens for each level instead of only one, with berths at the top of each screen that need to be filled. The player can freely move from one screen to the next without mandatorily having to fill all of its berths at that moment, opting to leave them for later instead if that accommodates them better.
Movement is similar to the original Frogger, with the player's frog moving one space at a time in any of the four cardinal directions (Up, Down, Left, Right, but not diagonally).
Once all of the berths from all the three screens have been filled, the game loops back to the first screen on a higher difficulty level where enemies and obstacles are more numerous and move faster, and new hindrances may even appear.
Screen I - Underwater Frogger[]
The player's frog begins its journey at the bottom of an ocean that is heavily populated by predatory barracudas and alligators, with each species occupying their own lane. The objective is to guide the frogs to the berths on the logs floating on the surface (up to three berths). However, the water's current will constantly pull the frog toward one side –either left or right–, hindering the player's required precise movements. On higher difficulty levels, the water's current becomes stronger and pulls the frog at a higher speed.
Smaller fishes are harmless to the touch, but the larger creatures are dangerous. On higher difficulty levels, a long eel named Larry will slowly rise from the bottom of the ocean trying to catch the player's frogs; this creature will progressively grow longer on more advanced levels. Air bubbles will frequently float from the bottom of the ocean toward the surface which can be caught on their way up for 100 bonus points each.
A friendly turtle named Joe swims on the sixth lane (counting from bottom to top) and periodically dives to the bottom of the ocean moving past all the other water creatures; making contact with him allows the frog to hitch a ride on his back, allowing for quick movement between lanes. Additionally, the frog becomes completely impervious to damage while riding Joe. If Joe carries the frog to the edge of the screen, both will simply reenter on the other side, without the frog getting killed in the process. Joe can be ridden as much as desired (though the timer will keep on ticking, so it's advisable not to dwindle too much).
To advance to the next screen, whether all the berths have been filled or not, the frog must climb on a side of any of the floating logs (that is, not inside the berth itself).
Screen II - Surface Frogger[]
The fauna present in this screen is much more varied than in the original game, with alligators, ducks, hippos, turtles, and even a whale. Gameplay is similar to the previous screen, with the main difference that now the frog must hop on the floating animals and lilies while avoiding to fall into the water (in this regard, it is more similar to the River section of the original game) and there isn't a current that carries them away this time around. Falling into the water will send the frog back to the bottom of the first screen and then it'll have to start its journey all over again. Also unlike the original game, it is completely safe to stand on an alligator or hippo's jaws without getting eaten. Lilies can be hopped on only one time, and once the frog jumps off of them, they'll sink into the water, so the player must take this in consideration when planning their next movements.
On higher difficulty levels, a hungry shark will sometimes appear swimming at great speed on a random lane, signaled by its fast moving dorsal fin sticking out of the water and a rendition of the Jaws theme playing while it is onscreen.
On the horizon, there is a tugboat pulling up to three life preservers from a rope; these act as this screen's berths which the player must hop in.
Accessing the third screen from this one is notably different than usual; on the fourth lane, there are a group of Baby Ducks swimming, as well as their mother, Mama Duck. When the frog hops on a baby duck, this will start honking calling for its mom, who will quickly come to its aid and trample the frog (that is, if the mother duck swims through the player's frog from one side). However, jumping on Mama Duck's back from any of the adjacent lanes (up or down) will instead make her carry the frog on a flight to the third screen.
Screen III - Airborne Frogger[]
Things turn outright crazy on this screen, with the frog requiring to hitch rides on all sorts of flying creatures whose flocks are not only composed of birds, but also pterodactyls and even a dragon named Clyde, who protects the first lane - making contact with any part of this dragon's body takes away one life. A couple of butterflies fly low enough for the frog to jump and catch for bonus points. The first thing to do in this screen is to start jumping on the bottom cloud and build enough momentum for the frog to reach the birds flying on the lowest lane, and from there jump up from bird to bird until reaching up to three clouds at the top which act as this screen's berths. On higher difficulties, an airplane will fly through these clouds which must be avoided. Also, on higher difficulties, holes will start opening on the "trampoline" cloud at the bottom; falling through any of these will send the frog back down to the second screen.
On rare occasions, a stork carrying a baby will fly at the top of the screen; catching it awards an Extra Life.
Ports[]
The Atari 2600 version has some relevant gameplay changes (likely due to hardware limitations). Some of these include:
- Screen I - Underwater Frogger
- All the fishes are harmful to the touch, unlike the other versions of the game where the smaller fishes are safe to swim over.
- Alligators are replaced by submarines, but otherwise behave the same.
- Screen II - Surface Frogger
- The hippo periodically stops for a moment and open its jaws; making contact with any part of its body while in this state takes away one life.
- Certain animals (like the trio of turtles swimming on the topmost lane) will periodically dive into the water, momentarily removing them as impromptu platforms the frog can step onto (the whale will also submerge from time to time in some ports of the game).
Notes[]
- Frogger II: ThreeeDeep! was not released in Japan.
Gallery[]
Promotional artwork[]
Artworks[]
Miscellaneous[]
Trivia[]
- The word "ThreeeDeep!" is a play on 3D (the triple "e" may also be a reference to this concept).
External links[]
- AtariMania (source of images)
- GameFAQs
- MobyGames
| This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Frogger II: ThreeeDeep!. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Frogger Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |