Frogger Returns (DSiWare) Review

Yep. He's back.
Frogger is one of my favourite games of all time, so when I heard the WiiWare game "Frogger Returns" is coming to the DSi Shop. I was excited. But after actually playing it, its decent and the old PlayStation 1 games were better. Why you ask? Well, for graphics, it's the WiiWare game just toned down but even on the DSi it looks pretty good. Cel-shaded graphics look really good for the game and suit it nicely. The only thing bad about its graphics is that the camera is in a Grand Theft Auto ChinaTown Wars perspective and this leads to a lot of cheap deaths. For the games audio, I love it, the sound-fx more than the music. Some of the level themes are cool & catchy but the game really shines in the sound-fx for me. As for controls, you could either use the D-pad, the buttons or the touch screen. This is such a waste. In the Playstation 1games, you used the D-pad and the buttons were either ribbit, use your tongue. The controls are simple, REALLY simple, but a waste. For 500 points, you get a bang for your buck with the modes in here, you get Arcade Mode which is classic Frogger, 3 lives, going from level to level. You also get Time Trial, Score Attack & Free Mode. There are 4 levels, which really sucks, but if you played the original and expect short levels, you are wrong, the levels here take a while to beat. Along with a stupid camera, another stupid thing in this game is the freeze traffic button, which is in the 1st level, where you jump on it and yes, all the traffic & dogs stop. This defeats the purpose of Frogger and is another waste. What is fun are some of the power-ups. There is invincibility, freeze enemies, more time, and there's about 1 or 2 more. Finally, if the only background art is going to be the classic arcade frog, why not have the actual arcade classic an unlockable thing or already unlocked? I was playing this in class and one kid came up to me asking me "What are you playing?" I told him "Frogger" and he asked "What's Frogger?". So if the next game you make has "Return" in the title, you make sure you have the original in there so people know why he's returning. But after a lot of cheap deaths, a crappy camera, average controls. I did have some fun with Frogger and it's good to see that he is making a come back after those crappy weird PlayStation 2 Frogger games. I say only download Frogger Returns if you played (& loved) the classic arcade or Playstation 1 games. If you like the Wii version, sure get this. But if you want to try Frogger first, just Google Free Frogger or something and play an online flash version. I'm giving Frogger Returns on the DSi a 6.0 out 10. Hopefully this reboot to one of my favourite arcade games of the 80s can make a sequel.