Platforms: PS3, Vita, PC
Publisher: Team 17
Developer: Team 17
Genre: Platformer
Respawn
Let’s get one thing straight: Team 17 are one of the most iconic British game developers in the history of the medium. The games industry wouldn’t quite be the same without their most prolific series: Worms, which has seen countless iterations since its inception and has sold an ungodly amount of copies as a whole. Their latest offering comes slightly off the beaten path in the form of Superfrog HD, a remake of an ancient DOS platformer from 1993. While the original had (and still does, to an extent) that old PC platforming charm going for it, this new iteration does nothing to alleviate Superfrog’s irrelevancy, and ironically pales in comparison to the game that came out twenty years before.
Superfrog HD is a game that lacks a soul. Everything about it screams “generic.” The new glossy art style, the music and sound effects, the enemies, the pickups, even the levels themselves seem like they were conceived by a small child. That is not to discredit the incredibly talented people at Team 17; back in 1993, the entire concept of Superfrog was something of the norm, just another pebble skimmed across the lake of the mascot era. While it wasn’t a knockout success, the game did form a sizeable following and was the recipient of quite the critical success. The problem is, Team 17 must have thought they could recreate that success by remaining faithful to the original game, as opposed to out and out creating something new.
It’s colourful to look at, at least.
So what makes Superfrog HD such an empty experience? Well, for starters, all the game’s original levels are locked away, being deemed too difficult for the casual player. In their stead we have 24 “re-imaginings” of these levels which feature a much shallower difficulty curve. You can of course unlock the original levels, but only by matching three symbols on an uninspired slot machine bonus game at the end of each stage; and there’s a word I’d use to sum up Superfrog HD’s level design: uninspired. Each stage is a labyrinthine mess littered with pointless collectibles, cookie-cutter enemies and lame powerups, and all feel like a chore to get through as a result.
In addition, the way Superfrog himself moves around makes each level an exercise in frustration. Superfrog literally has one gear: go. Holding down a direction will launch him at full speed in that direction, and letting go will stop him dead in his tracks. There’s no momentum before or after. This wouldn’t be so bad if Superfrog decided to move at a reasonable speed. Instead, he deems it necessary to sprint with reckless abandon, making it hard to keep track of obstacles and enemies you’ll most certainly run into. There’s a lot of dying in Superfrog HD, and a lot of it won’t be your fault because of the titular character’s unnecessary eagerness.
The levels also fill in the list of typical platformer locales rather well. All the regulars are here, including a forest, a carnival and a haunted castle. All have been done to death, and all have equally unsurprising enemies and obstacles to match the setting. To be fair, this is a remake of a twenty year old game, but over the course of those years Superfrog’s locations have become rather tired within its genre. Another missed opportunity; Team 17 could have made a much better original game rather than remaining arrogantly faithful to an ancient DOS game.
It sounds like I’m being unfair, but really, there is absolutely nothing that stands out about Superfrog HD. It’s by no means a bad game. The platforming, minus occasional awkward hit detection, is serviceable and collectibles can often be satisfying to pick up, especially when Superfrog is dashing through hundreds of them at a time. Other than that, there’s not much good to say about the game. In essence, it’s a lazy upgrade of a game that hasn’t aged all that well in the years since its release, and as such, I have to ask one crucial question: just who is Superfrog HD for? The people who played it all those years ago are now adults, probably with jobs and priorities of their own. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it to children, either, given the difficulty and inclusion of the rock-solid original levels.
All in all, Superfrog HD is unfortunately an empty, missed opportunity. With platformers coming back in a big way in recent years, Team 17 had a marvellous opportunity to bring back a mascot of old in a triumphant new quest. Instead we get a scene-for-scene remake of a tired DOS game. I suppose we can’t have it all, can we?
