Superfrog

About Superfrog

Superfrog (1993) is Team17's Amiga platformer in which a prince turned into a frog gains super powers from a bottle of Lucozade and sets out to rescue his princess from a witch.

Superfrog in Depth

In a nod to the Frog Prince fairy tale, an unnamed prince is turned into a frog by a jealous witch, who then abducts his princess. Sulking by the River O' Despair, he finds a floating bottle of Lucozade that gives him super powers, and he heads off to defeat the witch, completing smaller objectives such as finding a golden key in the castle or escaping captivity in a circus along the way. The story is told mostly through an animated introduction by Eric W. Schwartz.

There are 24 levels across six themed worlds: Magic Woods, Spooky Castle, Fun Park, Ancient Level, Ice World and Space Level. In each, Superfrog must collect a set number of coins before the exit will open, racing a countdown timer while managing health points, both restored by bottles of Lucozade. Coins, fruit and speed earn up to 15 credits per level, which can be banked for score or gambled on a slot machine minigame whose main prize is a level code for restarting later. Between the fifth and sixth worlds is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up, Project-F, an homage to Team17's Project-X complete with a remix of its theme, where the goal is simply to survive. The game ends with a boss fight against the witch in her castle.

Making Superfrog

Team17 developed and published it for the Amiga in 1993, and it was popular enough to spawn a CD32 version and, in 1994, an MS-DOS conversion by Bubball Systems. Islona Software re-released the CD32 version as a budget title in 1999, and the DOS version came to GOG.com in 2012. Although Team17's earlier games became relatively obscure after the huge success of Worms, Superfrog is remembered fondly for its solid play, smooth scrolling, cartoon-quality graphics and upbeat music, and despite being a small release next to blockbuster platformers like Sonic, it was well received and keeps a fan base that considers it an excellent example of the genre.