Frogun

Mix together the Legend of Zelda, Crash Bandicoot, and Banjo-Kazooie, with a few other ‘90s classics and you get Frogun - a game that may press a few nostalgia buttons, but which provides a unique and innovative experience. I reckon it will be the next big indie hit.

Frogun draws you in with all the strength of the titular tongue-hooking grapple gun, combining 90’s low-poly nostalgic presentation with a fresh, novel gameplay premise. It’s a fairly short expedition, but well worth it when you factor in extra modes and collectibles.

The Switch certainly doesn't have an overabundance of 3D platforming games, let alone those that consist of multiple small levels as opposed to larger, more open spaces, like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. Ultimately, Renata and her Frog-shaped gun make for a goofy but capable pair, and I ended up being surprised by how much I liked their adventure and how it kept pushing me to finish just one more stage. You can unlock a two-player duel mode, but there's more than enough reason to return to every level solo to perfect your performance. I agree that what the world needs now is love, but a little Frogun wouldn't hurt either.

While I love this game's style, the character of Renata and her faithful frog/gun the Frogun itself, the reality of actually playing the game sadly doesn't inspire quite as much of a smile as I got when I first saw this adventure revealed. [Issue #62 – November/December 2022, p. 24]

Cutting right to the chase, Frogun is primarily a game for players who want to go back to the 1990s. From its visual style to its gameplay mechanics, everything about it screams retro, and that’s both a good thing and a bad thing from where I’m standing. Yes, it succeeds in channelling the past but the downside to that is some awkward controls and punishing levels.

Frogun is interesting for its nostalgic value more than anything else, since there are some important issues regarding its controls and level design.

If you can sync with the game’s slower and more deliberate pacing it can be a fairly enjoyable test, and there are some great boss showdowns to help break things up. It’s a shame there are these issues – as there’s clearly been effort made to make Frogun look and sound like a platformer from the 90s – but the clunky feel will just end up putting most players off.