Review of Frogun: an endearing independent isometric 3D platformer
Our Verdict
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.
The most recent independent platformer that pays homage to the '90s classics is called Frogun. While some critics may think that this style of platforming is overdone, I contend that there are countless other ways to use it, and as an original isometric 3D platformer, Frogun does something fresh while honouring the past.
The main idea of Frogun is that you take on the role of Renata, a young child who sets out to locate her lost explorer parents. She packs the eponymous Frogun, a frog pistol with a long tongue that doubles as a grappling hook, with her in order to keep safe out there. It's a fresh idea that offers the game a unique personality.
The Frogun itself is useful in many different circumstances. For instance, you may shoot foes to catch them by the tongue, which allows you to shoot other enemies. You may also use it to fire at various floating things quickly to bridge enormous, bottomless holes, or you can use it to cling onto larger adversaries or objects to go across chasms. These are some of the toughest aspects of the game.
It takes some time to get acclimated to some of the more difficult movements, but once you start mastering them, you'll find yourself coming up with original solutions to issues. You can uncover shortcuts and bypass parts of the levels by strategically employing the Frogun with a little bit of creative thinking. This sort of play style is absolutely encouraged since you are rewarded for finishing stages swiftly.
Aside from Frogun in-game, this game's 3D platforming is another feature. You'll have to time your leaps precisely and bounce off opponent heads to get additional height as you leap over actual platforms over bottomless pits. This part of the game reminded me a lot of the first Crash Bandicoot games, in my opinion. Although it may be a bit difficult at times, the controls are so precise that everything seems quite fair.
Renata sometimes runs across Jake, her adversary, and on these stages the gameplay is somewhat different as you have to beat him to the finish. This is a refreshing change of pace, although it is a little tedious that you have to listen to their conversation each time the race begins. If this had only occurred once, it would not be as annoying, but if you lose and have to restart, you also have to watch the conversation twice, which becomes annoying particularly in the later stages when losing is more common.
With boss bouts, the same issue arises because Renata speaks with them prior to the fight. Naturally, on your second try, you'll be hitting A quickly to finish it off, but you'll pay a price for it later on when you accidentally press A at the same time the boss appears. This will fire the Frogun and draw you in towards the monster, doing damage to you. Although I'm sure this will be fixed, it's now a little unpleasant.
Apart from that, all of the boss fights are quite enjoyable. Most players will likely find the first few to be a touch too simple, but the latter ones are definitely harder. It's possible that you'll need to practice them two or three times in order to get used to their assaults and develop your evasion and fighting skills.
As I previously said, the plot revolves on Renata's search for her parents, and although you may anticipate this kind of game to have the most simplistic of plots, there is surprisingly much backstory included. You may discover lost notes in every level. These notes are usually written by your parents, the bosses in the game, or other characters, and they frequently include information about the universe and history of the game. It's a clever world-building technique.
There are additional items for you to locate around the globe besides these notes: each level includes a certain number of money (which can be used to purchase headgear and other things), as well as eye-meralds and a skull that you may get by doing very difficult side tasks that are buried throughout. You can take more hits by unlocking more health upgrades the more collectibles you uncover. Even though the plot isn't very lengthy, all of this will keep you interested.
Overall, I think it's a really great game, and I should also talk on the presentation. Although they look better than anything the system could have really ran, the visuals have a somewhat PS1-style design, and the sound effects and music also have an appropriately old vibe. It's very endearing, which is the perfect cherry on top of a gaming pie that's been well constructed.
For more games similar to Frogun, check out our guides to thebest indie games on Switch and thebest Switch platformers.