Frogger 3: At Frog's End
Frogger has been around for a long time and never ceases to amaze. But there comes a price - overshadowed by bigger franchises like Mario and Sonic, Frogger has been declining in sales. In fact, there have been numerous titles in the franchise that have been rocky at best, and an exception would have to be Frogger: The Great Quest, which was a massive flop to the franchise. The game ditched the magic of the original Frogger, and replaced it with terrible graphics, bad voice acting and mind-numbingly crappy platforming. Sure, both Tails actors from Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 are there, but the game lost all good taste. But do you want to know why that game is so bad?
In 1995, Konami made a deal with Infogrames (the guys who made Alone in the Dark) to co-produce Frogger games. The two studios soon had a lot of independent projects on their schedule, and all they ever did was Frogger. Desperate to get out of their contract and go their separate ways, Konami and Infogrames made one last Frogger game to cap off the trilogy. Development of the project was handed over to Blitz Games, the same developers of Frogger 2, since they couldn't find any other studio willing to produce the game.
By February 2001, "Frogger 3: At Frog's End" was in full development phase, with scripts being written. The plot was originally going to be much darker than the other two Frogger games.. There was actually going to be dialogue that was never possible in a Frogger game before. Unfortunately, the Blitz studio caught fire and most of the game's files were lost. With the release date drawing near, development was rushed and the employees were overworked and traumatized over what just happened. They had to reuse assets from Frogger 2.
I used to work at Infogrames as a producer. I never saw the beta when it was released to us, as I was busy working on other projects. However, from what I've heard, the game was described as "too graphic, too realistic, too dark". It was then announced that Konami would cut Infogrames and Blitz off and work on their own thing. Blitz had to rework the game from scratch, without the Frogger license. That game would become Zapper: One Wicked Cricket. It was implied to be what Frogger 3 was intended to be, while the darker tone and story would later be put into Silent Hill 2. Meanwhile, Frogger got another game, The Great Quest, which didn't sell good, given it was a far cry from what he usually had been through.
I was exploring a storage unit, when I came across a bin with a sign reading "F3 CANCELLED BETA VERSION - DO NOT OPEN". I assumed that "F3" stood for Frogger 3. I honestly didn't think about Frogger 3 since hearing it was cancelled over a few years ago. Picking the lock, I noticed that there was only a single box. Taking it home, I found something intriguing. Inside was a single poster promoting the game and a blank cd.
The first thing I noticed when I popped in the cd was an InstallShield wizard for "Frogger 3 - At Frog's End". The background was the Frogger 2 logo on a black background, only in purple and yellow and with a three instead of a two. Surrounding it were the Konami, Blitz Games and Infogrames logos. I went through the wizard and once it closed, the shortcut appeared on my desktop. It looked like a 2D Frogger head with a three next to it. I clicked on the icon.
A wave of nostalgia went through my head as the company logos faded in from black. The intro began with Swampy's Lair from Frogger 2 exploding. I assumed this took place at the end of that game. The CGI here was in better quality and lighting when compared to the previous game. As it turns out, Swampy was in a UFO escaping the frogs, with Tad, Treeby and Wart helping Frogger and Lily. After 30 seconds of chasing, he crashes into a tree. The frogs look at him then leave. He then looks at a poster of the game and growls angrily. Noticing the enemies shown on the poster, the crocodile then gets an idea, which is shown by a lightbulb in his eyes, which then show a frog exploding. I noticed there was green blood when the frog exploded. It was surprising that Blitz attempted to censor blood in this game, yet it was clear Swampy wants to kill Frogger judging by the imagery.
The title screen then came up, which is the Frogger 3 logo from the InstallShield wizard with "AT FROG'S END" in red. I pressed Enter. The main menu then showed pictures of Frogger's model from Frogger 2, with four options next to him: "Story", "Multiplayer", "Mini Games", "Options" and "Exit". Mini Games and Multiplayer did nothing, so I assumed they were added in later. The background on the menu was dark blue. I chose Story, then "New Game".
I wish I hadn't pressed that button.
Level 1: Tutorial
This level is not unlike the level from Frogger 2, albeit bigger in design. I could actually explore the level this time! I also noticed the Frogger model was the same one from Frogger 2, similar to how the title screen worked. I knew right then that this was not just a render of some sort. There was an instruction for the quick hop glitch from Frogger 2 (the one where you quickly hop in a direction and double jump). However, once I collected all five Frog Babies, there was a goal I had to reach in order to finish the level.
A cutscene played when I finished the level. It showed Swampy killing off several Frog Babies with a shotgun. Again, there was green blood in the scene, but I was horrified at the sheer brutality this cutscene had to offer. Frogger and Lily hopped into the scene, causing Swampy to hightail it out of there. He spared a few Babies, but it was enough to break Lily into tears. Frogger was also understandably pissed at the slaughter and screamed into the sky.
Level 2: Growing Shame
The level was a mix of levels from previous Frogger games, most notably the levels with the lawn mowers. I had to plow through several amounts of bumblebees, lawn mowers, and crocodiles, but this time, there were pirahnas. FREAKING PIRAHNAS. Who wouldn't want to add pirahnas to a Frogger game? The pirahnas in this game would try to snap at you if you stood on a water platform for too long, and if they got you, they would pull a good chunk out of you and kill you. Like in the Space levels of Frogger 2, the babies were scattered across the level, and I had to hop around and collect them. The coins from Frogger 2 also returned, and I knew I had to collect them to unlock more features. The goal popped up on the side opposite of the platform where I had gotten the last frog baby. You'd probably be sure that was a huge trek across the level. There was no message for collecting all 25 coins in the level, so I assumed the developers had put some time into making the unlockables a bit more diverse than before. I also realized that all the enemies were the same models from Frogger 2, and it made sense, as Blitz had to reuse assets to make up for lost data.
Level 3: Monkey Spines
This level happens to take place in a rainforest. I didn't expect the lawn mowers to still be here, but you also had a lot more enemies to work with, like beetles, warthogs, eagles, and now anvils randomly falling from the sky. The anvils and lawn mowers made absolutely no sense because it's a rainforest, but I pressed forward. The lighting here was much darker compared to the last two levels, probably because the trees were huge and were blocking out the ingame sun. Again, no reward for collecting all the coins.
Another cutscene played this time. Frogger had made it out of the forest and is now making his way to a mine, much like what happens in Frogger 2, except Lily does not go to Egypt.
Level 4: Fishing for Gold
The scenery was much darker, illuminated by a few torches. The rats were colored grey in this game, compared to their previously red color. I hopped on a minecart where the first frog baby was, and I was zooming through the track with surprisingly demonic speed. Once the ride ended, I was launched off the cart flying into a platform where the second baby was. Later, when I found the fourth baby, she was standing on a TNT plunger surrounded by numerous sticks of dynamite. When I hopped onto the plunger to get the baby, the dynamite began exploding, creating a massive wall of fire that I had to escape. When Frogger touched the fire, he instantly burned to a crisp, wasting a life. Several extra life butterflies were flying around the hallway, and they always respawned everytime I lost a life. During the chase, I noticed something odd - the fifth frog baby was in my path. In my haste, I missed the baby and the flames engulfed him, accompanied by a high pitched squeal representing the poor tadpole dying. In my guilt, I jumped into one of the numerous pits in the hallway to restart the chase sequence.
When I got back to the plunger, things seemed different. The plunger was now black. The flames were now a light blue to represent a hotter fire. When I got to the spot where the baby was, he wasn't there. I kept killing myself over and over again, the screen getting darker each time, until I was down to my last life. This time, there was a baby, but he wasn't red like usual. It was black. There was no blood, no burn marks. It was black as if all the color was drained from him. I got the baby, but before I could go any further, there was a massive wall blocking my path. I knew it was the end of the tunnel, and I didn't want it to end this way - Frogger getting burnt in a blue hell. I tried to find anything in the darkness I could go, when I came across a small opening. I couldn't see well, as there was only a dim spotlight illuminating where Frogger was. I went into the entrance and found the goal, only it was far enough so I couldn't see it from the main hallway, and even worse, I saw that it was red. I hopped into the goal, and an unusual level completion screen came up. The background was grey and there were no babies. This time, I did get a message.
"ALL COINS COLLECTED! UNLOCKED #$&%)(&%!"
There were two buttons available - "Accept" and "Decline"
I selected Accept. Instead of continuing to the next level, an image popped up that horrified me. It was a close up of Frogger... or what was supposedly him. His skin was black, but his eyes were worse. They were grey and red. He was in complete darkness with what was supposedly a window behind him. I couldn't see much past the window. The image was accompanied with a loud screech that launched me off my chair. When I got up, there was nothing. The image went just as it came.
Level 5: Punishment
Unlike the other levels, there were no enemies. Frogger was still in the mine, but the walls were grey and the torches were out. His textures were the same from the image, and the level was accompanied with dead silence, besides the wind and the noises Frogger made. The light illuminating the mine was not seen and the coins were red. The frog baby icons in the HUD were gone, and all I had were the coin count and the lives. I hopped through the mine for what seemed like 10 minutes when I reached the goal. Another message came up:
"YOU DIDN'T SAVE US"
Another cutscene played. Frogger is now out of the mine and is now at what looked to be an abandoned circus. He was back to his normal colors for the cutscene.
Level 6: Asylum
Frogger returned to his black skin and red eyes for this level. The circus had enemies like small, mutated clowns and cannons that shot cannonballs at you. Again, no frog babies to find, and I managed to get to the goal after a bit. You could now shoot missiles out of your mouth, so I blew up everything in sight until the goal came out of one of the cannons. There was no blood, but the clowns screeched in a deep voice when they died. There was no message this time.
Level 7: Sentence
HOLY CRAP, this level was hard. Frogger was in a basement with dozens of monkeys from "Research Facility", and I didn't have my missiles either. I actually had to cheat to get through this level. Yes, we programmed cheats into the game. Another coin message came up:
"NICE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR"
Level 8: Reveal
Frogger was the only thing shown in complete darkness. I was frantically hopping around trying to find something when the camera panned downward to show Frogger's back and something pink in the distance. I hopped over to the pink object. It was Lily, but she had no hair, and her backpack was missing, she was laying on her back, covered in pink blood. Nearby Lily's corpse was the goal. I was shocked stiff when the message appeared:
"YOU BROUGHT THIS TO YOURSELF"
The cutscene that played was absurd horror. Everything was texture-less and grey like an unfinished project gone wrong. The only thing that had textures was Frogger, looking forlorn. From what I can tell, he was exiting through a trapdoor near the circus and hopping for at least 30 seconds before entering a massive temple. The two statues guarding the entrance looked like frogs.
Level 9: Truth
The inside of the temple had various colors, shapes and objects. Frogger was on a narrow passageway, surrounded by dozens upon dozens of frog babies, all having black skin. I could see Lily's face for a split second. I hopped across the temple as many messages popped up.
"WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO?"
"YOU MADE US SUFFER"
"YOU CAN'T BRING US BACK"
"LET US GO"
"WE CAN'T STAND FOR THIS"
"YOU ARE THE MONSTER"
"HE DID NOTHING"
At this point, I was getting worried. As I went into the goal, one more message popped up.
"YOU MUST PAY"
Level 10: Broken
I was in a small room with Swampy. He was throwing bombs at me and stomping the floor. I knew this was a boss fight. I noticed that I could shoot missiles again and fired barrages at the crocodile. I mashed missiles at Swampy, but while he did an animation of pain, I didn't see a health bar or anything that indicated his oncoming mortality. Instead, I got message upon message of a different thing.
"THIS ISN'T RIGHT"
"YOU LET THIS HAPPEN"
"THIS WON'T CHANGE A THING"
"THAT IS THE WRONG GUY"
"YOU LET THEM DIE"
"YOU FAILED"
"YOU CAN'T SAVE THEM NOW"
"KILLING HIM DOESN'T MATTER"
After all these messages, I knew what to do. I stopped firing missiles and just hopped into him. I kept touching him until the last life. When I jumped into Swampy, Frogger exploded in a mess of green goo and flesh. One last message came up.
"YOU DID THE ONLY RIGHT THING"
I haven't played through the game again since that day, although I still have the disc. I still think about it every time I look at that icon on my desktop. I want you to know about this game and what we have created. I just got something in the mail a couple of weeks ago. It was a USB drive. On it was a single PNG file. It was a drawing of Swampy, standing over several frog parts, covered in a large amount of slime.
Credited to The Booodle
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