Frogger

Frogger is Parker Brothers' 1983 Atari 5200 cartridge version of Konami's arcade game. It sends one frog at a time from the grass at the bottom of the screen to five home bays across a four-lane highway and a fast-moving river. The game begins with five frogs; every loss removes one, and the game ends after none remain.

The first crossing is a timing problem among vehicles travelling in alternating directions and at different speeds. Beyond the sidewalk, the frog must ride logs, ordinary turtles, and diving turtles through the river. Falling into the water, being carried off the edge, or remaining aboard a turtle when it submerges costs a frog.

The river route gains further threats as play becomes tougher. A frog may ride an alligator's back but not its jaws, while snakes can appear on the sidewalk and logs; their bodies are safe footing, but their heads are not. At the top, each frog must land directly in an unoccupied home bay, avoiding the bordering shrubbery and any alligator head inside it. A pink lady frog on a log and a fly in a home bay offer bonus opportunities.

Filling all five home bays advances the game to a harder level. Traffic patterns and lane speeds change, the river offers fewer floating objects moving at varying speeds, and snakes join the course. Each frog has about 30 seconds to reach home, with a warning as the time band runs low.

The 5200 version supports one player or alternating two-player play, plus selectable slow or fast speed. Its controller overlay can select player count, speed, and whether movement uses the joystick or keypad. In keypad mode, 2, 8, 4, and 6 move the frog forward, back, left, and right; with the joystick, the player chooses a direction and fully releases the lower side fire button to make a single hop.

Scoring awards 10 points for each forward hop and 50 for reaching a home bay. Getting five frogs home earns 1,000 points, while rescuing the pink frog or eating a fly adds 200. Reaching home before time expires awards 10 points for every second remaining.