In the days of yore, when you’d wander down to the local shop to pick up a copy of PlayStation magazine and their latest demo disc, I stumbled across something spectacular. Twas a game unlike any other I had cast my eyes on. Ribbit King – a golf-like sports game created in 2003 by Insanity and Jamsworks that instead of using small white balls is played with frogs and catapults.
This insanely bizarre game immediately caught my eye, not only because I really wanted to play a game of Frolf, but also because of the game’s charming cartoon style. It was so good that I played that demo every chance I got, never tiring of having to repeat the same course over and over again.
It wasn’t until several years later though that I actually managed to get my hands on a copy to play all the way through. And it was all thanks to a night out in my local Wetherspoons when I drunkenly made my way to eBay and bought a copy to play on my PS3. The one time that drunk me has actually done something beneficial for me.
Whilst multiplayer was where I spent most of my time, essentially creating a Frolf Masters tournament between friends, the single-player mode was just as good. It wasn’t just like a boring golf game where you got the frog in a hole in the least number of shots (although that played a big part of it), there was a whole story based on the main character Scooter. His planet was in major peril, and its only hope of survival was Scooter entering the Frolf championship to become the Ribbit King, winning a fuel source known as Super Ribbinite. A fuel source that would be the difference between his planet’s survival and its extinction.
Along the way, you visit many weird and wonderful worlds throughout the universe and face off against numerous foes who look to challenge you for the title of becoming Frolf champion. To aid you in your quest, you are able to equip your frogs with special items like fireworks to make them fly further and lucky tags too which, for lack of a better description, make them a little luckier. By that, I mean that they’re more likely to land near flies, which the frogs jump toward and eat. This benefits you in two ways; firstly by racking you up more points to beat your opponent, and secondly, it allows your frog to move again, even after it has stopped.
Its a game that I truly can’t do justice with my words, so if you ever get chance to play it, make sure you don’t pass on the opportunity. As for myself, I will be making sure I crack it out again this weekend to get the nostalgia flowing around the house.
Before I go I’ll just leave Let’s Play video I found on Youtube that pretty much gives you the full experience of the demo I played way back when. See you next week for another Throwback Thursday!