Ribbit King

"Frog-In-One!"

Let's start this out with an indisputable fact: I am not a golfer, and this is a golf game. I think that golf is the single most boring sport ever conceived, and the only people who play it are middle-aged men and my Western Literature teacher - who, actually, is a middle-aged man. So, although the Ribbit King box pulled me in with its bizarre, bright, happy characters and the promise of harassing frogs, I wasn't expecting something I'd want to come back and play much.
Boy, was I wrong. This game shattered all of my preconceived notions of what a golf game is (boring) and replaced them with a zany and fun time for the five days I rented it.

Probably the game's weakest point is its STORY. Your character, Scooter, is called in by the King of your home planet to participate in a Frolf tournament to get the Grand Prize - which, coincidentally, will save the world. So, you set off in a spaceship and begin your days of Frolf and adventure.
Pretty weak by itself. What makes the story charming are the characters in the game. While none of them are particularly well-developed (no side-stories or angsty revelations here), they display distinctive designs and characteristics that make them endearing and make you want to unlock new challenges - if only to see the cutscene before the next match. The humour, at least to this fan of quirkiness, is right on par, and not too much of it is lost in translation. Speaking of translation, even jokes that are very obviously Japanese are handled well and made accessible to the English audience, which is always a plus in my book.
Although the plot never thickens - you're always just going around playing Frolf - it's still an enjoyable and well-paced experience, littered with humorous characters and situations, which help save the game from lack of storyline.

7/10 - the story itself is weak, but the characters and humour make up for it.

The GAMEPLAY in Ribbit King is very well-done and interesting. As far as basic controls go, it runs on a Mario Golf-like engine where you tap the A button at a certain time to control your shot. You can use the control stick and pad to adjust your shot's position, curve, and length. There is only one menu, which allows you to either switch frogs or use an item to help your performance. Throughout the round, your character earns points, and whoever has the most points at the end of four rounds wins the match. It's actually very simple, and you could probably pick it up even without the tutorial.
Terrain effects are also taken into consideration in a whole new way in this game. Of course, ice makes you slip and lava burns your frog, but there are several different types of field obstacles that help you get to the hole faster and rack up points. These are called "Gimmicks", and are part of what makes the game so much fun. Rather than just hitting your frog to a different point on the course, you can have it swim through the water, bounce off spider webs, gobble up flies, be gobbled up by snakes, and much more. In fact, it's hard to avoid the Gimmicks if you want to do well at Frolf, which just makes planning your shot and seeing the results all the more fun.
The only problem with the gameplay lies within the actions of the frog itself. Once you aim your frog and shoot, it will bounce a couple of times after the shot. This is something that could be an advantage to the player - if you could predict when your frog's going to bounce and when it won't. There are many situations in which you might be making a risky shot, land it perfectly, and then your frog decides to hop off the edge of the course. Inversely, you may need that extra distance to get your frog in the hole, and it refuses to budge. The bouncing is very unreliable, but it's the only problem I can see with the gameplay.

9/10 - a good, easy-to-learn system with very few flaws.

I'm lumping the SOUND AND GRAPHICS into one category in this game, because there isn't much to say about either of them. The game has a very cheery feeling to it overall, which is reflected well in the music. There isn't a lot of variety - most songs fall under the "just cheery enough that you know it's there" category - but the music isn't the sort that gets on your nerves either. I never noticed more than five or six different tracks throughout the entire game, but they're all decently done. Sound effects run pretty much the same way - flies buzz, your mallet goes "bonk", spider webs make a bouncy noise. Nothing especially outstanding, but nothing obnoxious either.
There is a lot of voice-acting in this game - little to none of the actual text is written out on the screen. Typically, I would turn on the Japanese track, since I think most English dub-overs are obnoxious (FFX, anyone?), but this game doesn't have the option. However, the English track in Ribbit King is pulled off rather nicely. There are some voices that annoy me (the bug-eyed referee immediately comes to mind), but these voices are in sync with the character that they are meant to represent. Lines are delivered with the right amount of expression to make it a passable, and even likable, dub.
As for graphics, they go along the lines of the sound - they're done well, and they fit with the game, but they're nothing that you're going to stare at for hours on end. There is little noticeable difference between the FMVs and the in-game graphics themselves, except slightly rougher edges. Courses are designed well, and each planet you play Frolf on has its own unique features and style. Characters are very distinctive and colourful - it's very easy to recognize in an instant who you're playing and where. The character designs are also very reflective of their personalities - Princess Tippi does, indeed, look a bit tipsy. The only thing worth complaining about here is camera angles - occasionally, you'll end up looking through a volcano at a plane of random green instead of your frog. It's a rare occurrence, but still a little bit of a bother in a game where you need to see what's on the course around you.

8/10 - good, but nothing to write home about.

One of the things that throws Ribbit King above the par of a typical golf game is the amount of EXTRA STUFF. The game is fairly linear, and there aren't really any sidequests, but there is a good amount of stuff to collect - items, bottlecaps, frogs, and movies. The items are the easiest things to get, available from a lucky capsule from the Gumbah-Goo or by landing on a specific space in a course. You can buy a character's trademark frog after defeating them a certain number of times. Each frog has distinctive features as well as advantages on the various courses (for example, some can resist lava, some fly farther, etc), which makes it easier to be victorious in Frolf with all the possible frogs. Bottlecaps are actually little statues ala Super Smash Brothers Melee, which you obtain after accomplishing a certain goal. There is also a second quest-type feature after you beat the game the first time, opening more matches and bringing about new opponents.
However, this is all stuff that any game could easily offer. Ribbit King goes a step further by offering a series of short movies on the second disc, labelled "Ribbit King Plus!". These movies are unlocked when you reach a certain milestone in your Frolfing skills - for example, winning 10 matches in a row. They really don't have any effect on the game, but they do add to the world of Ribbit King and can be really funny to watch. Most of the clips have more than one part, and they're amusing enough that you'll want to check out what movies you've unlocked after each match.

9/10 - the movies are what really sets this apart, but obtaining the items is also a good time.

I'm running out of good lead-ins, but still we come to the REPLAY VALUE of the game. Personally, I think that this game is a good time, and I play versus mode often with my little brother. The addition of a second quest, along with attempting to unlock all of the various treasures, gives this game a decent amount of replay. It's always interesting to come back and see what quirky surprises the game has in store for you.

8/10 - average replay value made more fun by the game's trademark quirkiness.

And, last but not least, should you BUY, RENT, OR BORROW this game? I recommend a good rent or borrow at the least. There will always be the crowd that doesn't like this sort of game (the same people, probably, who hated Mischief Makers for the N64), but I think that most people can irk enough enjoyment out of it to last awhile. If you like the game enough, it's definitely worth a buy. I can't see it being priced for the full $50, since it's not exactly the most popular game, so if you can get your hands on it it'll be well worth the money. Even after you beat the game, it's still fun to Frolf.

Overall, Ribbit King is a fun, quirky little golf title that all ages can enjoy. It isn't an outstanding title, but it offers a few hours of a good time and can bring you out of the doldrums with it's offbeat humour. I think there should be more games out there like this one - companies these days seem to be way more interested in drama or graphics, and we forget about the genuinely fun games like this entirely. Ribbit King is a great addition to any gamer's collection, and it's a shame that it will probably never be recognized for the great game it really is.

OVERVIEW - RIBBIT KING
STORY - 7/10
GAMEPLAY - 9/10
SOUND/GRAPHICS - 8/10
EXTRAS - 9/10
REPLAY VALUE - 8/10

TOTAL - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/04