Ribbit King

"Have you Frolfed Today? I have!!!"

This game can be recognized as one of the games from Japan that hardly ever makes it to America because they are not well known. Well, this one is! When I bought it, I wasn't sure what to expect. Now, I am very glad I bought it. Here is the review!

Story: 6/10
There are 2 Real Stories in this game. The first story is, your home planet, Hippotron, is running out of "Super Ribbonite", the substance that keeps your planet alive. The king requests your help by entering a "Frolf" tournament with the Super Ribbonite as the prize. The second story, I am not saying, you will have to see for yourself ^_^

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay is..... interesting.
It is basically like a normal golf game, but there are many things that make it different. First, there are many frogs to choose from, and some have special abilities (ie: swimming in lava, swimming quickly, etc.) Second, there are many "Gimmicks". These are things like Spider Webs (launch your frog higher in the air), Flies (your frog jumps to eat them to get points), and Animals (you need timing for these). The main thing that messes up the gameplay is that the computer AI has a set of pretermined shots that they will always use.

Sound: 7/10
Basically, not much to say about the sound, there are only a few songs that keep playing, and the characters always say something before they swing.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are pretty good, yet somewhat basic. They are pretty much what you would expect in a N64 game, but a little better. The camera can be moved pretty much anywhere to get a good shot, and the courses look very nice. And sometimes you will like watching the frogs fly through the air (like me)

Bonuses: 10/10
I like the bonuses very much. First, there are the "Bottle Caps", which you unlock by doing specific things in the game (Beating a character, interacting with all animals on a course, etc.) Second, there is a bonus disk with the game called "Ribbit King Plus" which has 28 unlockable movies you can watch, and you should like most of them (My favorites are TV Commercial, Ribbit King Shopping Part 3, and Sluggy After Work ^_^) And, you can get many items for use during gameplay from the Gumbah-Goo machine, or buy them from characters after a match. Some of the items are very helpful, while others are not much so.

Replay Value: 7/10
You will want to keep playing the game until you beat all of Story Mode, but after that it is best as a multiplayer game. You can have some very fun times in multiplayer......

Buy or Rent?
I would say buy, especially since it is only $19.99 brand new, and you can get some good replay after you beat the game the first time, collecting the Bottle Caps, and Movies, and other unlockables.

The Whole Picture:
Ribbit King is a very unique style of game that most gamers will not get to experience, since they wouldn't look at it twice. My advice to you: Buy it!!! If you have some friends who like playing Multiplayer, this game is even better.

Story: 6/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Graphics: 8/10
Bonuses: 10/10
Replay Value: 7/10

Overall Grade: 8/10

(Sluggy's voice) The End!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/04