Frogger:
Ancient Shadow, the latest update to Konami’s oldest series, was a good game
hampered by an illogical control system. As I played it I thought, "If the
controls were better, wouldn’t this game be great?" I also wondered how the
game would have turned out if just the levels had been better designed.
Frogger:
Helmet Chaos answered one of those questions. This PSP/Nintendo DS-exclusive
has improved level designs and the same basic gameplay as its console
counterparts, proving that illogical controls are less frustrating when the
rest of the game isn’t a nightmare.
Helmet Chaos
has the same cutesy characters that the series has been pushing as of late,
complete with cartoon stills and low-quality voice-overs. Not so much the
acting as the quality of sound. I’m not about to pretend the Barney &
Friends-style dialogue was entertaining, but the sound was not as clear as it
has been in other recent Nintendo DS games. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
sounded incredible. Music and acting – that’s an opinion. But the quality of
sound should be equal in all Nintendo DS games.
In Frogger’s
defense there aren’t many that use an excessive amount of voice acting. That,
however, brings me back to the obvious: if you can’t do something 100%, you
shouldn’t do it at all.
With
baby-friendly characters and annoying voice-overs that play every time Frogger
jumps, Helmet Chaos looks like the perfect adventure for Little Timmy. In
reality it’s more likely that Timmy’s father would be entertained by the
puzzle-filled gameplay, which tests your patience as much as a doctor trying
to prove that ADD really exists.
Press the
D-pad at any time and Frogger will hop one space in that direction, regardless
of where you are standing. Helmet Chaos uses the same square movement as
Ancient Shadow. Anywhere you move is one square; jump and you’ll move two
squares.
That doesn’t
seem too bad until you’re on a single-square platform and you have to reach
the other side. It’s also a problem when you’re on larger, safer platforms,
because any time it’s necessary to jump the game gets frustrating. To jump
from one platform to the next you must first turn Frogger around. Unless he’s
already pointing in the right direction, which only happens about 10% of the
time. You turn him around by pressing the right and left shoulder buttons.
Picture
this: six platforms floating on a lake and all of them are unstable. Land on
one and it’ll start to shake, sinking in about three or four seconds. These
platforms must be crossed to reach your destination. (The game is based on a
linear system where reaching the goal is the ultimate goal. Collecting coins
is secondary.) You approach the end of the ground and take a look at the
water. Frogger is repositioned just before you hit the jump button. Eureka, he
made it! The platform you land on starts to shake. Panic sets in. You change
positions and quickly jump to the next platform. Yes, still alive! This one’s
shaking too. Then you notice that there are two platforms next to each other.
You pause to think for a second – you’ll later learn that this was your
downfall. (If you’re gonna think, do it on solid ground.) In pondering the two
platforms you get confused and press the wrong button, turning Frogger away
from the platform he’s supposed to jump to next. Just before the platform
sinks you hit the jump button. Frogger, the only frog on the planet who can’t
swim, jumps in the water and sinks to his death.
This is the
first Nintendo DS title to have gameplay mechanics like this, and very rarely
is it used on Xbox, GameCube, or PlayStation 2. To get the most out of Helmet
Chaos you must first learn and more or less master these awkward, unfamiliar
mechanics. Learning new and intuitive things is one of the joys of gaming, but
this system – as important as it may be to the Frogger series – does not work
too well.
No
continues. No extra lives. Just one life bar with four slots. It may be
replenished by eating non-poisonous fruit, but if you die (you will, trust
me), it’s back to the beginning of the level. Check points are forgotten –
they’re only good for the duration of your life bar.
For quick,
straightforward play, Helmet Chaos includes a few mini-games that dare to be
different. They don’t succeed. The main quest, as frustrating as it is,
provides much more entertainment.
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Gameplay: 6.5
Fun and
frustrating, Frogger: Helmet Chaos tests your patience by seeing how long you
can wait for enemies to move out of your way, how good you are at timing, and
how quick your reflexes are when using a strange control scheme. This game is
like coffee: you’re not sure why but it’s addictive. Not Mario addictive or
Sonic The Hedgehog addictive (Helmet Chaos is a maze/puzzle game, not an
action/adventure), but addictive enough to make me want to see it through, a
feature that makes me as happy as it does angry. I actually wanted to keep
playing – thank goodness! But that meant I had to endure the frustrations till
the end.
Graphics: 5.5
Basic, blocky
character models placed in a generic, below-N64-quality world.
Sound: 5.0
Quirky music,
some of which matches the game’s kid-friendly atmosphere. On the whole the
sound is not too impressive though, having voice-overs that are childish and
have less clarity than other DS titles.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Helmet Chaos
would likely be an easy game if the controls weren’t frustrating, but at least
it feels like there’s more to accomplish than in Ancient Shadow.
Concept: 4.0
Technically it’s
better than the console version. Conceptually, however, it lacks any form of
originality. Blowing into a microphone to make a ball move – that gets old
after the first five minutes. The top screen should’ve been turned off since
they don’t use it for anything worthwhile. During the story mode it’s used to
tell you how much health you have left, how many coins you’ve collected,
things like that – things that have been displayed on ONE screen since the
first game console was made. I don’t need two screens for that.
Multiplayer: 4.0
Helmet Chaos’s
extra-small mini-games leave a lot to be desired. They’ve all been done before
(and done better) in other games, not just on the DS but on every console.
Overall: 6.2
As with the other
Frogger titles, the main game is a giant maze. Levels are solid in length,
interesting in layout, and have a number of challenges that, when the control
system fails, come off as being cheap and frustrating. On those times when it
doesn’t fail, or when you get really lucky, Helmet Chaos is a fun game. A fun
game within the context of platform hopping and running away from anything
that moves. Frogger is billed as an adventure and is being promoted to kids,
but you won’t be able to find an eight-year-old that has the patience to play
it. Adult gamers who have a history with the series will get a kick out of
some of it – that’s the only market I’d begin to recommend this game to.
