Ribbit King
A golf-like sport where frogs are launched from catapults.
In 2003, Bandai published Ribbit King, a sports game for the GameCube and PS2 developed by Infinity and Jamsworks. It features the made-up sport Frolf, where players use a hammer to launch frogs from catapults, similar to golf. This game follows Kero Kero King, a Japan-exclusive PlayStation title from 2000.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Infinity, Jamsworks
- Publisher
- Bandai
- Artist
- Yosuke Kihara
- Composer
- Yūsuke Takahama
- Genre
- Sports
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- GameCube, PlayStation 2
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Players compete on five Frolf courses, each containing four holes. The goal is to earn the most points by landing the frog in the hole in few strokes and by engaging with stage elements such as point spheres, flies the frog can swallow, and events requiring player input like timed button presses or control stick movements. Up to five power-ups can be equipped and expended during a match for advantages such as swimming through lava or increased fly-eating range. Different frogs with unique properties can be unlocked and purchased from defeated opponents or from a gumball machine in the central hub. Defeating an opponent in the story unlocks them for multiplayer; up to 11 playable characters can be unlocked, plus one console-exclusive character per version. The game includes an achievement system of special bottlecaps unlocked by completing objectives, viewable in an in-game gallery. The main character is Scooter, a young carpenter striving to become the Frolf Champion and win the Super Ribbinite fuel source for his planet. He is accompanied by Pickwick, a sentient picnic basket caddy and coach, and overseen by referee Sluggy. Opponents include kung fu panda Pan-Pan, robotic penguin Sir Waddlelot, and video game playing ghosts Sparky and Whoosh.
Ribbit King Plus!
Ribbit King Plus! is a bonus disc included with North American versions of the game, containing 28 unlockable short CGI films about Scooter and his friends. The shorts were originally a 30-episode series on the TV Tokyo show Oha Suta from 16 June to 25 July 2003 to promote the game, and were later released on a separate DVD around the time of the Japanese PlayStation 2 version. Three shorts were dropped from the North American version for unknown reasons. The disc also includes a two-minute video titled "Special", a montage of story mode cutscenes set to the main title theme.
Kero Kero King
Kero Kero King is the predecessor to Ribbit King, developed by Amedio and published by Media Factory. It was released exclusively in Japan on December 10, 2000 for the PlayStation. All unique art and FMVs in the game were done by Japanese illustrator Yosuke Kihara. The gameplay is similar to its sequel: a golf-based game using a frog instead of a ball, allowing direction and height adjustment while collecting points. The frog can jump off spider webs and to flies. There are 10 courses, each game taking 10 rounds; the highest score wins. The story, summarized on the front cover, involves a little boy named Nosukin challenging the champion of the sport called "kerof". Players meet unique characters in games of kerof, who can be unlocked for versus mode.
Reception
Critics were split on Ribbit King. The GameCube version averaged 63.07% on GameRankings and 60/100 on Metacritic, while the PlayStation 2 version scored 63.64% and 58/100. Ryan Davis of GameSpot rated the PS2 version 5.9 out of 10, observing that its strange story overshadowed the actual play. IGN’s Mary Jane Irwin gave both consoles a five out of ten. In Japan, Famitsu awarded Kero Kero King 30 out of 40.
More in Bandai Namco Games of the 2000s
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