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View Full Version : Game of the Day 2/1/2016: Ribbit King



celerystalker
02-01-2016, 12:38 AM
8450
I always wanted to like Mario Golf. With games like Mario Kart adding weapons, insane courses, and other drastic departures from run of the mill racers, I was hoping for a serious injection of insanity into a sport that I otherwise just don't care about. What came, though, was basically just another golf game. Sure, it played well, but it was just golf with a coat of paint. The folks who made Ribbit King must have felt the same way, because they went and did it, and I like it.

First off, no more clubs and balls, because that's weak stuff any old Tiger Woods would do. Instead, let's launch frogs on catapults by hitting them with a hammer, or just patting them on the ass to putt. Sure, the meter works almost exactly like Mario/Hot Shots, but you're not worried about switching clubs and stopping your meter at partial power. Instead, however you aim your landing point, a maximum meter will land you there on the fly, hop a few times, and stop. Funnier and simplified makes getting started a breeze, but fortunately, it goes way farther.

Next, you only play four holes per course at a time of "Frolf," and those holes have way crazier layouts than anything thoseMario courses ever tried. Conveyor belts, trampolines, flies, elephants and snakes that launch you, teleporters, bullseyes... not only are they nuts, but the goal is a tad different. You want the most total points at the end of the course, which doesn't necessarily mean the least strokes. Each obstacle you hit offers points, which double each time they chain with another on the same stroke. Couple that with the fact that frogs swim when they hit water, and you can make some insane if unpredictable shots that often made me giggle.

Even more, there are different types of frogs with different abilities like swimming in lava or extra hopping, and items you can earn or buy, like food, rockets, fly detectors, and more to take your shots to the next level. Wrap that up with a story mode that lets you unlock new courses and characters that get increasingly weird, and you get a robust single player mode to accompany the obvious multiplayer opportunity. Even my wife adores this one.

Ribbit King came out on Gamecube and PS2. The Gamecube version plays a tad smoother, but for some reason costs way more, which I learned when looking for one for my nieces this last Christmas. The PS2 game is perfectly enjoyable, though, and both come with a bonus disc full of Japanese weirdness.

I like this one a lot. Played it?

Niku-Sama
02-01-2016, 03:15 AM
I remember playing it but I don't remember much from it other than thinking it was very Japanese as well. I think I still have a copy kicking around some where.
I think I got more enjoyment listening to these 2 guys play it rather than playing it my self

https://youtu.be/bvkkffaX-5Y?list=PLRQGRBgN_Enp94EJhn9fM3QCbAB_yIuEt

Emperor Megas
02-03-2016, 05:27 PM
I never even realized that this was a (pseudo) golf game until now!

Niku-Sama
02-06-2016, 12:49 AM
So oddly enough i got a hot tip that there were snes games at a local good will.
So i booked it on down there and come to find out sooner I've dumped their whole collection it seems and i managed to get ribbit king on game cube complete for 5 bucks. Got a few others.

It also led to me tracking down something super ultra hard to find when i got back to work and was going through the stuff i got. I paid for it already but I'll be picking it up on Sunday. Till then....

I'll make a new thread

celerystalker
02-06-2016, 12:56 AM
So oddly enough i got a hot tip that there were snes games at a local good will.
So i booked it on down there and come to find out sooner I've dumped their whole collection it seems and i managed to get ribbit king on game cube complete for 5 bucks. Got a few others.

It also led to me tracking down something super ultra hard to find when i got back to work and was going through the stuff i got. I paid for it already but I'll be picking it up on Sunday. Till then....

I'll make a new thread

Nice! The Gamecube version is the better version, and it's getting pricey, so great find! Looking forward to seeing what else you found.

Scissors
02-06-2016, 01:00 AM
If you didn't know, this is a sequel to the Japan exclusive PS1 game Kero Kero King. I have that one, but just never got around to trying it out.

Daria
02-06-2016, 12:48 PM
I have this one. The Gamecube was a system where I really enjoyed finding quirky games.