I remember playing the original Frogger in the arcade - no magic wands or wizards then - all you had to do was get him home and watch out for the crocodile. And the traffic. And the water. My, things have certainly changed - Frogger can move in four different directions now, as well as jump and stick out his tongue to get extra lives. What a time to be alive!

Frogger starts his adventure off at home - and strange things are happening. Doves fly out of his fridge, and his remote bursts into bloom for no reason. He meets a wizard called Hocus, who explains that magic is out of control and spilling into Frogger's world because the Eternity Wand has shattered. It's up to Frogger to collect the five pieces of the Eternity Wand for Hocus and right both the Magic World and Frogger's world. Easy as pie, right?

But of course, it's never as easy as it sounds. Along the way Frogger will encounter more than ten huge levels, each one much more difficult than the last. You'll be looking up new curse words just so that you can say them to this game, I promise you. Sure, it starts off easy - lulling you into a false sense of security. And did I mention my favourite quote from the back of the box? "Over 20 enemies to avoid!" With no way to attack, you'll have to be quick on your feet.

Although limited by having a grid-like world where Frogger can only walk one square at a time, and jump two squares, Konami have created a clever and complex game where you have to think ahead before you jump. Do you jump two squares? Do you walk? Where will you have to turn, and how quickly? You can rotate Frogger around by using the L and R buttons, and this is useful, if not crucial in the later levels. You'll have to think quickly and be on your toes when each square you land on crumbles away after a second, forcing you to be incredibly quick, but maneuvering Frogger around the level perfectly so that he doesn't plummet to his doom - resulting in a lovely splattering sound. There are bonus stages that can be accessed as well, and these require you to collect four magic cards that are strewn about the level, then proceed to a locked portal. The aim of the bonus stage is to collect as many crystals and extra lives as possible in the sixty second time limit - luckily, the bonus stage is not necessary to unlock anything, so you can just avoid the cards if it's too difficult to collect them all.

And then there are the bosses. Seeing as Frogger can't attack - he can lick, but that's only to pick up items and flick switches - you think that the bosses would either be very boring or uninspired and easy. But this is not the case. Some of the bosses in Frogger's Adventures 2 are very tough, and even the easy ones have clever ways to beat them. The first boss you face is a sleeping dragon whom you don't want to wake, because then it will toast you. But of course, there just happen to be an army of birds who've decided to sing at this point in time. You have to be quick on your feet and lick the birds to stop them from singing until the dragon changes back to a salamander.

The Multiplayer games for Frogger's Adventure 2 are okay. There's Race, which allows up to four players race to the finish line by hopping and leaping, sort of like the 'Hop Hop Hop!' mini-game from Kirby 64, if that helps. There's also Balloon, in which you must be the first to collect four Balloons and deposit them at your home base. You can steal rivals' balloons using your tongue. The final game is Reverse Tag, in which you must be the first frog to hold a balloon for 30 seconds. The time you hold a balloon is tallied up, and the balloons disappear after 20 seconds. Not to mention that the other players can still steal the ballon by flicking it with their tongue! Fans of single-pak multiplayer rejoice, because all three games are playable with a single back. Dust off those link cables!

The graphics for Frogger's Adventures 2 are bright and clear, which makes them easy to see without the aid of something like the Afterburner. Characters are easy to identify from the scenery, so you won't accidentally be dying because you thought that the giant murderous plant was scenery as opposed to an enemy. While Frogger isn't incredibly detailed, he does make up for it by the way that he jumps and uh... licks very smoothly. Some enemies are well detailed (check out the berserk snowmen on Snow Island - you can even see their carrot noses!) while others are pretty average.

Control for Frogger's Adventures 2 is quick and responsive, due to the fact that you're moving square by square. Frogger's hopping is practically instantaneous, as is his turning with the L and R buttons. And the controls need to be spot on, because later you need them to work as soon as you press them - you simply can't afford to make a mistake. Everything that Frogger needs to do can be done as soon as you press the button. The only way you can make a mistake is by actually doing it yourself.

Sound is an interesting area. The effects are okay, with a particularly enjoyable splat when Frogger jumps into a hole and the croaking that accompanies each jump. Other sounds are pretty stock standard, but they do their job. Music is okay. It doesn't irritate you and some of them are actually fairly catchy. The best thing about the sound and music though is that they are not distorted. Perhaps Nintendo could take a leaf out of Konami's book and use MusyX compression for audio.

Overall, Frogger's Adventures 2 is a great game, and much better than you would expect it to be. If you get this as a gift, don't be disappointed - you'll probably have a lot more fun than you think. And not only that, but you can actually play the multiplayer games that have been included!