Revolutionary Concepts repackages Frogman as Banzai Rabbit, releases it into the wild
Frog + kiss = prince. Frog + ? = rabbit
According to fairytale lore, kissing a frog can on occasion produce the result of turning it into a prince. Somebody at Revolutionary Concepts, the studio responsible for Karate Champ and Cobra Command, must have done something similar to its long awaited game Frogman during development, because it's turned into a rabbit.
The resulting game, Banzai Rabbit, is out now.
To recap, Banzai Rabbit (nee Frogman) started life as an updated 3D version of arcade classic Frogger, with a polygonal superhero frog in the starring role. While it looks very different from its source material, Banzai Rabbit plays more or less the same, with you guiding a sprite up the screen, dodging or leaping on moving objects.
But why the name change? I know what you're thinking: Revolutionary Concepts must have been told by Konami's legal team that a game featuring a frog and playing like Frogger might, in some ways, be mistaken for copyright infringement. [Editor's note: Revolution software assures us that the gameplay is substantially different from Frogger's - "the only similarity to frogger is that you cross a road". We'll have a review up soon.]
Wayne Whatford of Revolutionary Concepts assures us that this isn't the case. “We made a conscious decision to change from Frogman to Banzai to reflect the fact that this is a very different beast to the old (but cherished) game of Frogger. So having a frog didn't really do justice to the complexity of the levels or originality of the story.”
Banzai Rabbit features 142 rounds across 34 locations, power-ups, Story and Challenge modes, online leaderboards, and customisable controls.
It costs £1.79 / $2.99, and it's out now.
