Coleco Frogger

[JoePal]

does anyone know that this Coleco tabletop comes in 3 different variations (decals, gameplay and clamshell) .. and i am speaking of the COLECO version - not any other random tabletops made by different companies..

[Rik]

I remember you informed me about the fact that the shell is a different shape than all the others (which is easily verified when they are all sitting in a row). Someone (was that you?) recently send me Emails about the green top vs black top stickers... I have a pic of that to add to the website.

I wasn't aware of gameplay differences though, what's up with that?

Rik

[Goldie]

Hmmm. I remember seeing somewhere what was mentioned to be a protype of a coleco game in the colour you are displaying. As in your site, it was the Donkey Kong JR. My understanding is they never released it. Did they actually have a version that anyone owns??

[Rik]

It was never released in that body style, only the Nintendo G&W version. The only one they made like that was a non-functioning mock-up for photographs (like the Omega Chase and Berzerk games).

JoePal made his own custom DK Jr game...

[JoePal]

<-- see my avatar for the Donkey Kong JR prototype game.. heh

anyway.. here's the info i gathered by checking the Frogger tabletop variations. there are 3 different Coleco Frogger tabletops. one comes with a "black background" decal on the top and another one comes with a "green background with black border" decal.. both of them have DIFFERENT gameplays! here's the list below about the differences in between the Black & Green decals:

BEZEL ART:

Black - comes with print "1981 Sega Industries Inc. 1982 Coleco Industries Inc."
Green - minus the "1982 Coleco Industries Inc." print.

FROGGER'S FACIAL EXPRESSION SPRITES:

Black - when Frogger hops from one place to another, he has a smile and an O-shaped mouth sprites.
Green - Frogger has a smile on every sprite in the game.

FROGGER'S SPRITE COLOR:

Black - green sprite all the way.
Green - green sprite at bottom starting point, purple on the road, green on the water.

CARS SPRITE COLOR & SIZE:

Black - on the 2nd row, cars are blue. they have big tires with thick outline around the cars.
Green - on the 2nd row, cars are brown. they have tiny tires with thin outline around the cars.

TURTLES SPRITE COLOR & GAMEPLAY:

Black - Bluish-green, they random do sink into the water.
Green - Red, they NEVER sink into the water!

Overall, the Black decal version has a faster gameplay than the Green decal version. from what i have observed.. the Green decal's gameplay is a lot easier - i don't really know why Coleco made 2 different versions of this game..... as for the 3rd variant of the Frogger tabletop.. take a close look of the Frogger box where the game came with. the clamshell is similiar to the Pac-Man, Galaxian, Donkey Kong's because of the bigger control panel. the true Frogger tabletop comes with a smaller control panel due to a bigger monitor for gameplay. i believe this "box pic" version does not exist, only a photo mockup like the Donkey Kong Jr prototype (also uses the true Frogger's small control panel clamshell!)

[Rik]

This looks like a possible variation on the bezel/top combo:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8255728038

Look like a green top, but with both copyrights on the bezel art...

MORE INFO:
Okay, now that you have me looking, I have actually found several green-topped Froggers that have a display that matches your black-top description. So, you can't just go by the sticker to determine which game you are looking at (although it seems that all black-topped Froggers are the same).

Finally found an old Ebay auction with the green-top display you are referring to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8255661551

If you look at the display, you will notice that everything in the water is red... So I guess that's the variation I have to find now...

[blue6demon]

I just bought a green top version, but i don't have any sound... is this normal, because once opened i saw that there were no brass kinda speaker ! And no loose wire...

I'm puzzled...
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Keep on playing... no matter what !