This is one of those games that gets very mixed reactions from people, and now that I've finally played it, I see why. On one hand, I've never played anything quite like this. For lack of a better classification, I'd call it a platformer, but it's one where you switch between four layers that depending on the level, auto scroll at different speeds or let you scroll them at your own pace. You can attack with a backflip, jump, or get power ups that can do all sorts of things. And the levels vary things up constantly, adding quicksand, falling and rising platforms, and sudden traps. And sometimes if you die by falling off a cliff, it'll send you to Hell and force you to escape to keep playing. The whole thing is brimming with creativity, and it makes it one of the most interesting and unique games on the PC Engine.

But on the other hand, the whole thing is very unpolished and uneven. Difficulty can take huge swings between levels, and which levels it'll let you continue from feels somewhat random. And when it's hard, it sometimes feels hard in that bullshit quarter munching arcade game way rather than a fun way. The platforming can also be a bit of a pain. It doesn't control quite as well as a Mario game or something, and while I got used to it, some people give up when they get to parts that require real precision. The collision detection leaves something to be desired as well. Most people tell you that you have almost no range with your attack, but that's not quite right. You actually have a bizarrely large range to the character's left. It's like they made a hit box that was intended to hurt enemies a certain distance from either side of you when you attacked, but then accidentally put it further to the left than intended. In any case, since most enemies come at you from the right, it can be a little frustrating, and it's usually easiest to hit the attack button as they're trying to run into you.

So should you play this? Are you the type of person who seeks out weird experiments and can forgive problems as long as the whole package is interesting? The type that tends to like the games reviewers give 7/10 better than the 10/10 ones? Then yes, this is exactly the sort of game you're looking for. Do you not really give a shit about that and want polish and great design? Then this probably won't do much for you.

The Extreme Frogger