Crossy Road, created by Hipster Whale for iPad, iPhone, and Android, is an endless arcade hopper. Basically, it is the updated remix on Frogger the only objective being to get as far as you can, with the added aspect of being able to play as a variety of quirky characters. Some of the more notable characters being Frankenstein, Leprechaun, and Nessie the Loch Ness Monster. Crossy Road also has a built in timer to keep the game moving. The screen moves steadily forward to keep you going and if you do not move in that allotted time an eagle will soar through the sky and carry you away.

The main environment of Crossy Road resembles Frogger with its mediums that hold grass and trees, the road with many moving vehicles, and the water with floating logs.When it comes to Frogger, I have always been bothered with the water aspect, I mean, seriously, how does a frog drown in water? But let’s let bygones be bygones.

The characters are the essential aspect of Crossy Road. They make the game as appealing as it is, especially since it has won many Best of 2014 awards. Some of them have special abilities including breathing fire, shooting guns, or abducting cows. Others change the appearance of the environment when you play as them. For example, the ‘schoolgirl’ changes the environment to look as though you are in Britain with double decker buses and what not. Or the ‘ghost’, who changes the environment from day to night and what looks to be a graveyard with headstones everywhere. Or ‘Frankenstein’, who turns the environment into a black and white movie.

And of course what kind of app would Crossy Road be without some in-game purchases. As I mentioned before the characters make up most of the game’s appeal. So how do you get those characters you may wonder. Well you can either pay for them with your hard earned money, the average character costing the same as an item from the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s. Or you could collect coins while playing and wait for spontaneous coin gifts from the game. Then you can pay 100 coins to use the prize machine to get a random character, the downside being that you may get a character you already have.

Although, Crossy Road has freemium game qualities, it’s assortment of characters make the game fun and addictive as the player has more opportunity to find a connection with a certain character. Plus it encompasses a familiar gameplay that we all know and love. Frogger was developed back in 1981 and embraces the term classic arcade game. With it being such a classic why not recreate it for the present society, while still paying homage to the original? That is exactly what Crossy Road did and what many others have done as well. What with all the recent reboots of classic films, it is easy to see this trend seep into the video game world.

All things considered Crossy Road is the modernized Frogger that targets a more contemporary and app-driven audience.

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