Retro Review: The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls - The Nintendo and Intelligent Systems '92 Gameboy Zelda Precursor

jshackles

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I randomly stumbled across this weird action-RPG today that was developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems all the way back in 1992 for the original Gameboy. I hadn't heard of this game before, but it has an English fan translation, so I thought I'd check it out.

Kaerubox2.PNG


Initial impression is that this game has a very non-serious tone. You are the prince of a kingdom, and you hear that a princess in another kingdom has been kidnapped. So, off you go to her rescue! You start the game with like massive amounts of coins, so when you go to the docks and need a boat, you just buy it from the guy there who can't believe his luck that he just sold his boat for millions of coins. It's a fun take on the age-old question "If you're the prince of a country, why are you fighting slimes near the opening town to raise a couple of dollars to buy leather armor?"

n_XAPGuxPbfDI0o3vWmPN8AgWEFX6csvd0DSfJDWYx8GKT3u4oD7N1scmbU2edmtYTBCESU2bcyX_WfuP9Y0FPmVy13oagbKrOF2w-UfQaNRjSv6mTVinQpDUoGY0tMF1XyVGMVSLdqQHKlVn2jOZVimW3VKpw


The combat in this game is... basically nonexistent. If you run into an enemy, you do combat with them (which happens automatically and without your input). There is a sort of "turn order" where like you do one heart of damage, enemy does one heart of damage, repeat... The idea is that your items and power stone level dictates which enemies you can easily dispatch. Eventually you are powerful enough that just bumping into an enemy kills them instantly.

large.jpg


Gameplay is top-down (Zelda style) but sometimes flips to side-scrolling / platforming (similar to Links Awakening, which uses the same game engine it turns out!). You eventually unlock other various forms you can morph into, such as the frog which can jump higher.

large.jpg


The sequence of events that happen is comical, but underneath is an interesting mashup of Zelda and maybe Mother / Earthbound(?). The game does not take itself seriously at all, for the most part. It's also pretty short, and can be beat in a handful of hours if you follow a guide - and probably 10-12 hours if you don't. Like most games from this era, it doesn't always explicitly tell you where to go.

1623screenshot2.png


Another thing I thought was interesting was that the original game's webpage from 1992 is still online on Nintendo's servers:

tumblr_inline_padud9hbXh1r2gkqp_400.gifv


Anyone here played this gem?
 
I randomly stumbled across this weird action-RPG today that was developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems all the way back in 1992 for the original Gameboy. I hadn't heard of this game before, but it has an English fan translation, so I thought I'd check it out.

Kaerubox2.PNG


Initial impression is that this game has a very non-serious tone. You are the prince of a kingdom, and you hear that a princess in another kingdom has been kidnapped. So, off you go to her rescue! You start the game with like massive amounts of coins, so when you go to the docks and need a boat, you just buy it from the guy there who can't believe his luck that he just sold his boat for millions of coins. It's a fun take on the age-old question "If you're the prince of a country, why are you fighting slimes near the opening town to raise a couple of dollars to buy leather armor?"

n_XAPGuxPbfDI0o3vWmPN8AgWEFX6csvd0DSfJDWYx8GKT3u4oD7N1scmbU2edmtYTBCESU2bcyX_WfuP9Y0FPmVy13oagbKrOF2w-UfQaNRjSv6mTVinQpDUoGY0tMF1XyVGMVSLdqQHKlVn2jOZVimW3VKpw


The combat in this game is... basically nonexistent. If you run into an enemy, you do combat with them (which happens automatically and without your input). There is a sort of "turn order" where like you do one heart of damage, enemy does one heart of damage, repeat... The idea is that your items and power stone level dictates which enemies you can easily dispatch. Eventually you are powerful enough that just bumping into an enemy kills them instantly.

large.jpg


Gameplay is top-down (Zelda style) but sometimes flips to side-scrolling / platforming (similar to Links Awakening, which uses the same game engine it turns out!). You eventually unlock other various forms you can morph into, such as the frog which can jump higher.

large.jpg


The sequence of events that happen is comical, but underneath is an interesting mashup of Zelda and maybe Mother / Earthbound(?). The game does not take itself seriously at all, for the most part. It's also pretty short, and can be beat in a handful of hours if you follow a guide - and probably 10-12 hours if you don't. Like most games from this era, it doesn't always explicitly tell you where to go.

1623screenshot2.png


Another thing I thought was interesting was that the original game's webpage from 1992 is still online on Nintendo's servers:

tumblr_inline_padud9hbXh1r2gkqp_400.gifv


Anyone here played this gem?
Nice review. I never even heard of this game, but it sounds pretty cool. Seems like the combat is in the same style as Ys.

At only 10 or so hours, I might give this a shot.
 
Did one of the castle levels - there are points in this game where the platforming is no joke. Fall in the lava? Go back to town and start the level over from the beginning.
 
This is cool, would be neat to have more of these similar cases with other games, I'm a sucker for this.
 
Apparently GAF's own L lobdale helped with this game's translation


Not sure if he still lurks around here or not, but if so I'd like to tell him that even 14 years after this game's English fan translation, people are still finding and enjoying this game.
 
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