Avaliable on the PlayStation Network for three pounds something or other, Frogger Returns really lives up to its name (in the sense that Frogger has indeed returned (once again!)). I remember playing Frogger 3D on my PlayStation 'back in the day' and loving it, the arcade-esque type challenges required quick thinking and precision in order to ensure your amphibious friend wasn't squished by a little lump of tin travelling at point six miles per hour. With a staggering twenty sequels to its name can Frogger Returns really show us anything we haven't seen before?

The short answer is no. The long answer is no it can't. Visually it looks okay; the usual thing you'd expect from a twenty-nine-year-old, re-retro arcade game in 3D. The controls are also very similar to what you might expect from the game, using the directional buttons to move Frogger left, right, up or down, that's pretty much all you're given. Oh, and the start button to bring up the pause menu.

I haven't been keeping up with Frogger since its 1997 sequel, so naturally I found the game to be quite challenging. However, with but four (yes, four!) levels in the entire game (so that's why it was three pounds...) you'd expect the gameplay to be anything but time consuming... and you're really onto something there. I spent a maximum of forty minutes playing Frogger Returns, by which time I had completed the final level and earned all four trophies (three silvers and a gold). Disheartened by the fact that they could have at least created a minimum of ten levels (that, in a nut shell, meaning reskinning the previous stages) in order to entice the gamer a bit more, or simply created more trophies allowing other gaming opportunities and challenges, I felt as though I had been cheated slightly. The soundtrack was cute, although the penultimate stage sounded a bit unnerving, forcing LorD to come to the conclusion that it sounded like "the soundtrack from a dodgy porn film."  And he'd know.

There are, of course, other ways of playing the game, those being time trial, free play, arcade and multiplayer. Arcade and free play are pretty much the same, the latter excludes a time limit and allows unlimited lives thus removing all challenge and fun from the game and placing it somewhere else, presumably in another game. The time trial is again what you would expect from a classic arcade game. For anybody who isn't aware, it times you and tells you how long it took you before challenging you to try and beat your own high score; in an age where online capabilities exist and are force fed to us every day, that just doesn't seem as exciting as it could have been. Finally the multiplayer allows up to two players to battle it out in various mingames, which can be quite fun I guess.

For the sake of three pounds it's worth it (if you've someone to play the multiplayer with or the devotion of half an hour to obtain and complete all four trophies and levels).
While the game is a nice fleeting challenge and often keeps you on your toes, the gameplay is quite predictable and routine as none of the enemies or resources are generated randomly. Suffice to say when you've figured out a specific route, you'll be inclined to stick with that for the rest of the stage. I can't help but feel the game could have been so much better. I don't know what I was expecting, all I know is that I didn't get it. It would certainly appeal to younger people and I'd like to think that Frogger Returns will bring the same joy to them as Frogger 3D brought to me when I was their age. Yes, I am an elder. Listen to me.