Frogger

フロッガー (Furoggā)Arcade, Other, Commodore 64, MS-DOS +61981

  1. JP1981
  2. NA1981
  3. EU—
  4. RU—

Frogger kept the same name in Japan (フロッガー, Furoggā) and the West; before release it was called Highway Crossing Frog. Konami developed the 1981 arcade game, and Sega and Sega/Gremlin distributed it.

Frogger is a 1981 arcade game developed by Konami. Sega and Sega/Gremlin handled distribution, and on 22 July 1981 Sega gained exclusive worldwide manufacturing rights. Gremlin paid Konami $3,500 a day for a 60-day licensing window, and a prototype tested in a San Diego bar convinced distributors to take the game. Its working title was Highway Crossing Frog, which Sega executives felt did not describe the game.

The main background tune is the opening theme of the 1977 anime Araiguma Rascal; in normal play it is cut off, so its last 8 seconds are never heard.

Parker Brothers spent $10 million advertising its home versions, which began with the Atari 2600 in 1982 and spread to the Intellivision, Commodore 64 and PC. The game reached a wider audience again through the 1998 Seinfeld episode "The Frogger", which gave George a fictional high score of 860,630. Pat Laffaye beat it in 2009, and Michael Smith set the record of 1,404,570 on 21 September 2024.123

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA FroggerSources conflict: Wikipedia gives September 1981, TCRF 23 October 1981 Arcade 1981 Sega/Gremlin 1
NA FroggerAtari 2600; EU release on 16 September 1982 Other August 1982 Parker Brothers 1
NA FroggerIntellivision Other April 1983 Parker Brothers 1
NA FroggerCartridge; Sierra also released disk/tape versions Commodore 64 July 1983 Parker Brothers 1
NA FroggerAlso Apple II and Mac MS-DOS 1984 Sierra On-Line 1
NA Frogger Game Boy August 1998 — 1
NA FroggerA Super NES version was released the same year Genesis 1998 — 1
JP フロッガーSources conflict: Wikipedia gives August 1981, TCRF 5 June 1981 Arcade 1981 Konami / Sega 1
JP フロッガーGakken Compact Vision TV Boy, one of six launch games Other 1983 — 1
JP コナミGBコレクションVOL.4Konami GB Collection Vol. 4 Game Boy Mar 19, 1998 Konami 2

Also known as: Highway Crossing Frog JP2Furoggā JP2

Box art by region

  • フロッガー box art, Japan release
    JP フロッガー

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.

Version differences

  • TextArcade (Konami)Arcade (Sega, early)

    The Konami board and early Sega boards run almost the same code: only the copyright line differs, and the typo "FIYE HOMES" in the point table was corrected to "FIVE HOMES".3

  • TextArcade (Sega, later)

    A later Sega revision replaces the old attract screen with a detailed description of the game and adds a screen with a fuller point table.3

  • GameplayAtari 2600

    The Atari 2600 version added a wraparound screen.1

Reception

Frogger earned over $135 million in US cabinet sales, making it Sega/Gremlin's most successful release, and was the 12th highest-grossing arcade game of 1981 in Japan. The Atari 2600 version sold 4 million cartridges by the end of its launch year, and home versions reached 20 million copies worldwide by 2005.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3tcrf.net

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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