Frogun Encore review

Platforming and item collection combine in an enjoyable experience that’s only undermined by accidental falls. 

As its moniker signals, Frogun Encore is a standalone expansion to Spanish developer Raúl “Molegato” Martinéz’s 2022 retro-themed title. Renata, a plucky adventurer who defeated Beelzebub in the original game, returns as the game’s pig-tailed protagonist. Optionally, she’s accompanied by a friend named Jake for cooperative play. This permits a pair of local participants to gather the game’s numerous collectibles together or simply attempt to see who can complete a stage the fastest.

Encore’s builds on the moveset of its predecessor, with Renata using her eponymous device for both navigation and defensive duties. Here, your Frogun (and Jake’s Snakegun) can extend its lengthy tongue, which functions like a grappling hook to vault you over gaps. Alternatively, it can also latch onto opponents, allowing you to grab and toss them, much like how Mario uses Koopa shells. Your Frogun is also invaluable for snatching up some of the game’s breakable objects, which hide gold coins or can also be tossed at adversaries.

Leap like a Frog, Too

But Encore adds a few appreciated new abilities, as well. Reneta’s double-jump allows the game’s twenty-one stages to have a bit more verticality, broadening Frogun’s navigational challenges. In the first game, careless use of your frogun could propel you over a cliff. But now that’s been at least partially remedied by the ability to jump after launching yourself. Expectedly, the game steadily tests your navigational prowess as attempt to navigate stages filled with thin railings and small steppingstones.

But that’s not to say Renata’s falls are always the player’s fault. The lack of camera control can make it far too easy to unexpectedly fall off a platform and there are a few surfaces that will fling poor Renata to her doom. There are also some minor issues with how Encore signals danger. Early on, you’ll die if you touch azure-hued water. Not long after, you’ll be in a Greco-Roman milieu where non-lethal wading pools are the exact same color. Occasionally, the game will place a near-imperceptible gap near a vertical wall, which seems a bit sadistic for a game built around exploration. But given the unlimited allotment of lives and liberal checkpointing (especially in the cooperative game), these blemishes only tarnish the overall experience. The falls might feel cheap, but they’re temporary setbacks.

Completionists and Speedrunners, Unite

However, when it comes to variety, Encore usually shines, adding new enemies, environmental dangers, and gimmicks like exploding vases that can be used to open passageways or take out enemies. Sure, the game’s stages can’t compare with the ingenuity of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But each level is indisputably absorbing, extending concealed pathways that contain multiple types of collectables. These items range from coins used to purchase cometic-only hats, diary pages that flesh out the rather slender storyline, and especially well-hidden eyemeralds. Altogether, there are six different stage goals, providing incentive for replay- especially for speedrunners.

Habitually, boss battles in actions games increase the difficulty exponentially, which can cause irritation when you’re defeated several times in quick succession. But Encore’s encounters err on the side of easiness. Sure, you might lose one or twice before discovering each bosses’ attack patterns. But the showdowns are more fun than frustrating, giving the game a pleasing sense of balance.

Conclusion

Agreeably, it’s all brought together with a delightfully low-poly look. Both protagonists and environment are drawn in a radiant palette reminiscent of the platformers of the 90s, exuding nostalgia-inducing charm. Pleasingly, there’s even a photo mode to capture any salient moments. The truly great thing about this approach is that it helps Frogun run smoothly. On both an aging laptop with a GTX 1060 GPU and a Steam Deck, Encore delivered steady sixty-frame-per-second action, which is imperative given the precision needed for some of the game’s platforming. And while the game’s soundtrack occasionally comes to a simmer, it’s far too repetitive. The tracks are short and there are too few of them, even for the five to six hours it takes to complete Encore.

Frogun Encore was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.