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Ribbit King is a 2003 sports video game developed by Infinity and Jamsworks and published by Bandai for the GameCube[1] and PlayStation 2.[2] The game is based on the fictional sport of Frolf (ケロフ), which is a golf-like game that is played with frogs. The frogs sit on catapults, which the player whacks with a hammer to send the frog flying into the air. It is the successor to Kero Kero King, released only in Japan in 2000 for the PlayStation.
| Ribbit King | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) |
|
| Publisher(s) | Bandai |
| Artist(s) | Yosuke Kihara |
| Composer(s) | Yūsuke Takahama |
| Platform(s) | GameCube, PlayStation 2 |
| Release | GameCube PlayStation 2 |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
editPlayers compete on five Frolf courses, each of which features four holes. The objective of the game is to earn the most points possible through a combination of landing the frog in the course's hole in the fewest strokes as well as having the frog engage with various stage elements, such as spheres that contain certain point amounts, flies that the frogs can swallow, and various events that require player input (such as a well-timed button press or fast control stick movements) to earn points. The player can also equip up to five power-ups, which they can expend during a match to give their frogs additional advantages, such as the power to swim through lava or an increase to the range in which they can eat a fly. Different frogs can also be unlocked for use, each of which has different properties. New frogs and power-ups can be purchased from defeated opponents or randomly from a gumball machine in the game's central hub. Defeating an opponent in the story unlocks them for use in the game's multiplayer mode; up to 11 playable characters an be unlocked, plus one additional character exclusive to each console. Additionally, the game features an achievement system in the form of special bottlecaps, which can be unlocked in an in-game gallery by completing specific objectives.
North American versions of Ribbit King come packaged with a bonus disc called Ribbit King Plus!, which is an assortment of 28 short CGI films about Scooter and his friends. These shorts are unlocked through progression in the main game.
The main character of Ribbit King is a young carpenter named Scooter. Scooter is trying to become the Frolf Champion—or the namesake 'Ribbit King'—and in doing so win the 'Super Ribbinite', a fuel source his planet needs in order to survive. Accompanying Scooter is Pickwick, a sentient picnic basket who acts his caddy and coach, while Frolf referee Sluggy oversees each of his matches. Scooter must face multiple opponents in the Frolf tournament, such as kung fu panda Pan-Pan, robotic penguin Sir Waddlelot, and video game playing ghosts Sparky and Whoosh.[3]
Ribbit King Plus!
editRibbit King Plus! is the bonus disc included with North American versions of the game, featuring unlockable short animations and requiring saved data on the memory card to be able to view the shorts. It was initially transmitted in Japan as a 30-episode series of shorts on the TV Tokyo weekday morning children's show Oha Suta from 16 June to 25 July 2003 to promote the game, under the title Kero Kero King DX Plus (ケロケロキング デラックス プラス), before being released on a separate DVD at around the same time as the Japanese PlayStation 2 version of the game; however, three of the shorts were dropped from the North American version for unknown reasons. Exclusive to the disc is a two-minute video titled "Special", a montage of the various cutscenes from the story mode set to the main title theme of the game.
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Original transmission |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Frolf Intensive Training" (ケロフ超特訓) | 16 June 2003 |
| 2 | "Ribbit King Band" (ザ★ケロキンバンド) | 17 June 2003 |
| 3 | "Confession" (告白) | 18 June 2003 |
| 4 | "Ribbit King Shopping" (ケロキンShopin') | 19 June 2003 |
| 5 | "Gone Fishing" (フィッシング) | 20 June 2003 |
| 6 | "Sluggy After Work" (ぬるぽんアフター5) | 23 June 2003 |
| 7 | "Frolf Dance" (ケロフダンス) | 24 June 2003 |
| 8 | "Fun with Hammers" (赤白ハンマー) | 25 June 2003 |
| 9 | "Ribbit King Shopping Part 2" (ケロキンShopin'(2)) | 26 June 2003 |
| 10 | "Frolf Beach Party!" (サマービーチ・ダンディ) | 27 June 2003 |
| 11 | "Fast Food Surprise[a]" (屋台にて) | 30 June 2003 |
| 12 | "Ribbit King Band Part 2" (ザ★ケロキンバンド(2)) | 1 July 2003 |
| 13 | "Ultra Seed Grow" (育て! タネ!) | 2 July 2003 |
| 14 | "The Secret of Sir Waddlelot" (ペンギンロボの秘密) | 3 July 2003 |
| 15 | "Princess Tippi's Siesta[a]" (ダルひめのシエスタ) | 4 July 2003 |
| 16 | "Frolf-Man to the Rescue" (変身! ケロフマン!) | 7 July 2003 |
| 17 | "Frog Work-Out!" (カエル体操!) | 8 July 2003 |
| 18 | "Frog Revolution!" (カエル会議) | 9 July 2003 |
| 19 | "Frolf Hip-Hop!" (ケロキン音頭!) | 10 July 2003 |
| 20 | "Ribbit King Shopping Part 3" (ケロキンShopin'(3)) | 11 July 2003 |
| 21 | "The Great King" (偉大なる王様) | 14 July 2003 |
| 22 | "TV Commercial" (コマーシャル) | 15 July 2003 |
| 23 | "The Frogs Strike Back" (カエルの逆襲) | 16 July 2003 |
| 24 | "Chomp's Big Date" (オオグチのデート) | 17 July 2003 |
| 25 | "When We Were Kids" (ちっちゃい頃) | 18 July 2003 |
| 26 | "Fast Food Surprise Part 2" (屋台にて(2)) | 21 July 2003 |
| 27 | "Ribbit King Band Live" (ザ★ケロキンライブ) | 22 July 2003 |
| 28 | "Fly Meeting[a]" (ハエ会議) | 23 July 2003 |
| 29 | "Scooter Gets Serious" (月にちかえば) | 24 July 2003 |
| 30 | "Farewell, Frolf Tour" (ツアー打上げParty!) | 25 July 2003 |
Kero Kero King
edit| Kero Kero King | |
|---|---|
_-_front_cover.jpg) Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Amedio |
| Publisher(s) | Media Factory |
| Artist(s) | Yosuke Kihara |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Kero Kero King (ケロケロキング) is the predecessor to Ribbit King, developed by Amedio and published by Media Factory. It was released exclusively in Japan on December 10, 2000 for the PlayStation.[4] All of the unique art in the game and in the many FMVs featured inside the game are done by Japanese illustrator Yosuke Kihara.[5]
The gameplay follows a very similar formula as its sequel, as it is a golf based game but uses a frog instead of the ball, allowing you to tweak the direction and height of the frog while also collecting points throughout the courses. The frog is also able to jump off spider webs and jump to flies, adding variance to the gameplay. There are a total of 10 courses in the game, with each game taking 10 rounds to complete; the person with the highest score wins.[4]
The story of Kero Kero King is summarized on its front cover as follows: ""Kerof" is the brand new exciting sports in the galaxy. The champion of the kerof is called "kerokeroking". But Nosukin, a little boy, is about to challenge him!!"[6] The story also has Nosukin meeting many unique characters in games of kerof, which you can unlock and use in versus mode.
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | (PS2) 63.64%[7] (GC) 63.07%[8] |
| Metacritic | (GC) 60/100[9] (PS2) 58/100[10] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Game Informer | 7/10[11] |
| GameSpot | 5.9/10[12] |
| GamesTM | 6/10[13] |
| IGN | 5/10[14] |
| NGC Magazine | 45%[15] |
| Nintendo Power | 3.6/5[16] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine |   [17] |
| PlayStation: The Official Magazine | 5/10[18] |
| PSM3 | 22%[19] |
| X-Play | [20] |
The game received mixed reviews upon release. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the GameCube version 63.07% and 60/100[8][9] and the PlayStation 2 version 63.64% and 58/100.[7][10] Former GameSpot journalist Ryan Davis gave the PlayStation 2 version 5.9 out of 10, saying that it focused more on the bizarre storyline than the gameplay,[12] while Mary Jane Irwin of IGN gave the GameCube and the PlayStation 2 versions a score of five out of ten.[14]
In Japan, Famitsu gave Kero Kero King a score of 30 out of 40.[21]
References
edit- ^ Japanese title: Kero Kero King DX (ケロケロキングDX)
- ^ Japanese title: Kero Kero King Super DX (ケロケロキング スーパーDX)
- ^ Buchanan, Levi (24 June 2004). ""Ribbit King" hits our fairway". Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
- ^ a b "KERO KERO KING - (NTSC-J)". psxdatacenter.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ Kero Kero King (PS1) - All FMVs, 31 January 2016, retrieved 16 October 2022
- ^ "KERO KERO KING (NTSC-J) - FRONT". psxdatacenter.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Ribbit King for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Ribbit King for GameCube". GameRankings. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Ribbit King for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Ribbit King for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ Helgeson, Matt (June 2004). "Ribbit King". Game Informer. No. 134. p. 123. Archived from the original on 12 November 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Davis, Ryan (30 June 2004). "Ribbit King Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Ribbit King". GamesTM: 107. October 2004.
- ^ a b Irwin, Mary Jane (28 May 2004). "RibbitKing". IGN. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Ribbit King". NGC Magazine. November 2004.
- ^ "Ribbit King". Nintendo Power. Vol. 183. August 2004. p. 122.
- ^ "Ribbit King". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. July 2004. p. 96.
- ^ "Review: Ribbit King". PSM. July 2004. p. 30.
- ^ PSM2 staff (2004). "Ribbit King". PSM2. Archived from the original on 26 May 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Speer, Justin (29 June 2004). "Ribbit King (PS2, GCN) Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on 29 October 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ "プレイステーション - ケロケロキング". Famitsu. Vol. 915. 30 June 2006. p. 25.