Available: Rugged individualist, outdoorsy type, cynical. Physically fit with springy reflexes. Into avoiding trouble and self-defense using electrified antennae. Yellow. Looking for adventure with the right person. This is one wicked cricket!

In 2002, a videogame developed by Blitz Games was released. Zapper: One Wicked Cricket! This was a videogame that caught my attention several months ago, that I have truly come to enjoy. As such, I found it to be appropriate to post a 10th Anniversary picture for the occasion!

Now, I have no idea what the actual release date of this game was. No two websites can seem to come to an agreement. Some say November, others say October, or even September. Some say 2002, others say 2003 (though, that might be the GameBoy Advance port). But no two websites ever game the same number for the day in the month. So, I figured November 1st would fit, considering all the big games come out in November, it seems. Even anniversary titles for franchises that didn't debut in a month of November, such as the 25th and 20th Anniversary titles for The Legend of Zelda and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises respectively.

The problem is that this game is very underrated. Not only because it's relatively-obscure, but because it gets hated for one of the silliest reasons. Some people will insist this game is a Frogger ripoff. It isn't. Truth be told, you hop around a grid-based map and collect... stuff, with an overhead camera and over-the-top death animations. That's it. You could almost say the same thing about Metal Gear (Solid, even!) and The Legend of Zelda. If anything, this game's actually a lot more like Chip's Challenge than anything else. (Well, except for that game's spiritual successor, Chuck's Challenge)

The major differences are that, first and foremost, you can actually kill stuff. That's right. Zapper can shoot lightning out of his antennae to kill several of the enemies in the game. The level maps are also more along the "pathfinder" type, rather than the large open worlds of Frogger. Finally, Zapper is a much more intelligently-designed game. So much so, that it actually got a partnership with Scholastic and had copies distributed for school use (and I happen to own one of these copies, which I got at a thrift store).

The main reason why there are still people who consider this as a Frogger clone is because of Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, which came out two years earlier, by the same development team. But even that game was a far cry from the traditional Frogger formula. Zapper took that style of gameplay, and improved it dramatically. As far as the story, it may be the most impressive twist on the age old "Save the Princess" story formula, with Zapper hot on the trail to rescue his little brother Zipper from Maggie the Magpie, all the while crushing the eggs she's laid to hatch offspring that would help her conquer the world. And only by the very end do we actually get to see Zapper's true intentions. I'm not going to spoil it, but he essentially comes off as a "mild anti-hero". He's a much more clever, creative character than the empty shell that is "Frogger", and is a lot more fun to play as.

You don't see people calling Portal a ripoff of Narbacular Drop, you also don't see people referring to BioShock as a carbon copy of System Shock, and you certainly don't see anyone insisting that Quake is a shameless attempt at keeping Doom alive a little longer.

Zapper deserves better. He's one wicked cricket! And he's got an awesome soundtrack to boot! [link]