Renata and the Frogun
Frogun is a 3D Platform Game published by Top Hat Studios, Inc., and developed by Raúl "Molegato" Martínez (who has previously worked on Demented Pixie, Supersonic Tank Cats, and Shady Lewd Kart). The successful Kickstarter campaign for this game is located here
. A demo containing the entire first world of the game was temporarily available as part of Steam Next Fest 2022, and the full game officially released on August 2, 2022.A sequel, Frogun ENCORE, was announced on March 17, 2023 and is planned to be released soon. A trailer can be seen here.
Tropes:
- 100% Completion: While the main goal is completing stages, the Fly Emblem collected gains various adornments if the right conditions are met, and not necessarily all in the same run; to fully complete every level, Renata also has to find the research notes left by past explorers (including her parents), beat the stage under a set time, collect every coin in the stage, and pick up all of the large gems located in various side paths.
- Bottomless Pits: Falling off the map counts as a pit as there's nothing below.
- Checkpoint: Comes in the form of flag poles. If Renata dies after touching one, she'll respawn with everything she had collected before touching it. The flag can also be touched again after collecting more coins and gems in order to preserve them as well.
- Collision Damage: Enemies will hurt the player upon collision.
- Final Boss: Beelzebub himself, who has imprisoned Renata's parents as part of a ritual to free himself from the ruins.
- Fireballs: Enemies in fire stages shoot out balls of fire. One of the obstacles is also rotating 4-way fireball stick.
- Flame Spewer Obstacle: One of the hazards are dragon head statues that move back and forth and constantly shoot out flames.
- Floating Platforms: Many platforms float or even move mid-air.
- Follow the Money: Coins will often show the player where to go.
- Goomba Stomp: Renata's primary means of attack is to jump on her enemies, though some can also be grappled with the Frogun and then ejected at other obstacles.
- Gotta Catch Them All: The objective of every level is to reach the end, sometimes racing against Jake or having to beat a boss, in order to collect the Fly Emblem at the end and help Renata track her parents down.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: The Frogun's main function is to act as one, using its sticky tongue to help pull Renata across gaps.
- Kid Hero: Renata, the playable character, is a young girl whose main objective is to locate her missing parents.
- Lily-Pad Platform: Lilypads can be stepped on, but they sink into the water shortly after being stepped on, so they also act as a Temporary Platform.
- Living Weapon: The Frogun is sentient, and speaks up throughout the game to provide tutorials and helpful advice.
- Multipurpose Tongue: The frog's tongue can grab and eject enemies, and be used as a grappling hook.
- Modesty Shorts: Renata wears a pair of black spats under her skirt.
- Post-End Game Content: Beating the Final Boss unlocks access to some additional levels, as well as displays the developer's times for every level that will add diamonds to their Fly Emblems if beaten.
- Punny Name: Renata's parents are named Lily and Tod Hops, keeping with the game's frog theme (lily pads, toad, hopping).
- Rank Inflation: Beating a stage under a certain time rewards the player with the wing piece of the Fly Emblem. However, beating the developer's time will reward the player with small diamonds around the ring piece, although they're not required for completion.
- Retraux: Has the aesthetic of a 5th generation platformer.
- Rewarding Vandalism: Smashing pottery yields coins.
- The Rival: Some of the stages are a race through a level against another kid named Jake and his snake partner Snatch, who want to loot the ruins but, in their first encounter, mistake Renata and Frogun as rival treasure hunters.
- Rodents of Unusual Size: Giant rodents are one of the most basic enemies you'll encounter.
- Ruins for Ruins' Sake: The theme of the first area is a ruined temple dedicated to Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, that Renata's parents went to explore and then never came back from. While later levels are also set in the ruins, the main theme changes, such as becoming a Lethal Lava Land.
- Saw Blades of Death: Back-and-forth moving circular saws act as a hazard.
- Shout-Out: Some of the hats Renata can buy from the merchant are based on characters from other games, such as Toree from Toree 3D, Billie from Billie Bust Up!, and Toasty from Toasty Ashes Of Dusk (plus a Dooper hat based on Toasty's director).
- Speedrun Reward: One of the collectibles in each level can be collected by completing the level under a time limit.
- Spikes of Doom: There are various spike traps in this game, some of which retract periodically.
- Springy Spores: Large blue fungi act as springboards when Renata jumps on them.
- Stalactite Spite: Icicles wait patiently before Renata is under them before they fall.
- Super Drowning Skills: Renata can walk through shallow water, but deep water kills her (though instead of a death animation, she's simply stuck floating on her back).
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Every boss would be impossible to defeat if their attacks didn't do things like summon smaller flies that can be shot at it with the Frogun, or in the Final Boss' case, ceremonial torches that can be pulled with the Frogun to torch him from underneath.
- Temporary Platform: Cracked platforms and lilypads collapse soon after being stepped on.
- Throw the Mook at Them: Enemies grabbed with a tongue can be launched at other enemies.
- Treasure Is Bigger in Fiction: The Fly Emblems that Renata collects are almost as big as herself. So are the green gems that are supposed to fit in the eye sockets of those Emblems. Even the coins are rather large.
