Space Frog Intern Review – A Solid but Unremarkable Arcade Blast

Space Frog Intern (download from the App Store) is a pretty simple game. You play the titular amphibian and need to keep space-invading aliens off the hull of your ship. You’ve got two controls to achieve that. Tap one side …

You run around the screen automatically, only changing direction when you fire off a shot or hit the side of the level. Shooting while you’re jumping sends you crashing to the ground, a move you can use to stomp any critters that have attached themselves to your ship.

Enemies come in waves, and every now and then you’ll get a chance to upgrade a skill of buff up your ship’s strength. There’s a combo-meter, and a shield that protects you from damage when it’s charged up.

It’s a decent enough set-up, reminiscent of a less complex Super Crate Box. There’s a solid arcade twang to the proceedings that makes having a few goes instead of just one pretty much an inevitability. But after a while the shine starts to wear off.

The game’s aesthetic is a little on the bland side, and the gameplay isn’t that much better. It’s sharp enough to begin with, but it doesn’t take too long to see everything that the game has to offer. And when that happens there just isn’t the compulsion to push on.

There are different kinds of enemies and more powerful weapons, but everything just feels a little bit staid. There’s none of the white-knuckle thrills of the best arcade blasts, and that’s a pretty damning indictment.

Space Frog Intern is a solid game, well put together and without any glaring flaws. But it just doesn’t have the heft behind it to really recommend. The worst, and best, thing you can say about it is that it’s fine. Nowadays, fine just doesn’t cut it.

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The good

Easy controls let you jump into the action quick
Decent arcade rhythm to begin with

The bad

Loses its shine pretty quickly
Let down by an unremarkable aesthetic
Doesn't compel you to keep playing

50 out of 100

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