This game was reviewed using Version 1.3.5. Your experience on other versions may vary.

A retro platformer that's smaller in scope compared to its predecessor, but also a much more polished experience overall. It plays a lot like Kirby's Adventure with a little froggy twist, managing to pack a surprising amount of fun ideas into just 7 short stages. Short, simple, fun, and well worth its low price tag.

Froggo's Adventure: Verdant Venture is a side-scrolling 2D platformer that acts as a sequel of sorts to the developer's previous game Froggo Swing 'n Grapple. A witch named Lily (a boss from FSnG) falls down the well that Froggo calls home, and, suspecting that the witch has stolen something from him, he sets off to confront her. That's all the story you get, and it's all the story you really need. As a quick disclaimer, I just got done playing Froggo Swing 'n Grapple last week, so a lot of this is going to be me directly comparing the two; but I promise that this game can still stand on its own two feet—in fact, I'd say that it's the better of the two.

Playing this almost felt like playing some long-lost Game Boy Color game that's being upscaled through an emulator. It's got a similar style, sound font, and color palette as your typical GBC fare; and the gameplay feels similar to that of Kirby's Adventure, a game it takes clear and heavy inspiration from. On a related note, Verdant Venture does away with the grapple mechanics from its predecessor in favor of this more traditional approach; though Froggo's long froggy tongue still has utility as a way to interact with objects or enemies from a distance, almost like if Yoshi was dropped into a Kirby game. Admittedly, losing the grapple mechanic means it also loses a big part of what made the first game stand out from other retro platformers; but I think Verdant Venture makes up for that by being a far more polished game overall.

There are 7 total levels to play, each one having a set of gems you can collect for an added challenge: 1-2 hidden somewhere in each stage, and an extra one for collecting every coin found in the stage. Collecting everything can be unexpectedly tricky at times, but I wouldn't exactly call it a hard game by any means. Compared to FSnG, the movement and physics feel a little better, the level design is a bit more tight, and it even manages to include a bunch of new enemies and stage mechanics despite being a smaller game. On the technical side of things, a big problem I had with FSnG was that it was considerably harder to play on controller since the movement mechanics were designed with mouse & keyboard in mind; but I think Verdant Venture has the opposite issue of feeling very nice on a controller but kinda stiff and clunky on M&K. There's not as wide of a gap between the two this time, though, so I don't think you're required to choose one or the other to get the full experience.

One final side note, achievement hunters will have a very easy time getting their blue ribbon for this one—for the most part. The one oddball is the achievement "Kick the Jaw", which requires you to use a maneuver that isn't properly explained in-game. I consulted a video from the only achievement guide on Steam and failed to replicate what was being done; but I eventually figured out what to do thanks to someone in the discussion forums named namigame: basically, you hold forward, use your tongue on the enemy, then keep holding forward as you press the tongue button again when closing in on the enemy to do a new little kick action that should defeat it. The only other advice I'd give is to try for "Lively Frog" on the second level; but other than that, the rest should be a cake walk.

It should only take an hour or so to complete, achievements included, but I promise that it's both an hour and a dollar well spent. You're not required to play Froggo Swing 'n Grapple to get into this one; and if anything, I would probably recommend Verdant Venture over it both for its higher quality and lower price tag. Sure, losing that grapple-based gameplay hook makes it a little less unique in a debateably oversaturated genre, but I still think the reduction in scope was a net positive since what we're left with feels better to play in just about every way. If nothing else, it's cool to see the improvement in skill of the (as far as I can tell) solo developer SmellyFrog over time; and seeing how both Froggo games have experimented with different gameplay mechanics has me excited to see what's in store in the upcoming Drifting Sky. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm reviewing that one, too.

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[b][u]This game was reviewed using Version 1.3.5. Your experience on other versions may vary.[/u][/b] [h3][b][u]Short Answer:[/u][/b][/h3] A retro platformer that's smaller in scope compared to its predecessor, but also a much more polished experience overall. It plays a lot like [i]Kirby's Adventure[/i] with a little froggy twist, managing to pack a surprising amount of fun ideas into just 7 short stages. Short, simple, fun, and well worth its low price tag. [h3][b][u]Long Answer:[/u][/b][/h3] [i]Froggo's Adventure: Verdant Venture[/i] is a side-scrolling 2D platformer that acts as a sequel of sorts to the developer's previous game [i]Froggo Swing 'n Grapple[/i]. A witch named Lily (a boss from [i]FSnG[/i]) falls down the well that Froggo calls home, and, suspecting that the witch has stolen something from him, he sets off to confront her. That's all the story you get, and it's all the story you really need. As a quick disclaimer, I just got done playing [i]Froggo Swing 'n Grapple[/i] last week, so a lot of this is going to be me directly comparing the two; but I promise that this game can still stand on its own two feet—in fact, I'd say that it's the better of the two. Playing this almost felt like playing some long-lost Game Boy Color game that's being upscaled through an emulator. It's got a similar style, sound font, and color palette as your typical GBC fare; and the gameplay feels similar to that of [i]Kirby's Adventure[/i], a game it takes clear and heavy inspiration from. On a related note, [i]Verdant Venture[/i] does away with the grapple mechanics from its predecessor in favor of this more traditional approach; though Froggo's long froggy tongue still has utility as a way to interact with objects or enemies from a distance, almost like if Yoshi was dropped into a [i]Kirby[/i] game. Admittedly, losing the grapple mechanic means it also loses a big part of what made the first game stand out from other retro platformers; but I think [i]Verdant Venture[/i] makes up for that by being a far more polished game overall. There are 7 total levels to play, each one having a set of gems you can collect for an added challenge: 1-2 hidden somewhere in each stage, and an extra one for collecting every coin found in the stage. Collecting everything can be unexpectedly tricky at times, but I wouldn't exactly call it a [i]hard[/i] game by any means. Compared to [i]FSnG[/i], the movement and physics feel a little better, the level design is a bit more tight, and it even manages to include a bunch of new enemies and stage mechanics despite being a smaller game. On the technical side of things, a big problem I had with [i]FSnG[/i] was that it was considerably harder to play on controller since the movement mechanics were designed with mouse & keyboard in mind; but I think [i]Verdant Venture[/i] has the opposite issue of feeling very nice on a controller but kinda stiff and clunky on M&K. There's not as wide of a gap between the two this time, though, so I don't think you're required to choose one or the other to get the full experience. One final side note, achievement hunters will have a very easy time getting their blue ribbon for this one—for the most part. The one oddball is the achievement "Kick the Jaw", which requires you to use a maneuver that isn't properly explained in-game. I consulted a video from the only achievement guide on Steam and failed to replicate what was being done; but I eventually figured out what to do thanks to someone in the discussion forums named [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/2854780/discussions/0/4357871368304436118/#c4354494686117234708]namigame[/url]: basically, you hold forward, use your tongue on the enemy, then [i]keep holding forward[/i] as you press the tongue button again when closing in on the enemy to do a new little kick action that should defeat it. The only other advice I'd give is to try for "Lively Frog" on the second level; but other than that, the rest should be a cake walk. It should only take an hour or so to complete, achievements included, but I promise that it's both an hour and a dollar well spent. You're not required to play [i]Froggo Swing 'n Grapple[/i] to get into this one; and if anything, I would probably recommend [i]Verdant Venture[/i] over it both for its higher quality and lower price tag. Sure, losing that grapple-based gameplay hook makes it a little less unique in a debateably oversaturated genre, but I still think the reduction in scope was a net positive since what we're left with feels better to play in just about every way. If nothing else, it's cool to see the improvement in skill of the (as far as I can tell) solo developer SmellyFrog over time; and seeing how both [i]Froggo[/i] games have experimented with different gameplay mechanics has me excited to see what's in store in the upcoming [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3297850/Froggos_Adventure_Drifting_Sky/][i]Drifting Sky[/i][/url]. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm reviewing that one, too. [quote]For more game reviews, check out my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42524563/]Curator page[/url]![/quote]