Crazy Frog Racer (Game)

Crazy Frog Racer is a racing video game developed by Neko Entertainment and published by Digital Jesters, released November 21, 2005 for PC and PlayStation 2. The game was only released in European and Australian markets. It was the first game in the Crazy Frog Racer series.

The game features Crazy Frog, the Drone, and a new cast of characters introduced in this game racing in 12 tracks in a setting similar to the one featured in Axel F.

Development

On June 14, 2005, Wallaroo Licensing Company, representing Erik Wernquist, announced an opening for the license to Crazy Frog in the electronic entertainment market.^[1]

Crazy Frog Racer seems to have begun development shortly after July 1, 2005, after Digital Jesters acquired the license from Wallaroo. Leo Zullo, marketing director and co-founder of Digital Jesters, hinted at expanding the Crazy Frog universe with new characters, stating:

"We're working with Wallaroo to develop our own intellectual property within the Crazy Frog universe, capitalizing on the colossal success of the ubiquitous character. We've continually hinted that big things were just around the corner at Digital Jesters, and they don't get much bigger than this."

The game was set to launch in November 2005, four months after the licensing agreement. The game would launch in Europe for £19.99 (€29.99), with a worldwide release planned for Quarter 1, 2006 (this never happened).^[2]

Around October 18, 2005, a website for the game, CrazyFrogGame.com was launched. This website featured in-game screenshots and downloadable content such as wallpapers. A forum was supposedly also launched within the website for fans to "discuss tactics, strategy and all things Annoying in the run up to launch and beyond." The price was elaborated on further, being £/€19.99 for the PlayStation 2 version, and £/€14.99 for the PC version.^[3]

On October 21, 2005, it was announced that Ubisoft had signed a deal with Digital Jesters to distribute Crazy Frog Racer in the UK, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand, and export territories.^[4]

On November 17, 2005, the game had gone gold and was set to begin distribution in early December 2005.^[5]

Game Modes

Championship

The standard game mode, where the player competes against CPU players to win the most points. After beating each cup, the next cup unlocks, as well as an arena for multiplayer. There are four cups to compete in in the game. This mode can be played alone or with two players.

Baby Cup

The first cup, unlocked from the start. It will take about 15-17 minutes to complete. After beating this cup, you unlock the Funny Cup and Gutter Arena.

East Park Beach	Southwest High Town	High Town	North City

Funny Cup

The second cup, taking about 20-22 minutes to complete. After this cup, you unlock the Crazy Cup and Target Arena.

Sewer	West City	West Park Bench	Park Bench

Crazy Cup

The third cup, which takes about 30 minutes to finish. After beating this cup, you unlock the Special Cup, and Stadium Arena.

Down Town	Center City	Peripheral	Technical Path

Special Cup

The fourth and final cup in the game, combining all three cups together for an hour-long marathon. After winning this cup, you unlock Matilda.

Single Race

All tracks are unlocked from the start, and you race a single track. Like Championship mode, this mode can be for two players.

Time Trials

No other racers are against you, so you can go as fast as possible for three laps on a track of your choosing. Your fastest times are recorded on the leaderboard.

Chase

Playing as The Annoying Thing, you are chased by a group of Drones who are trying to stop you. The goal is to survive as long as possible, being scored based on how much distance you cover.

Arena (Multiplayer)

A multiplayer exclusive mode, where two players battle each other with the various bonuses. The three arenas are unlocked by playing through Championship mode.

Gutter Arena, unlocked by beating Baby Cup
Target Arena, unlocked by beating Funny Cup
Stadium Arena, unlocked by beating Crazy Cup

Characters

Matilda is the only unlockable character in the game, awarded once beating the Special Cup.

Bonuses

A coin, worth 500 points.

Bonuses can be purchased during a race by collecting coins. Each coin is worth 500 points.

Name	Bored Sphere	Two-Slit Sphere	Made-Up Sphere	Digital Mine	Time Bomb	Laser Mine	Forward Missile	Backward Missile	Laser Beam	Mortar	Shield	Boost
Icon
Description	A sphere which pokes out spikes when someone comes near it.	A ball with two spinning blades swirling around it.	A sphere which splits into two halves that forms a magnetic field which damages others.	It starts with a random counter. Each time a vehicle passes it, the timer counts down, exploding when it reaches zero.	A circular timer, up to ten increments, appears on the front. It starts with 5 to 10 points, and explodes when it reaches zero.	As soon as a vehicle passes it, its light blinks, until it explodes.	Three missiles get fired in bursts forwards.	Three projectiles get fanned out behind the vehicle.	A laser beam gets fired ahead.	Hits a target at least 10 yards ahead, up to 30 yards, automatically targeting them.	Protects the vehicle for a period of time.	Causes a rapid acceleration for five seconds.
Cost	1000	1000	1000	1000	1500	1500	2000	2000	3000	3500	2000	2000

Nuts, which repair a damaged vehicle when collected.

When a vehicle is damaged, players can collect nuts on the track, repairing it.

Every character has access to Boost, Shield, Mortar, Laser Bomb, and Missiles. However, certain bonuses can only be purchased by certain characters.

	Laser Mine	Time Bomb	Digital Mine	Made-Up Sphere	Two-Slit Sphere	Bored Sphere
The Annoying Thing	✓					✓
Ellie	✓					✓
Jack	✓					✓
Flash	✓				✓
Drone			✓	✓
Grim		✓			✓
Michel			✓	✓
Bobo			✓	✓
Matilda		✓			✓

Soundtrack

The game does not feature any songs by Crazy Frog. Instead, an original soundtrack was created for this game.

One can listen to the soundtrack in game by going to the "Jukebox" in the main menu. The Annoying Thing dances along to the music being played.

Song Title	Artist Name	Composer Name
Title Screen ("Frontend")	?	?
Main Menu	Jean Paul Niquin-Merkel	Jean Paul Niquin-Merkel
Race Results ("Classification")	Jean Paul Niquin-Merkel	Jean Paul Niquin-Merkel
Congratulation	?	?
Finish (Win)	?	?
Finish (Lose)	?	?
Finish (Podium)	?	?
Track Preview ("World Map")	?	?
My Parts Fall Out	Prince Quick Mix	M. Napuri
Crazy Street	Faribisch	Barry Fisher
Getting Things Started	DJ Cash	Dan Money
Rama Rama	DJ Ace Man	Andy Brookes
Luv Hz	DJ Ace Man	Andy Brookes
Pacific Ice	Chris Lewis	Chris Lewis
Kenetix	Sensha Snare	Stuart Henshall Neil Shervell
Excessive-izer	The Smiggler	The Smiggler
Paint Me A Picture	The Smiggler	The Smiggler
Crazy Dom	Angus Martin	Chris Hann
Tadpole's Lament	Terry Spawn	Tim Hart
The City	Purple Mist	Matt Vyner

Ports

The game was initially released on PC and PlayStation 2. Later on, two handheld ports were created. The Nintendo DS port, developed by The Code Monkeys and published by Digital Jesters, stayed true to the original game. The port for GameBoy Advance, developed by Independent Arts Software and published by dtp Entertainment, introduced completely new tracks and characters.

Sequel

Due to the success of the first game, a sequel, Crazy Frog Racer 2, was released in 2006. This game expanded upon the original with more track diversity, new minigames, and bonus content.

Trivia

Two of the game's songs is from the 2003 album, "Virtual Lifestyle," by Jean Paul Niquin-Merkel.^[6]
- "Main Menu" is "Kooky Cookies"^[7]
- "Classification" is "Virtual Lifestyle"^[8]
The PC retail release is copy-protected with Starforce 3.