Ribbit King

Players compete on five Frolf courses, each of which features four holes. The objective of the game is to earn the most points possible through a combination of landing the frog in the course's hole in the fewest strokes as well as having the frog engage with various stage elements, such as spheres that contain certain point amounts, flies that the frogs can swallow, and various events that require player input (such as a well-timed button press or fast control stick movements) to earn points. The player can also equip up to five power-ups, which they can expend during a match to give their frogs additional advantages, such as the power to swim through lava or an increase to the range in which they can eat a fly. Different frogs can also be unlocked for use, each of which has different properties. New frogs and power-ups can be purchased from defeated opponents or randomly from a gumball machine in the game's central hub. Defeating an opponent in the story unlocks them for use in the game's multiplayer mode; up to 11 playable characters can be unlocked, plus one additional character exclusive to each console. Additionally, the game features an achievement system in the form of special bottlecaps, which can be unlocked in an in-game gallery by completing specific objectives.

North American versions of Ribbit King come packaged with a bonus disc called Ribbit King Plus!, which is an assortment of 28 short CGI films about Scooter and his friends. These shorts are unlocked through progression in the main game.

The main character of Ribbit King is a young carpenter named Scooter. Scooter is trying to become the Frolf Champion—or the namesake 'Ribbit King'—and in doing so win the 'Super Ribbinite', a fuel source his planet needs in order to survive. Accompanying Scooter is Pickwick, a sentient picnic basket who acts his caddy and coach, while Frolf referee Sluggy oversees each of his matches. Scooter must face multiple opponents in the Frolf tournament, such as kung fu panda Pan-Pan, robotic penguin Sir Waddlelot, and video game playing ghosts Sparky and Whoosh.{{cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Levi |date=24 June 2004 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |title="Ribbit King" hits our fairway |page=5}}

Ribbit King Plus! is the bonus disc included with North American versions of the game, featuring unlockable short animations and requiring saved data on the memory card to be able to view the shorts. It was initially transmitted in Japan as a 30-episode series of shorts on the TV Tokyo weekday morning children's show Oha Suta from 16 June to 25 July 2003 to promote the game, under the title {{nihongo|Kero Kero King DX Plus|ケロケロキング デラックス プラス}}, before being released on a separate DVD at around the same time as the Japanese PlayStation 2 version of the game; however, three of the shorts were dropped from the North American version for unknown reasons. Exclusive to the disc is a two-minute video titled "Special", a montage of the various cutscenes from the story mode set to the main title theme of the game.

{{notelist}}

{{Infobox video game

| title = Kero Kero King

| image = Kero Kero King (2000) - front cover.jpg

| alt = Cover art

| developer = Amedio

| publisher = Media Factory

| artist = Yosuke Kihara

| released = {{vgrelease|JP|10 December 2000}}

| genre = Sports

| modes = Single-player, multiplayer

| platforms = PlayStation

}}

{{nihongo|Kero Kero King|ケロケロキング}} is the predecessor to Ribbit King, developed by Amedio and published by Media Factory. It was released exclusively in Japan on December 10, 2000 for the PlayStation.{{Cite web |title=KERO KERO KING - (NTSC-J) |url=https://psxdatacenter.com/games/J/K/SLPM-86621.html |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=psxdatacenter.com |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016220804/https://psxdatacenter.com/games/J/K/SLPM-86621.html |url-status=live }} All of the unique art in the game and in the many FMVs featured inside the game are done by Japanese illustrator Yosuke Kihara.{{Citation |title=Kero Kero King (PS1) - All FMVs |date=31 January 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsIEWzXtpIA |language=en |access-date=2022-10-16}}

The gameplay follows a very similar formula as its sequel, as it is a golf based game but uses a frog instead of the ball, allowing you to tweak the direction and height of the frog while also collecting points throughout the courses. The frog is also able to jump off spider webs and jump to flies, adding variance to the gameplay. There are a total of 10 courses in the game, with each game taking 10 rounds to complete; the person with the highest score wins.

The story of Kero Kero King is summarized on its front cover as follows: ""Kerof" is the brand new exciting sports in the galaxy. The champion of the kerof is called "kerokeroking". But Nosukin, a little boy, is about to challenge him!!"{{Cite web |title=KERO KERO KING (NTSC-J) - FRONT |url=https://psxdatacenter.com/images/covers/J/K/SLPM-86621/SLPM-86621-F-ALL.html |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=psxdatacenter.com}} The story also has Nosukin meeting many unique characters in games of kerof, which you can unlock and use in versus mode.

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{{Video game reviews

| GR = (PS2) 63.64%{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/919991-ribbit-king/index.html |title=Ribbit King for PlayStation 2 |publisher=GameRankings |accessdate=5 August 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808061717/http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/919991-ribbit-king/index.html |url-status=live }}
(GC) 63.07%{{cite web |url=http://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/919992-ribbit-king/index.html |title=Ribbit King for GameCube |publisher=GameRankings |accessdate=5 August 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808061714/http://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/919992-ribbit-king/index.html |url-status=live }}

| MC = (GC) 60/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/ribbit-king/critic-reviews/?platform=gamecube |title=Ribbit King for GameCube Reviews |website=Metacritic |accessdate=5 August 2014}}
(PS2) 58/100{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/ribbit-king/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2 |title=Ribbit King for PlayStation 2 Reviews |website=Metacritic |accessdate=5 August 2014 |archive-date=31 January 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250131024236/https://www.metacritic.com/game/ribbit-king/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2 |url-status=live }}

| GI = 7/10{{cite magazine | title=Ribbit King | magazine=Game Informer | url=http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200406/R04.0621.1233.07802.htm | first=Matt | last=Helgeson | issue=134 | date=June 2004 | page=123 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041112031620/http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200406/R04.0621.1233.07802.htm | archive-date=12 November 2004 | url-status=dead | access-date=26 January 2015}}

| GSpot = 5.9/10

| GTM = 6/10{{cite journal | title=Ribbit King | journal=GamesTM | date=October 2004 | page=107}}

| IGN = 5/10

| NGC = 45%{{cite journal | title=Ribbit King | journal=NGC Magazine | date=November 2004}}

| NP = 3.6/5{{cite magazine | title=Ribbit King | magazine=Nintendo Power | volume=183 | date=August 2004 | page=122}}

| OPM = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine | title=Ribbit King | magazine=Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | date=July 2004 | page=96}}

| PSM = 5/10{{cite magazine | title=Review: Ribbit King | magazine=PSM | date=July 2004 | page=30}}

| PSM3 = 22%{{cite journal | title=Ribbit King | journal=PSM2 | url=http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/reviews/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=32661&subsectionid=1605 | author=PSM2 staff | year=2004 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526080730/http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/reviews/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=32661&subsectionid=1605 | archivedate=26 May 2005 | url-status=dead | accessdate=26 January 2015}}

| XPlay = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web | title=Ribbit King (PS2, GCN) Review | publisher = X-Play | url=http://www.g4techtv.com/xplay/features/877/Ribbit_King_PS2_GCN_Review.html | first=Justin | last=Speer | date=29 June 2004 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041029214202/http://www.g4techtv.com/xplay/features/877/Ribbit_King_PS2_GCN_Review.html | archivedate=29 October 2004 | url-status=dead | accessdate=26 January 2015}}

}}

The game received mixed reviews upon release. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the GameCube version 63.07% and 60/100 and the PlayStation 2 version 63.64% and 58/100. Former GameSpot journalist Ryan Davis gave the PlayStation 2 version 5.9 out of 10, saying that it focused more on the bizarre storyline than the gameplay,{{cite web | title=Ribbit King Review (PS2) | website=GameSpot | url=http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/ribbit-king-review/1900-6101728/ | first=Ryan | last=Davis | date=30 June 2004 | accessdate=5 August 2014 | archive-date=28 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128044250/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/ribbit-king-review/1900-6101728/ | url-status=live }} while Mary Jane Irwin of IGN gave the GameCube and the PlayStation 2 versions a score of five out of ten.{{cite web | title=RibbitKing | website=IGN | url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/29/ribbitking | first=Mary Jane | last=Irwin | date=28 May 2004 | accessdate=5 August 2014 | archive-date=8 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052236/http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/05/29/ribbitking | url-status=live }}

In Japan, Famitsu gave Kero Kero King a score of 30 out of 40.{{cite magazine |title=プレイステーション - ケロケロキング |magazine=Famitsu |volume=915 |date=30 June 2006 |page=25}}

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{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.ribbitking.com Ribbit King Official Website]
• {{moby game|id=/ribbit-king}}

Category:2000 video games

Category:2003 video games

Category:Bandai games

Category:GameCube games

Category:Golf video games

Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games

Category:PlayStation (console) games

Category:PlayStation 2 games

Category:Video games about amphibians

Category:Video games developed in Japan