At a Konami press event in San Francisco earlier today, we had our first opportunity to get some hands-on time with the Nintendo DS version of Frogger Helmet Havoc, which is also in development for the PSP, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. Like the original arcade game, in which you had to help the titular amphibian cross a busy road and a river filled with logs and crocodiles, Helmet Havoc is played from a top-down viewpoint--but that's pretty much where the similarities end.

　　The Nintendo DS version of Frogger Helmet Havoc is played on the handheld's lower screen, while the top screen is used to display text-based conversations with other characters, your current score, lives remaining, and other information. The game's hero (we'll refer to him as "Frog," going forward) has learned a number of new abilities since his hop-and-dodge arcade debut in 1981. Moving the directional pad in any direction will still have Frog hop in that direction (his movement is still vertical or horizontal, with nothing in between), but the more demanding nature of today's level designs means that Frog also needs to be able to turn without moving, which is achieved using the DS's shoulder buttons. Frog's other new abilities will include a double jump, a vertical jump for collecting coins and reaching elevated platforms, a sliding move, and a "tongue grab" that, among other things, can be used to collect coins from long range and as a grappling hook that allows Frog to either swing across to or be instantly pulled across to otherwise inaccessible areas.

　　The version of Frogger Helmet Havoc that we were able to spend some time with consisted of a hub area populated by characters that could transport us to different levels, a tutorial level with instructions on how to perform all of Frog's new moves, a couple of regular levels from the game, one minigame, and an encounter with the appropriately named "wall boss." The tutorial level was set in a green and pleasant locale where the only hazards of note were a few pools of water (Frog still can't swim), and it did an admirable job of familiarizing us with the game's occasionally unwieldy (we didn't like using the shoulder buttons to turn) controls. Feeling far more confident than was justified, we proceeded to check out the game's Fortress and Gingerbread House levels.

　　Each of the levels in Frogger Helmet Havoc has a difficulty rating between one and four, which will be indicated to you during your conversation with the character who can give you access to it. Both of the levels that we looked at carried difficulty ratings of three, which probably explains why we were immediately confronted by all manner of enemies, hazards, and moving platforms. The Gingerbread House level seemed particularly challenging, and when we fell through a hole in the floor at one point, we landed safely (for want of a better word) on the level below, which resembled a giant oven with cookies baking in it. The cookies were the only safe platforms that we could stand on, and there were so many enemies flying around that staying in any one place for very long was definitely not an option.

　　After failing to beat either of the regular levels, we weren't too optimistic about taking on the aforementioned wall boss, but he actually turned out to be much easier to defeat than we were expecting. The boss encounter took place in a single room--we started at the bottom of the screen, and the boss was essentially the wall at the top of it. To defeat him, we had to climb inside one of two bubbles located at either side of the screen, and then deliberately collide with bouncing pink balls that were being thrown at us so that they'd bounce back up the screen and hit him. The only dangers that we had to look out for were the occasional spiky ball (which our bubble shields were no match for) and anything that moved when we weren't safely inside a bubble. If this all sounds a bit surreal, that's because it was, though it was also quite enjoyable.

　　Before our time with Frogger Helmet Havoc came to an end, we decided to check out the demo build's only minigames, which saw us standing in a small field attempting to catch butterflies with Frog's extended tongue. We weren't alone in the field, however, and were forced to compete with what we think was a blue hippo and another character who, quite honestly, could've been anything. The game lasted for only a minute or so and wasn't particularly challenging--that'll most likely change when it's played against up to three other players, though.

　　Frogger Helmet Havoc isn't a bad-looking game, and we're sure that the issues we had with the controls today will be easy to overcome with a little practice. The game is currently scheduled for release sometime this fall.