Preppie! is an action video game written by
Russ Wetmore for the Atari 8-bit family and
published by Adventure International in 1982.
A variant of Frogger starring a preppy instead
of an amphibian, at the time of its release
it was considered to have some of the best
visuals and audio for the Atari computers.
Preppie! was followed by Preppie! II, also
by Wetmore, in 1983.
The sequel is a maze game.
In January 2016, Wetmore released the source
code for Preppie!, and Preppie! II to the
public via the Internet Archive.
== Gameplay ==
Preppie!'s gameplay follows the design established
by Frogger: cross lanes of traffic, then maneuver
across water by jumping on floating objects.
The frog is recast as a preppy, and the setting
moved to a country club where traffic consists
of golf carts and reel mower-pushing groundskeepers,
and canoes occupy the water (in addition to
alligators and logs).
Instead of simply crossing from one side to
the other, as in Frogger, the goal is to retrieve
a golf ball from the top of the screen, then
return it to the bottom of the screen.
When all golf balls have been collected, the
level is over.
There are ten levels in all.
== Reception ==
In a 1982 review for Antic, Robert DeWitt
concluded "Al has a real winner here, even
if the 'cover' concept is only remotely related
to the game."
In a subsequent issue, Preppie! was one of
ten games chosen by Antic to be "among the
most popular, interesting, and valuable programs
yet written for your amusement."Bill Kunkel
of Electronic Games wrote in 1983, "Sure it
sounds familiar, but what elevates Preppie!
from the score of Frogger-clones on the software
market is the enchanting four-part harmony
sound effects and the stunning graphics."
John J. Anderson of Creative Computing Video
& Arcade Games stated that although gameplay
was not original "the implementation is gorgeous".
A COMPUTE! review also lauded the graphics
and stated, "this program easily ranks among
the best games to appear for the Atari computer
to date."
The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software
1983 gave an overall rating of "B-" writing,
"Animation and graphics are very good" and
"I can't say it's very original in design;
but, like Frogger, it is lots of fun."
== 
Legacy ==
=== Preppie! II ===
Released in 1983, Preppie! II is a similarly-themed
maze game where the object is to paint the
maze pink by moving over it.
Elements of the original return as obstacles,
including giant frogs, golf carts, and lawn
mowers.
The joystick button activates a time-limited
cloak ability which allows the player to pass
through the other occupants of the maze.
=== Preppie!
3 ===
Wetmore mentioned a possible third game in
the series when interviewed by Electronic
Games in 1983, giving the tentative title
as Preppies in Space.
He was asked about this in 2005, and his response
was posted to the Atari Age forums: Some conceptual
work was done on Preppie 3, but nothing ever
came of it.
When I was interviewed for Electronic Games
(the only place I ever mentioned P3) I was
in New York for an awards ceremony and had
just come from a brainstorming session to
come up with some talking points for the press.
The interview was more to generate buzz than
to promote future products, and when the bottom
fell out of the games market in the coming
months, I gave up game writing to focus on
other types of software, notably HomePak.
== See also ==
Pacific Coast Highway - another Atari 8-bit
Frogger clone from 1982
