Skip (yellow) – he glided past a red truck. Hop (green) – he cleared a manhole cover. Jump (red) – he soared over a speeding taxi. Skip (yellow) – he twisted mid-air, landing perfectly on the final curb.

The first challenge was . Frogger took a breath. A green arrow flashed. HOP. He sprang forward, landing on a wobbly pad. A yellow arrow flashed. SKIP. He bounced on one foot, barely avoiding a snapping turtle’s jaw. The other kids—a penguin from Antarctic Adventure and a soldier from Contra —were already lagging behind.

The bright orange sun beamed down on the pixelated pond of . It wasn’t a real playground, of course. It was a magical, digital world inside a clunky plastic mat that plugged into the TV, a world where balance was everything and the only rule was move or beep .