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Big Hops: How a Frog Game Remixes Mario and Zelda

Big Hops draws on Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, but Hop’s tongue, vegetable tools, and puzzle-led traversal give the frog platformer its own identity.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Big Hops takes inspiration from the expressive movement of Super Mario Odyssey and the interconnected experimentation of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—then gives those ideas a distinct twist: a frog’s tongue and vegetables become tools for finding a way forward. It is a 3D action-platformer, not a Nintendo game or crossover.

What is Big Hops?

Big Hops is a 3D platformer and action-adventure starring Hop, a young frog kidnapped by the trickster spirit Diss. Nintendo’s US listing describes a digital Switch edition; Luckshot Games lists versions for Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PS5. Nintendo’s US store listing gives January 12, 2026 as the Switch release date. A launch-period interview gives the same date, although Luckshot’s current page says January 12, 2025, so the publisher and storefront information conflict. Luckshot Games’ game page and the So Many Games interview provide the conflicting and corroborating dates, respectively.

What does Big Hops borrow from Mario and Zelda?

Director Chris Wade has named both Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild as inspirations. He wanted to combine the depth and high skill ceiling of Mario’s movement with the open-ended interactions and interconnected systems he admired in Breath of the Wild. His initial design question was what a 3D platformer with emergent design might look like. Wade’s interview with So Many Games describes that aim and the games that informed it.

The resemblance is about design priorities, not a shared cast or official connection. The Mario influence shows up in the emphasis on expressive movement; the Zelda influence is in trying out tools and interactions to discover routes through a world. The Steam listing also names Sonic Adventure and A Hat in Time among its inspirations. The Steam listing identifies those additional influences.

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How do Hop’s tongue and vegetables change the formula?

A movement kit built around traversal

Hop’s tongue is the game’s defining tool. Luckshot says it can grab objects, help Hop swing, and solve puzzles. Rather than simply adding a familiar platforming move to a frog character, the tongue makes reaching, manipulating, and moving through the environment part of the same interaction system. Luckshot Games’ description outlines its uses.

The Steam page lists a broad set of movement options: rolling, diving, wall-running, free climbing, swimming, tightrope walking, pole swinging, and rail grinding. Together, these give Hop multiple ways to cross spaces and let movement itself supply much of the game’s challenge. Those are Steam-listed features; the listing alone does not establish that every feature is available in identical form on Switch or PS5. Steam’s feature list details the PC version.

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Vegetables as route-building tools

Vegetables are more than scenery: Nintendo says players use them to build paths forward. This gives the game another way to turn exploration into problem-solving. The tongue lets Hop interact with objects and reach through the environment; vegetables help create a route where one may not already exist. Nintendo’s Switch listing describes the vegetable-based traversal idea.

Does Big Hops focus on combat?

No. Wade says the design deliberately avoids combat and favors puzzle-like tongue interactions. That shifts the emphasis away from defeating enemies and toward figuring out how to manipulate the surroundings and move through them. The worlds combine open and more linear structure, according to the interview, so the game is not described as one uninterrupted open-world sandbox. The So Many Games interview discusses the design choice.

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That distinction helps clarify the Zelda comparison: Big Hops draws on emergent interaction, but channels it through traversal and puzzles rather than claiming to reproduce Breath of the Wild’s full structure or combat. Its own identity comes from combining those experiments with a platformer’s focus on movement.

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Which platforms and Switch features are listed?

Luckshot Games links Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PS5 versions. The specific details below come from Nintendo’s US listing and should not be assumed to describe other regional editions.

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Switch listing detail What Nintendo’s US store says
Format Digital
Release date January 12, 2026
Play modes TV, tabletop, and handheld
Players One player on one system
Listed languages English, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese

Nintendo’s US store listing contains these Switch-specific details. Steam separately advertises online cooperative play for up to eight players and a photography update; those are Steam-page features, not evidence of feature parity across platforms. Check the listing for the version you intend to play.

Quick Recap

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Aurora Mini Flopsie 5.5" Fernando Frog Adorable Stuffed Animal
This plush is approx. 4" x 5.5" x 5" in size; Made from deluxe materials for a cloud-like softness!
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Bestseller No. 2
Ice King Bear Wild Animal Small Stuffed Animals Plush Toy (Frog 8 Inches)
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Baby Frog Stuffed Toy; Size: 8 Inches Length; High Quality Materials: Short plush (Safe, soft and smooth).
$12.71

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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