Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Game Review: Fishy

I've decided I might as well review a few more free online games, seeing as how they're free and all.

Today, I'll be talking about Fishy, which is indeed fishy. (EDIT: Put up a new link, because the old one was dead.)

Fishy is one of those various games where you play a fish that eats other fish and must avoid being eaten by other fish.

Like the majority of such games, you grow over time as you eat other fish-in fact, in Fishy this growth is probably the most significant in any of these games I've ever seen.

I'll note that this is a low-production value game-the fish all look the same, even yours, only distinguished from each other by color.

It's actually very hard to survive the first fifteen seconds if you aren't ready for it-you have to dodge like mad as huge masses of fish ranging from big to huge swarm onto the screen. Once the game is in progress, things become more predictable.

The "enemy" fish are highly variable. While the big ones are usually slow and the small ones are usually fast, some of the big ones are every bit as fast as the tiniest fish. Stay near the middle of the screen, since they come from the sides, and stay away from big clusters of fish.

As you get bigger, you are more likely to run into still larger fish (even touching the tail of a bigger fish is instant death, but the flipside is that you can eat fish with your own tail), since you occupy more space, but eventually it reaches the point where you just aren't threatened by the other fish anymore.

There's always a bigger fish, and here it's you.

If that isn't absurd enough for you...

...it gets worse.

Can this go on indefinitely? Certainly not. Behold the "victory screen."

Apparently, if you're successful at the game, you become a fishy of mass destruction (or worse). Which, all things considered, is appropriate enough... I mean, really, if the fish outclasses the other fish in intelligence and maneuverability to that extent, it's a godlike superpredator, and that ecosystem's got no natural enemies for it. I mean, obviously the bigger fish are a threat, but not enough of one...

And there I go superimposing serious scientific discussion onto a stupid little flash game. I'm a nerd.

-Signing off.