Fishing Girl (Xbox Indies Games) Review
Posted by Trace Aber on 10.06.2009
Is Fishing Girl a great catch? Read Trace Aber's review to find out!
Title: Fishing Girl
Publisher: Xbox Live Indie Games
Developer: Daniel Cook and Eric Woroshow
Players: 1
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rated: N/A
Fishing Girl has a pretty interesting story behind it. There was a contest from a Seattle-based blogger who set up basic guidelines to a short video game which was entitled “Fishing Girl.” It laid out the actions you can do, how many buttons you can use, and the basic mechanics of the game. The blogger’s wife would then review it (because she loved fishing video games) and rate the best ones. Despite there being quite as few entries, some of which you can find online, only one of them made it to LIVE’s Indie Game section, a version made by Eric Woroshow. Let’s cast out and see if this game is a catch or just a missed opportunity. [Also, I’m going to attempt to use the correct fishing terminology but I haven’t been fishing for years. I’m sorry for any confusion thanks to my lack of fishing knowledge]
The basic premise of the game is simple. In the world of Fishing Girl there are two islands separated by a sea of fish, all of which range in size from small, medium, to large. Two lovers are separated from one another thanks to some very unfortunate mishap and now you (the Fishing Girl) must somehow bring back her lover. In order to do that you actually have to bring the island to you, but you’re going to need to upgrade your gear before you do that. Oh, what gear, you ask? Why your fishing gear of course!
Fishing in the game is simple. You press A to cast your line and reel it in with A as well. If you happen to past any fish you like your lure, they latch on and you get coins based on the fish you catch. If you have a small lure, you can only catch small fish (though medium and large fish will go for that lure and cause it to break). With a medium lure, you can collect medium fish and the same goes for large. You can also get lures that allow you to “upgrade” your fish, which means you can catch a small, lead that over to a medium fish who eats it and gets hooked, then finally lead that over to a large fish who will eat that fish. It’s fun and adds some diversity to it. In order to get closer to reaching your ultimate goal, you’ll have to buy new reel types that allow you to throw the line further.
You purchase upgrades by landing your reel on the floating shop in the sea, which moves each time you go into it. This can be a tad bit frustrating when you need that next upgrade but can’t quite seem to figure out when and where you need to cast your line. Overall though, the system is unique and works well. Though the fish vary in color, size and appearance, they don’t offer different types of “fights” or anything of the sort. Most fish are caught by simply pressing the A button with the exception of large fishes, which you must repeatedly tap the A button. Some variety of this sort would be nice but I think this was due to the limitations of the contest this game was created from.
Graphically, the game is very similar to that of a flash game. They are simple but nice looking and from what I understand the graphics are “cute.” The lovers in the game look like little Jigglypuffs and the “flash” graphics of the game work well. The audio works fine but there’s not a whole lot of variety. Still, for a budget indie game (80MP), you can’t really complain.
Overall, Fishing Girl is a fun little time waster that isn’t too deep but will last you a couple of games. It’s not long by any means and the in-game clock rarely goes past 8 minutes for me (it starts out at ten, though you get additional time throughout the game). It’s low price makes this an easy recommendation for fans of time-wasters like me, as well as those guys looking for a game that their non-gamer girlfriends might enjoy. Unless you hate Jigglypuff or fishing, this game is easily worth the 80MP asking price.
Graphics
7.0
Typical flash graphics but very
Gameplay
7.5
Simple to learn and there's enough variety to keep it interesting
Sound
6.0
Nothing terrible but nothing ground-breaking
Lasting Appeal
5.0
The game's biggest weakness. There's isn't much to do after you unite the two lovers
Fun Factor
6.5
It's a good way to kill a few minutes but it won't be on your
