Strange & Obscure #1
Better two and a half months late than never, right? I’ve been having some school and family related troubles, so I appologies for taking so long with my first post everyone.
What I wanted to do, I can’t do because I can’t find relevant images on-line, so I’m going to have to scan the damn thing myself. In the mean time, I’ll do this!
((As an aside, due to a lack of decent images, this post is going to be a little light on images. Also, I’m still getting used to how WordPress deals with images.))
This review series if for strange and/or obscure games that I have played that you should play too. Not all of them are amazing, exciting or in anyway attractive, but there is still something about them that gives them a special charm. Let’s get started:
Legend of the River King
Actually the thrid game in an established series (this games official title in Japan is Kawa no Nushi Tsuri 3), it’s the USA’s first real chance to mess with this strange little RPG adventure. For the interested, Kawa no Nushi Tsuri (all freshwater fishing RPGs) is actually the main series aside from it’s sister series, Umi no Nushi Tsuri (saltwater fishing RPGs). I’m actually unsure as to how popular the game is in Japan, but there are a number of them before and after the version I’m reviewing here, so I’d assume it’s either of moderate popularity or has achieved cult status.
Story wise, this is your standard ‘I need this thing so same some person because I said so’ kind of thing. Your character’s sister is dieing of some illness and only the meat of a special fish, called the River King, can cure her. And it just so happens that your character is a fisherman. In a small river side fishing village no less! How lucky can a guy get!
So, you set off on an adventure to locate and capture the legendary River King. Along the way, you’ll be expected to…catch fish. Now, as you might expect, this is simple in principle. Very much like Animal Crossing, the player just needs to find a spot where there are fish visible in the water, drop line and wait for a bite. Very much unlike Animal Crossing, once a fish is hooked, the perspective shifts to an underwater tug-o-war battle between our adventerus angler and the damn fish.
This part is actually very fun and looks great. Topped off with being simple as pie to do (pressing A when the fish stops, letting go when it starts to run), one could get very addept at this rather quickly. Now, to add an element of challenge, there are various rods, hooks, lures and baits for the player to choose from. As one might expect, these have to be bought, using money that’s gained from selling guess what.
But it’s not all fun and games. Along the way, out hero will be assulted by an assortment of preditors, which he’ll have to fight off or else chance loosing his catch of the day. But don’t get too excited, these battles are more a pain than anything else. Mostly, you walk around and get attacked by a bear, some bees or some other stupid thing. Then ya punch’em. Alot.
As the adventure continues, the player will find other characters that will be willing to exchange fish and other items for help or are in need of some fish related intervention. For you collectors out there, the game supplies a Fishing Note that lists all the fish that have been caught and will show how many more are needed to complete the list, also listing largest fish of a particular kind that has been caught.
Additionally, the game includes a Tamagotchi-like mode in which the player is granted a pet fish to raise. While this is all well and good….it’s a twitchy little shit. Fish grow at erratic rates, ‘evolving’ or some such into other kinds of fish depending on how well they are raised (that is to say, a guppy could suddenly grow up to be an eel given the right conditions). It’s….confusing, but adorable at the same time.
As an aside, this game has one of the prettiest Super Gameboy boarders of any game in the Gameboy line. Not that that’s a buying point, but if you’ve got a Super Gameboy, give it a shot. I always felt like the game lagged a bit playing it that way, but that might have just been me.
All and all, this is a good game, if not a strange one. If you’re an RPG fanatic, a fishing fan, a Gameboy lover or just have a taste for the odd, this is definatly worth a look or two. Being that it wasn’t a terribly popular game, given it’s distribution, the thrifty gamer should be able to pick it up for a few bucks.
Jelly Soup
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