Aquarium and Fantasy Aquarium are indeed two different games, separated like twins at birth but after a long separation and after long last, have been brought back together. If you are familiar with one game, then you will immediately be familiar with the other.
Is it worth buying both games? It depends on whether you prefer vanilla or cookie dough ice cream…really…. Since the mechanics of both games are essentially the same, we’ll take a look at the similarities first.
Aquarium is a fish sim, much like Zoo Tycoon. Build the habitat, choose your critters, and keep them alive. It sounds simple, but Aquarium can be a piece of work if you want to devote a lot of time and attention to the game. You have a total of five tanks, each with up to ten fish and ten aquarium fixtures (rocks, decorations, etc.). You are in control of the water temperature, pH levels, light color, aquarium background (if you want that fake paper stuff with the plants or Hawaiian sunset), and rock color. Also, your fish need to be kept happy with food and a clean tank. Last but not least, each of your fish can have a name, and you can scroll and monitor each fish’s emotional and physical wellbeing.
Here’s the official game Overview:
Create and manage your very own fish tank, populate it with a wide variety of fish and other marine animals, create an enjoyable environment for them with a range of accessories.
Control every aspect of your Aquarium from the water temperature to the salinity, clean the fish tank and feed your fish to maintain their health
Aquarium offers the player more than 30 well know fish to chose from, including the Clown Fish, Angelfish, Neon Tetra and Guppy. Use the Wi-Fi feature of the DS to connect to your friends aquariums and allow your pet fish to explore your friends Aquariums.
The more better you look after your fish, the more fish will become available for you to own!
- Create your own personalised fish tank
- Pick from more than 30 fishes to populate your tank
- Share your fishes with your friends using the DS Wi-Fi feature – allowing your fish to play in your friend’s aquarium
- Decorate and accessorize your tank
- Unlock extra fish and accessories to use in the game
- Control all aspects of your aquarium; size, water temperature and alinity to create the perfect environment for your fishes
- Care for your fish, make sure they are fed and that the tank is clean
If you neglect your fish or don’t play the game for awhile, your fish will die and your tank will be disgusting. Unfortunately, no gory decaying fish are around… probably for the kiddie’s sake.
There aren’t really a lot of brains involved in this game either. If your aquarium is best suited for a particular type of fish (saltwater, tropical, goldfish), then those types of fish will be available to put in your tank. There won’t be any needless experimentation involved.
A nice touch is that each type of fish, rock, seaweed, food, etc. has a detailed description available for your nerdy enjoyment. If you are the type of person who wants to know anything and everything about home aquariums, this game could be a good reference. A lot of detail went into making these descriptions.
The graphics are actually quite good considering how detailed fish can be. The stylus is used well and the commands and icons are easy to see. This is a major improvement over other third-pary DS games, which tend to have mediocre graphics.
Sound is also markedly better than usual. There are several tracks to choose from that you can listen to while checking out your fish tanks. None of them are orchestrated masterpieces, but they aren’t annoying or midi either.
The only difference between Aquarium and Fantasy Aquarium is the type of fish and rock formations you can choose from. Along with fish, you also have different aquarium types and food selections, but that’s about it.
Fantasy Aquarium includes animals that wouldn’t go in a normal aquarium, such as sharks, dolphins, and whales. There are some aspects of Pokémon in this game too. You can trade your prize-winning fish with a friend via the DS wireless network. Fun if you’re a kid or just a huge aqua-nerd.
I wouldn’t recommend both games, but one would be a good addition to a child’s library. The child would need to read well in order to carry out the tasks in the game, but for parents who don’t want to invest in a real life aquarium, this game is a great substitute.
Title: Aquarium and Fantasy Aquarium
Developer: Ertain
Publisher: Destineer
Release Date: March 17th, 2008
Genre: Simulation
Console: Nintendo DS
Rating: E (Everyone, 3+)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||