*BOOM* Did y’all see that? I just caught me a bucket load of fishes!
Just in case you didn’t realise, there’s a new fishing game on the block, one which focuses on bringing fun to an often tedious genre and giving it a redneck style twist to stand out from the rest. Dynamite Fishing – World Games started out as a free game on mobile devices and so the question is whether HandyGames can make it worthwhile for us console gamers to pay for the experience.
Unlike the more orthodox fishing method of hooking bait onto a fishing rod and chilling until an unsuspecting fish bites, you’ll instead be using sticks of dynamite to catch the fish; it is an arcade version of the sport after all. The fish have a health bar and the explosive nature of your fishing equipment will help to dwindle it down, until they are floating and ready to be collected. Collecting the most fish you possibly can is the key to success for the gameplay across both the modes included in Dynamite Fishing.
For the solo side of the game, it’ll let you enter one of five different cups, each consisting of five rounds with the aim of catching more fish than any of the A.I. opponents in a single round, something which will ultimately win you the whole cup. Although you’ll only be up against a single randomly chosen opponent during each round, there are many others taking part in the overall leaderboard for that cup, so just because you beat one opponent might not mean you’re king of the sea.
After picking Redneck Joe, he’s the only unlocked character at the beginning, and hopping into a boat that’s a bathtub with a shower built into it, it’s time to enter the first round. Here you’ll have to move from left to right, blowing up fish along the way. This is done by hammering the A button constantly and taking stops in specially designated areas – areas in which you’ll find a whole host of time limited fish spawning. That’s basically it until you reach the finish line and the totals are tallied for each species caught.
Fortunately there are a few things which, for a short while, help to reduce the repetitiveness of spamming the dynamite sticks; in hindsight it’d been more challenging had there been a limit of some kind. The visual environmental changes capture the essence of the theme for each cup; for example an oriental flavour for the Jade-Green Japan cup looks pretty in the cartoony style of Dynamite Fishing. All the cups have different skins for the areas to keep your eyes from getting tired of them, from the jungle to the frozen ice caps.
There’s also been a real effort to add a large variety of fish species to proceedings, although I wouldn’t say they are realistic inclusions… I’ve never seen a documentary on the cowboy hat wearing and pistol wielding fishes. It is great to see such a varied bunch though and whilst some are placid, others are a danger to your boat and need looking out for. Occasionally, a big boss fish will arrive on the scene to absolutely wreck your sorry excuse for a boat. Revenge is sweet though as I did enjoy pounding an underwater version of a Xenomorph once I had upgraded to a stronger ride.
Power-ups play a major part in destroying substantial amounts of fish at once and they are brilliantly suited to the game’s style. Get ready to chuck smelly sneakers in the water, a refrigerator or a sexy fish rigged to blow, to name just a couple of the 12 on offer. You can start a round with your three favourites and pick up additional ones during the action; these really give you the edge over the competition.
To unlock more of the five characters or 15 boats, you’ll have to win a specific amount of gold trophies. It’ll take 20 overall cup wins to unlock the Reaper of Souls character and 40 for the fastest and toughest boat. For me, that’s an awful lot of time needed to be put in for a fairly one-dimensional game which will see you repeating the same five cups over and over again to achieve all the unlockables. I’ve seen all the cool fish already and I’m not sure why I’d want to sour the enjoyment like that just to unlock a new character with a slightly different special move or a boat that’s a smidgen quicker.
But don’t worry because once you’ve attempted all the cups, there’s always Multiplayer Mayhem! Actually, do worry because it’s just more of the same, across any area of your choosing with a friend or family member locally. With it being the only major addition to Dynamite Fishing – World Games from mobile to console, it’s nothing to shout about.
If you forget for a moment that Dynamite Fishing – World Games is free on other devices, the relatively low price of £3.99 is rather appealing, bringing a vibrant and silly adaption of the usual snore fest that is fishing. With lots of visual customisations to earn throughout and a series of cups which are enjoyable for the first run at least, there are a few hours of fun to be had for sure. Sadly the core gameplay of throwing dynamite gets old too quick for any true longevity.
It’s cheap, cheerful and worth a look if you’re sick of playing the serious fishing games. Don’t expect Dynamite Fishing – World Games to takeover your life though, but it’ll at least show off a more exciting side of fishing and introduce you to some weird and wonderful fish.
Related: Let’s Play Dynamite Fishing – World Games on Xbox One!
