REVIEW: Finny the Fish & the Seven Waters

• Platform: PlayStation 2
• Current Price (new): $25-30
• Amount of Game Played: Very little (too frustrating)
  
• BOTTOM LINE: Swim in the opposite direction
  

When I first rented Finny the Fish & the Seven Waters from GameFly, I thought it might be a diamond in the rough - one of those games that isn't well-known or rated very highly, but is good nonetheless.

Basically, I thought it might be a nautical version of Dog's Life. Alas, this was not to be.

Finny the Fish has an interesting high concept (something about protecting the oceans from evil, with a wizened old turtle to guide you, grasshopper), but it's probably a tad esoteric for many kids, so I'm not going to go into too much detail about it here.

On the upside, it's a good-looking game, and it's relaxing and mildly enjoyable to just swim around and catch other fish in your (Finny's) mouth.

On the downside, any time you have to actually, y'know, accomplish anything (actually eating the fish you catch, escaping from fish hooks, jumping over walls), the game gets very frustrating. In addition, the camera system is brutal.

Which begs the following question: Why would someone design a game meant for kids, but make it too difficult for kids to play? I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

Still, although the kids (and I) were frustrated by the gameplay, they were still somewhat attached to the little fishy, but they liked the idea of Finny more than they liked the actual game.

So, we waved good-bye to Finny, and hello to Mario Power Tennis, which eased the pain of separation.

See ya, Finny. Don't let the kelp hit you in the tail on the way out.

Anyhoo, here are the obligatory screenshots.