Ridiculous Fishing

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ridiculous Fishing
Composer(s)
Eirik Suhrke
Platform(s)iOS, Android
Release
  • iOS
  • March 13, 2013
  • Android
  • November 19, 2013
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Ridiculous Fishing is a fishing video game developed and published by Vlambeer. In the game, players use motion and touch controls to catch fish and subsequently shoot them out of the sky for cash. The game was released for iOS on March 13, 2013, then later that year for Android.

Players cast a fishing line into the ocean and use motion controls to avoid fish as the hook sinks and to catch as many fish as possible as the reel retracts. Players then touch the screen to shoot fish out of the sky for money that can be spent on upgrades.

The game was first released as a Flash game Radical Fishing with the same basic mechanics. A year after Vlambeer began their iOS development, Gamenauts released Ninja Fishing, a clone of the game. The team worked on other games and spoke publicly about the situation to a standing ovation at the 2012 Game Developers Conference before resolving to scrap the majority of their work and finish the game. Artist Greg Wohlwend moved in with iOS developer Zach Gage to work 14-hour days on the game.

Ridiculous Fishing received "near-universal perfect scores" at launch

balance and both visual and game design. A 3D remaster of the game developed by KO_OP, titled Ridiculous Fishing EX, was released on Apple Arcade
in July 2023, 3 years after Vlambeer went defunct.

Gameplay

The player

in-app purchases.[7]

Man with white beard and red hat sitting in brown boat one-third up the screen holding his fishing rod without the line in the water, an anchor hangs off the end of the boat, into the green sea, and off the screen, the sky above is blue with five tiny, white birds, and various indicators atop the image: one for gas with the image of a pump, one for depth in meters, one for money, and a "pause" symbol
Billy at sea, waiting to cast fishing line
Yellow hook-shaped trident hangs from a dotted line one-third down the screen, surrounded by a blue-indigo sea with small blue fish, pink jellyfish, and bigger green fish all facing left or right at different depths, appearing to swim laterally
The player tilts the device as the hook descends to avoid the fish
Red lure hangs from dotted line two-thirds down the screen with a bunch of fish attached where the hook once was, surrounding it in the royal purple sea are crabs, orange fish, eels, and blue jellyfish, with crystal-like protrusions from the left and right walls
Upon catching a fish, the hook ascends and the player tilts the device to catch the fish
Billy with his red hat is looking away from the player, and fish are scattered about the screen over a yellow background, with little red clouds where fish were shot—the fish include crabs, octopuses, little fish, and sea creatures that look like red prickly pears
The fish scatter above water and the player taps the screen to shoot them out of the sky for money
Screenshots of gameplay

Development

slow-motion photography, and Duck Hunt's game mechanics.[1] Nijman immediately drafted the design, which never changed.[1] The company sold the Flash game to a browser games website in 2010 but kept the rights to produce an iOS version, which they would call Ridiculous Fishing.[1] They began production on the iOS version on December 7, 2010, with the intention of a "2012/2013 equivalent" of the original.[9]

Nijman (designer) and Ismail (marketer) presenting the story of Ridiculous Fishing's development at GDC 2013
Wohlwend (artist) and Gage (iOS developer)

About a year later, Gamenauts released Ninja Fishing, a game with similar game mechanics but different art that became known as a clone of Radical Fishing.[1][9] Polygon reports that the game "became an overnight sensation".[1] Since game mechanics were not eligible for copyright protection, Vlambeer did not pursue legal action.[1] Vlambeer's primary project had been Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, which was sidelined to handle the new clone situation.[9] At one point, Vlambeer revealed its multiple in-game fishing locations and Ninja Fishing added a similar feature with a "coming soon" sign.[9]

Vlambeer stopped Ridiculous Fishing development for several weeks, but later resolved to continue.[1] Another concurrent project at the company, Super Crate Box, released in 2012 to industry praise.[1] Super Crate Box was nominated for an Independent Games Festival award at the 2011 Game Developers Conference (GDC), where the team was largely unknown and the game did not win the award.[1] By the next year, Ridiculous Fishing was nominated for the 2012 Independent Games Festival "Best Mobile Game" award at GDC, and Vlambeer had become known within the game development community for their two titles and struggle against Gamenauts's Ninja Fishing.[1] Their 2012 GDC talk on game clones received standing ovations.[1] Polygon referred to the speech as "a shot heard around the game industry".[1] Ridiculous Fishing was shown at the 2012 Independent Games Festival GDC booth.[1] The team also released a concurrent side project, Yeti Hunter, live from the GDC show floor.[1] Nijman began development for Luftrausers on the plane home from the conference.[1]

By now the team had four members: designer Jan Willem Nijman, marketer Rami Ismail, iOS developer

iOS App Store for approval from New York.[1]

The game was released March 13, 2013.

live-streamed Ridiculous Fishing's launch from their Utrecht office.[1] A July 2013 patch added custom soundtracks, new fish, and an item for exiting the game early.[11] Vlambeer released an Android version with the November 19, 2013 Humble Bundle.[12]

Reception

The game was well received at launch with "near-universal perfect scores".

Apple Worldwide Developers Conference[13] and Apple's iPhone game of the year.[14] Pocket Gamer awarded it their gold award.[8] In August 2013, Vlambeer announced that the game was nearing one million dollars in sales.[15]

Edge noted that Ridiculous Fishing did not carry the emotional baggage behind the company's tumultuous development.

The Life Aquatic.[8]

TouchArcade's Eli Hodapp called Ridiculous Fishing so well packaged as to make his recommendation "effortless" for both short few-minute play sessions as well as longer ones.[7] Rob Hearn of Pocket Gamer lauded its "blossoming" progression and became more interested as he unlocked upgrades.[8] But when there was nothing left to upgrade, Hearn wrote that "it's a shame that the innovation is confined to the first few hours".[8] While Ridiculous Fishing offered many hours of secrets and unlocks, IGN's Davis noted that the game was at its core a "simple arcade experience... ultimately a polished arcade time-killer".[4]

During the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Ridiculous Fishing for "Casual Game of the Year" and "Mobile Game of the Year".[16]

Notes

  1. ^ Edge later described the team as an "indie supergroup".[6] Eurogamer and TouchArcade similarly called the group a "dream team".[5][7] They had previously worked on titles including Solipskier, SpellTower, and Spelunky.[5]
  2. ^ Suhrke also worked on the Spelunky and Hotline Miami soundtracks.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Pitts, Russ (April 24, 2013). "Cloned at Birth: The Story of Ridiculous Fishing". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption Critic Reviews for iPhone/iPad". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  3. ^
    GameZebo. Archived from the original
    on August 4, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Davis, Justin (March 14, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing Review". IGN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Welsh, Oli (March 14, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Edge Staff (March 14, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing review". Edge. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Hodapp, Eli (March 13, 2013). "'Ridiculous Fishing' Review - Ridiculous Fishing? More Like Ridiculous Amounts of Fun". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Hearn, Rob (March 14, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing review". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  9. ^
    Gamasutra. Archived
    from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  10. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (December 24, 2013). "Spelunky, Ridiculous Fishing composer offering 'pay what you want' for albums". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  11. ^ Sarkar, Samit (July 25, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing updated to let you play your own music, use knife". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  12. ^ Webster, Andrew (November 19, 2013). "'Ridiculous Fishing' debuts on Android as part of latest Humble Bundle". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 21, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  13. ^ McElroy, Griffin (June 12, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing, Letterpress and more take home Apple Design Awards". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  14. ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 17, 2013). "Apple names Ridiculous Fishing, Badland its 2013 games of the year". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  15. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (November 17, 2013). "Ridiculous Fishing hitting Android soon". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 21, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  16. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Ridiculous Fishing". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 27, 2023.

Further reading

External links

Media related to Ridiculous Fishing at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ridiculous_Fishing&oldid=1201579790"