WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Menus:
Settings: Contains in-game achievements, and a scrolling list of contributors. The only settings are for screen size
(fullscreen or not - the latter doesn't lock you into one window size, which is nice),
and the volume sliders for sound effects, music, and a master volume slider that handles both at once.
In-game: The in-game menus have this nice 2000s-era humor to them. You can also restart whatever mode
you're in, or return to the game or menu screen.
General: There appear to be easter eggs in both the menus and possibly the levels too.
Modes:
Endless: Survive for as long as possible whilst colelcting powerups, fish and treasure. Your time is tracked, and
your score (total fish/treasure) can change due to modifiers (which multiply it by a certain amount).
The modifier (which begins at x5, and increase by x1 each time you survive long enough or obtain enough items)
will be lost if you take damage. You can also get additional benefits seemingly at random alongside the
modifier (such as your dash speed(?) increasing).
Story: Basically endless mode with bosses and a little text blurb before them. I died to the first boss (a crab that
spawns once your score hits 50) on my first try. When you die, you use up your points on
lottery tickets and a slot machine thing (these usually do nothing, but can presumably increase your score).
Fishing minigame: As I noted below, it's a simple "move the cursor and click" one wher you catch fish until you
beat it. There's no threats, timer, or way to lose.
Co-op: N/A (try it with a friend!)
Shop:
Cosmetic purchases (hats, glasses, etc.), which you purchase with "cosmetic points" (presumably you earn these from beating bosses in story mode). There's also a "cosmetic card pack".
You can also change your axolotl's skin from the default pink to either blue or green (the latter with purple eyes) for free. There's also a bass on the wall (like the fake ones that start singing), and it makes noises
whenever you try to buy anything (whether you can afford it or not). Your total cosmetic points and score are shown in this menu too.
Art Style:
Early-2000s 2D flash game aesthetic - which suits the game well, as it reminds me of games on Newgrounds, Armor Games and ye old Yahoo Games. I love everything about it.
Game Mechanics:
Move the axolotl with the arrow keys to avoid enemies (storks, falling anchors and swordfish in both endless and story modes; jellyfish, electric eels, skeleton pirates, cannons that fire cannonballs, evil squids, giant squids, angler fish and classic WW1-era sea mines also show up early in endless mode) while collecting fish (1 point, and
increase your speed), treasure chests (6 points) and hearts (refill one of your to hit points). Green and white medpacks also appear, and make you invincible for a short time, or make you hitbox smaller, etc.
Each time you take damage you lose 1 hp. Bosses have unique designs and attacks, so you will likely die to each multiple times before figuring out their attack patterns. During boss fights, a beach ball will spawn, and
when you collect it you'll shoot the deflated ball back at the boss to cause some damage to its health bar.
The minigame is a simple yet fun "move the cursor and click on stuff" one. You move your cursor (a target reticule with a small circular outline) around the sea to catch fish (they just disappear rather than there being
a unique animation that plays). Small fish do nothing at all, the slightly bigger fish (a prehistoric coalecanth I believe) give you a boost to your speed, the squids give you a "catch all" bonus, something that I don't
understand (as everything inside the reticule is caught when you click - maybe it isn't initially?), the manta rays increase the size of your circular catch area, and the big fish....idk, as they only appeared two or three times
while I played through the minigame for the first time. It ends once your catch area's size hits or surpasses 100, and there's no time limit.
Music: (Full disclosure: I'm friends with one of the contributors)
Fun and whimsical, the tracks throughout this game perfectly fit and complement the underwater and flash game aesthetics of the game. The menus and the minigame have their own unique tracks. The music also
works with Soundblaster sound cards, which is really cool.
Controls:
Unique keyboard and controller control schemes that fit, and don't feel clunky.
Controls can't be rebound.
Verdict:
It's a genuinely great love letter to oldschool flash games, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone and everyone who enjoys classic flash titles, and nice, cozy games. My only real critique is that enemies can sometimes spawn offscreen - I lost a heart to a cannonball once this way.
Total: 9/10
