Down Under is what I would describe as a rare breed of indie, those that are inspired by the educational games of old but aren't just using them as a 'background' for some reinvented horror or action type of gameplay (think Baldi's Basics for the former and Organ Trail for the latter, with Typing of the Dead being a rare twist of the genres) but are instead made with the sole intention of bringing those types of 'edutainment' experiences back as those who played such unique games back in the 80s and 90s would remember them as.
From what research I did on this game before purchasing it, this indie is largely based on Odell Down Under by MECC back in 1994 which bears mostly the same name as its inspiration. No doubt it is also faithful to the gameplay as the goal here is simply to survive as one of fifty-four unique fish breeds, each one having its own preferences for food, whilst avoiding other fish that are a threat to it.
Going into Down Under, there are four game modes that you can try out that vary in their overall purpose. Practice mode allows you to pick any of the fifty-four fish and try them out whenever you feel like to get accustomed to any that you are having difficulty with. Meanwhile, Challenge mode puts you up with a random selection of four fish at a time, starting from the small fry and working your way up towards the big fish.
With Gauntlet mode comes what is easily the most challenging of the four game modes as this will task you with completing ALL fifty-four fish in the entire game, again starting from smallest to biggest like with Challenge Mode. However the sheer length can prove daunting as getting eaten once means you must start from scratch as there are no save files one can reload to prevent lost progress, only a continue option that allows players to stop a current playthrough and resume at a later time once the game is booted up again.
Arguably the most interesting from the gameplay side of things has to be the Create-a-fish mode that lets you customize your very own fish, with the breed of fish being different depending on which stat points you allocate towards the Agility, Endurance and Size parameters. Note that you can't actually customize the appearance of your fish with individual parts outside of having a colour palette over the whole fish, which is a little lazy from a modern game design perspective but would have no doubt fit right in with mid-90s games development for those primarily aimed at children back then!
It goes without saying though that, despite all of these different game modes on offer, Down Under doesn't offer a lot when it comes to the actual gameplay department. Since all the gameplay loop offers is feeding on smaller fish and/or oceanic flora alongside the occasional use of the fish's ability via the click of the right-mouse button to evade or attack better until either you perish to a larger fish or successfully pass the stage. This doesn't offer much for anyone who is keen for skillful mechanics and will no doubt put off people who want more 'depth' in their games.
Ironically enough, on the topic of depth itself, I find that the scenery of Down Under isn't all that much varied as, although it no doubt fits the fifty-four different species as far as shallow waters are concerned, it does make the repetitive gameplay all the more obvious when you are roaming the aquatic landscape and finding it loop back if you stray too far off to the sides. Though not my biggest complaint personally, I do feel more could have been done to expand upon the graphical side of things to prevent burnout from the player's perspective.
However, I will speak positively of what is there for the graphics as I do quite like the low-resolution and pixelated graphics that the developers behind this game, Oddlyfun Games, and how faithful they are towards replicating that 'edutainment' experience as graphics play a large part in players being immersed into the world of a game.
I am also happy to report that, given this indie's clear inspiration from edutainment games, Down Under ensures that each fish has its own thorough description that goes into detail about its common and more scientific names, the length of it and when said species is active as well as what types of food it consumes and any notable abilities on top of a summary of the fish itself that sometimes includes interesting trivia and other odd facts that those playing may very well have not known about.
With that being said, arguably my main criticism from having played this game is a mixture of how short the experience is which, whilst not necessarily an issue if the gameplay itself is fun and satisfying, is made all the worse by how certain fish are harder to succeed as than others.
Whilst no doubt we all wish to be the 'Great White Shark' in our lives, that or at the very least one of the more successful breeds like the Whitespotted Guitarfish, sometimes we simply don't have that luxury and have to struggle to make ends meet. Seeing as such small fish like the Longhorn Cowfish and Bloodspot Squirrelfish have some difficulties with finding the right prey to consume due to strict diets on what they can eat whilst no doubt the Painted Frogfish is an egregious example of this as it can only eat tiny fish like Clownfish or Seahorses, which can prove quite frustrating when they seemingly decide spawn mostly the large fish or crabs/prawns that it can not consume.
To summarize, my main issue with Down Under is that it suffers from a lack of detailed gameplay and issues such as the one mentioned above that only serve to exacerbate this problem. Whilst I can ignore simplified game mechanics if they serve the game as a whole better for its intended audience, I do feel that some simple changes to make certain fish feel better to play as would make both the Challenge and Gauntlet game modes more satisfying as a whole, even if the intention was to highlight the difficulty of surviving as different species.
Though as far as my final thoughts go here, Down Under is a somewhat decent indie that calls back to the edutainment titles of old that unfortunately is bogged down with several flaws that bring it down a couple of notches. Considering the asking price point, I would hesitantly recommend it at a discount if you're curious like I was, however no doubt it'll be more of a fond experience for those who played such games from their youth back before my time.
Since this isn't your typical kind of game here, even if I have my own issues with it, I welcome the change of scenery in Steam's vast ocean of indies and would encourage Oddlyfun Games to pursue more titles that they feel could be worth exploring as I found it to be a pleasantly different type of gameplay experience regardless of its flaws!
TLDR Version:
• A rare form of edutainment-inspired indie that seeks to recreate the experience one-to-one without any horror or action gimmicks added (+)
• Fifty-four different species that have unique descriptions detailing various scientific facts and trivia alongside preferences for food and abilities they possess that can be used during gameplay (+)
• Simpler PC graphics that harken back to older games of its time with a distinct low-res background contrasting well with colourful aquatic fish (+)
• Four different game modes (Practice, Challenge, Gauntlet and Create-a-fish) that have varying degrees of challenge for the player to overcome and all have something unique to offer (+)
• Repetitive gameplay loop that won't take long to overstay its welcome for anyone who is looking for more in-depth gameplay (-)
• Some fish are particularly hard to play as due to strict diets coupled with the rarity of edible fish appearing, may be intentional by the developer but this proves to be a frustrating gameplay experience regardless (-)
• The landscape is not that varied and will loop if you move towards one side constantly, further emphasizing the limited gameplay on offer (-)
