| Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment (Win, Mac) Mistic Software (Wii)[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment (1994) Levande Böcker (1997) & Nordic Softsales (2006), Sweden Atari GTI (Russian Version)[2] Majesco Entertainment (Wii) Night Dive Studios (Steam) |
| Release Date(s) | November 7, 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Point-and-Click, Adventure |
| Platform(s) | Windows 3.1 - Windows XP System 7 - Mac OS 9.2.2 Wii |
| Engine | SCUMM |
| Input device(s) | Keyboard and Mouse |
Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds is a computer game developed by Humongous Entertainment and the first installment in the Freddi Fish series. It has been released many times on three different operating systems and the Wii (initially re-issued for Windows 95). This game is significant in Humongous' history because it is the first Humongous video game to use hand-drawn animation. Hence, the game's graphics are a major improvement to those of its predecessor, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon. Though graphics would improve more over time, this game set the new standard for games to come.
Plot[]
The adventure begins when Freddi Fish visits Grandma Grouper with a gift of flowers, or rather, the last one of two flowers she receives from her pelican friend Sam (the first one she gives to either a young male fish named Jason, or a depressed sea turtle named Snappy). Grandma Grouper is sad that her treasure chest full of kelp seeds has been stolen. As a result, her garden has begun to wilt, leaving them without any food. Courageously, Freddi promises to find Grandma Grouper's stolen treasure chest. This puts a smile on Grandma Grouper's face and she gives Freddi her last peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich to take on her journey.
After going a short distance from Grandma Grouper's house, Freddi finds Luther, who is trying to swim loop-de-loops. He bets her she can't do it, and so she shows Luther how to do it and he tries again, hitting his head on some coral (again due to how close he is to it and how big a loop-de-loop he is attempting to do). A bottle is knocked loose and sinks to the ground. When Freddi and Luther investigate, they discover that a note has been lodged inside the bottle. After reading the note and finding a message telling them where the treasure is, Freddi and Luther begin their journey to find the missing kelp seeds.
However at the same time, it's revealed that two sharks named Boss and Spongehead were the ones that stole the treasure as part of their plan to help the Squidfather grow kelp. The bottles that Freddi and Luther found were directions that Spongehead created so he could find his way back to the treasure after he hid it. Boss is furious at him over not remembering where the treasure is or the bottles that lead the way to it so he takes him to the Squidfather as punishment. Of course, the Squidfather is enraged at this revelation, but after the Squidfather spews out ink, Spongehead now finally remembers where the treasure is, so the sharks go to get the treasure.
When the final clue reveals that the treasure is at the sunken ship, Freddi and Luther go there and retrieve the treasure, but the two are stopped by Spongehead and Boss who want the treasure. Freddi explains that the kelp treasure is for everyone to share, and the sharks plan on sharing. Freddi and Luther grab the treasure, spread it around to give to everyone, and plant it in Grandma Grouper's garden. The three all go inside her house as the game ends.
Gameplay[]
The player takes control of Freddi Fish and her friend Luther with the goal of finding Grandma Grouper's kelp treasure full of kelp seeds and having fun along the way. The game is played by using the mouse to interact with the environment. By clicking on various areas referred to as Click Points, the player can collect items, talk with other characters, and watch entertaining animations. Items are collected to help the player solve puzzles. The game contains many different areas to explore: the castle, the old whale bones, the deep canyon, the volcano, the junkyard, the caves and the beach above the surface. These areas are joined in the middle by Grandma Grouper's house.
Characters[]
- Freddi Fish
- Luther
- Grandma Grouper
- Pelican Sam
- Boss and Spongehead
- Eddie the Eel
- Squidfather
- Gabby
- Mrs. Halibut
- Ray
- Fiddler Crab
- Herman
- King Crab
- Royal Guards
- Jason
- Snappy Turtle
- Mr. Starfish
- Augie
- Junkyard Dogfish
- Peg-finned Pirate
- Phineas McFinn
Locations[]
- Grandma Grouper's House
- Beach
- Old Whale Bones
- Volcano
- Clamshell Theater
- King's Castle
- Deep Canyon
- Junkyard
- Three Caves
- Sunken Ship
Items[]
- Beautiful Shell
- Clock
- Crank Handle
- Crutch
- Fishing Pole
- Grandma Grouper's Kelp Treasure
- Glowing Shell
- Key
- Mandolin
- Message Bottles
- Peanut Butter and Jellyfish Sandwich
- Pearl
- Purple Sea Urchin
- Super-Duper-Dooka-Booka-Poly-Gizmo
- Whale Bone
- Wooden Board
Paths/Storylines[]
Each of the three bottles to find (apart from the first one obtained near Grandma Grouper's house) can be located on a certain place.
- First bottle – Can be near the beach, at the old whale bones or the volcano
- Second bottle – Can be in the deep canyon or the junkyard
- Third bottle – Can be in one of the three caves or the King's castle
In case of the three caves storyline, the bottle can be either in the left, middle or right cave. With this variation not taken into consideration there are a total of seven individual paths. The number of possible games is 3*2*2 = 12.
Transcript[]
Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds/Transcript
Trivia[]
- This game was featured in an episode of The Computer Chronicles.
- In 1996, this game was included as a bonus, licensed game in a Microsoft computer accessory product for kids called, "Microsoft EasyBall."
- The Wii port of the game along with 2 other ports is basically just the PC ISO running with the ScummVM program. This, alongside Pajama Sam and SPY Fox's Wii ports actually ended up in a lawsuit due to the selling of freeware.
Behind the scenes[]
In Mr. Starfish's room, pre-release screenshots and the save game portrait indicate there's a skeleton fish replica. It doesn't exist in the final version of the game, but, it can still be run using through ScummVM's debugger.
Midway through production into the game, it went through a large graphical change. Similar to the original Putt-Putt and Fatty Bear games, the graphics were digitally designed, but were later switched to hand-drawn animation. The characters were also extremely different; Freddi was originally a peach colored fish with pink fins and Luther was a dark lime fish with black stripes and red fin. Several other characters also have completely different designs. The only characters to have their designs unchanged were the Boss and Spongehead.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Mistic Software - Games. Mistic Software. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ↑ Freddi Fish 1: The Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds. GFI. Retrieved 2011-02-11.