Freaky Fish DX

Skeeter the fisherman has found a large stash of dynamite in his Uncle Cletus’s shed and has decided to use it for his new hobby of "blast fishing”, which involves using explosives to stun the fish in the lake for easy collection.

The local fish are not happy with Skeeter's destructive new hobby, and so Jacques le Shark, a rarely seen fish with the ability to blow giant bubbles, has come out of retirement to deal with the problem…

Getting Started

Ensure the 1541 is connected and switch the C64 on. At the READY prompt, type LOAD “*”,8,1 and hit the return key. When the READY prompt reappears, type RUN and hit the RETURN key - the game will load and start.

Controls

Use a joystick in port 2 to move Jacques around in the water.

Press the fire button to blow a bubble. If you hold the fire button down, the bubble will stick with you for a short while, allowing you to aim the bubble before you release it.

Press the Run/Stop key on the keyboard to toggle the pause mode while in-game.

Press the Q key on the keyboard to quit the game and return to the title screen.

Completing a level will reward you with a code that can be entered on the title screen to start at the next level the next time you play.

Playing Freaky Fish

Capture the dynamite by blowing a bubble at it or swimming into the dynamite whilst holding a bubble. Release the bubble to send it to the surface, aiming at the boat if possible, but make sure to be careful of the other fish.

Don’t hold on to the dynamite for long, as the fuses can be unstable, particularly near the surface.

If all the other fish in the lake are stunned by dynamite, the game will end.

Scoring

For each bubble containing dynamite that Jacques sends to the surface, his score will increase by 10 points. If Jacques hits Skeeter's boat with dynamite, his score will increase by 50 points, and Skeeter will lose energy.

When Skeeter loses all of his energy, he will abandon the boat as it sinks to the bottom. Jacques will receive an energy boost and bonus points for each fish that has been saved.

Winning Freaky Fish

Jacques will lose energy each time he is caught in an explosion; if he loses all of his energy, then the game will end.

After certain levels, Skeeter will switch to his alternate hobby of throwing energy drinks into the sea. Each collected will increase your score:

Red = 100 points
Purple (rare) = 200 points

Green (extra rare) = 500 points
Poison will end the bonus round.

If Jacques can collect the required number of cans within the time limit, he will receive a 100 per cent energy boost.

Survive 30 levels to complete the game. Complete the game without using one of the cheat modes to unlock access to the brutal mutant levels!

Freaky Fish DX is also available as a boxed edition from Bitmap Soft on cartridge or tape. The deluxe cartridge edition also includes a poster, badge and sticker!

Some secret codes were featured in issue 39 of FREEZE64 magazine!

Credits

Chris Page: Design, programming, sound effects and additional graphics  

Brent Page: Graphics, music and additional sound effects

Copyright © 2021 Design/Chaos Pty Ltd

Compatible with TheC64 Mini and Maxi