The Skyfish is a nasty rascal by all accounts. But, fair enough, if humans ravage the seas for all the fish, he's going to be a bit grumpy and we deserve everything we get as his fishy army take to the land and cast the people into the sea. Imagine how cross he'll be in the presumed sequel when modern man does nothing but dump plastic and garbage in the oceans.
Yet, somehow, the unnamed hero/heroine thinks the way to make things right will be to kill all the fishy monsters and solve puzzles to rescue their family - rather than restock the seas or eat less fish. Anyway, eco message over - enter Legend of the Skyfish,
This is a charming puzzler set across many tiny islands that sees the lead character helped by the Moonwhale and armed with a swiss-army knife fishing pole that can slash at enemies, pull things toward the player and pull enemies onto traps to avoid direct combat. Its a clever mechanic, using the right stick to aim the rod, which can be improved by augmentations like the Fish Slasher and Flash Caster as you venture further into the game.
Across islands, swamps and dry seabeds, you have to solve the increasingly complex puzzles, mostly opening gates or removing obstacles, while you get to dodge or battle enemies and avoid many multi-layer traps to defeat the end of level bosses like the giant armoured Grulak with his various attacks and the big old-nasty Skyfish at the end.
While the big monsters look a little scary, this is a game any young player can enjoy as the pace is fairly gentle and there's time to think about the problems around you. Each small step to success is rewarded with perky sound cues so you know you can move on. Checkpoints refill your life too on the larger levels, and there's the odd life heart dotted around in some of the more active areas of a level.
Charming in design, use of colour, with some neat water effects, suitable tunes and with fun enemies like the puffer fish and hermit crab, plus a little firefly friend to guide you to the game's treasures, Legend of the Skyfish has plenty of panache to draw you in.
It could do more with the various weapon types, and it is odd that can hack down an armoured beast but can't break through a small line of shrubbery to progress, or why not cut up mushrooms for health? But there you go, there's still plenty of dodging and puzzling to keep you mind on the mission, with nasty rotating arms near the end so easy to bump into.
Perhaps the only quirk of the game is that you can get near the end of a level and move to a "new" portal only to realise its an old one that takes you back to the start of the level, requiring a quick runaround to reach the exit.
Another slight annoyance is the iOS original had large full screen text and touch controls, that the Vita version loses as the focus is on the big-screen ports, still that doesn't detract from the overall joy of playing this cute-as-a-button adventure. Except for a few spots where the accuracy of touch would beat the stick, especially when timed switches have you racing against the clock.
Score: 8/10
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Price: £3.99 (PSN)
Developer/publisher: Mgaia/Crescent Moon/Ratalaika
File size 87MB
Progress: Platinum
(review code provided)
