Fishing Derby
{{short description|1980 video game}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Fishing Derby
|image= Fishing Derby coverart.png
|developer = Activision
|publisher = Activision
|designer = David Crane{{cite web|title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers |url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist/ |last1=Hague |first1=James}}
|released = {{vgrelease|NA|1980}}
|genre = Sports
|modes = Single player, two-player simultaneous
|platforms = Atari 2600
}}
Fishing Derby is a fishing video game written by David Crane for the Atari Video Computer System (renamed to the Atari 2600 in 1982) and published by Activision in 1980. It's one of the first video games developed by Activision.
Gameplay
In Fishing Derby, two fishermen sit on opposite docks over a lake filled with fish (and a shark that passes through). Using the joystick the player is able to move the fishing line left, right, up, and down in the water. When a fish is hooked, the line slowly comes up to the surface of the water. Pressing the fire button on the joystick reels in the fish faster. However, if both fishermen have hooked fish, only one person can reel it in (the one who first hooked the fish). The shark that roams the water will try to eat hooked fish before they surface.
The objective for both fishermen is to reach 99 pounds of fish first. There are six rows of fish; the top two rows have 2 lb. fish, the middle two rows have 4 lb. fish and the two bottom rows have 6 lb. fish. The more valuable fish sit at the bottom, but they are harder to bring in as they run a higher risk of being eaten by the shark.
The game's two variants are simply single-player and multi-player. In both games the objective is to reach 99 lb. of fish first.
Development
David Crane described Fishing Derby as a technical experiment that was turned into a game. He was inspired by aquariums and began goldfish which who were limited to different bands of depth in the water. He also experimented in coding algorithms for sloping lines for a fishing line. As the only one fish could be reeled in at a time, Crane said that the it lacked gameplay and added a shark to provide a threat to the game.{{sfn|Milne|2025|p=37}}
Reception
In Video magazine's "Arcade Alley" column, Fishing Derby was characterized as "imaginative, colorful, and fun" providing children with "better animation than Saturday morning TV and provid[ing] adults with a subtle game of skill". Overall the reviewers recommended it as a family game.{{cite journal |last1= Kunkel |first1= Bill |author-link1= Bill Kunkel (journalist)|last2= Laney |first2= Frank |author-link2= Arnie Katz|date= December 1980 |title= Arcade Alley: A New Era Begins - Activision Exploits Atari's Success |journal= Video|publisher= Reese Communications|pages= 12 and 105 |issn= 0147-8907}}{{rp|105}}
See also
{{Portal|Video games|1980s}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite magazine|magazine=Retro Gamer|year=2025|issue=268|ISSN=1742-3155|publisher=Future Publishing|title=A Tribute to Activision: The Atari 2600 Years|last=Milne|first=Rory}}
External links
- [http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-fishing-derby_s6828.html Fishing Derby] Atari Mania
- [http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/a2600/data/584734.html Fishing Derby] at GameFAQs
- [https://atariage.com/manual_thumbs.php?SoftwareLabelID=182 User Manual]
Category:Atari 2600-only games
Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games
Category:Video games set underwater