| Odell Down Under | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | MECC |
| Publisher(s) | SoftKey |
| Platform(s) | Classic Mac OS, Windows |
| Release | 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Educational |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Odell Down Under is a 1994 game for Microsoft Windows and Classic Mac OS that takes place in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Released by MECC, it is the sequel to Odell Lake . [1]
Odell Down Under was released alongside a re-release of its companion game, Odell Lake. [2] The game was recommended for ages 9 to adult. [3]
The game was generally praised; School Library Journal cited the "realistic and beautiful" graphics and detailed field guide as strengths, [4] while Booklist called it a "marvelous introduction to life in a thriving underwater community." [5] The game was a finalist for MacUser's 1994 Editor's Choice Award for Children's Software. [6]
The player takes on the role of a fish who in turn must eat, stay clean and avoid being eaten by predators to survive. There are several modes of gameplay. In Tournament mode, the player plays every fish in the game, starting as the tiny silver sprat and eventually reaching the great white shark. A shorter Challenge mode picks four random fish (from smallest to largest) instead. The player can choose to play any fish in Practice Mode. [4]
Finally, in Create-A-Fish the player creates their own species based on various parameters such as size and agility, which also affect the appearance of the fish. The color, special ability, and nocturnal or diurnal habits are also selected. [7] Special moves, also present for some 'real' fish, include the stingray's sting and the cuttlefish's ink squirt.
Each fish has different preferences for food, as described in the educational summary before the game starts. The game consists of nine screens, arranged in three levels from the sandy bottom to the reef's top, that various fish, including the player, move through looking for food. To survive, or to gain enough points to reach the next fish, the player's fish has to find enough food (which can include plants, crustaceans or coral as well as fish) to prevent its constantly decreasing energy bar from reaching 0 and death. The other main concern, besides avoiding predators, is health, which can only be repaired by finding a bluestreak cleaner wrasse while playing as a diurnal fish, or a banded coral shrimp while playing as a nocturnal fish, and moving next to it. Health takes a serious drop if the fish eats something poisonous to it, often a sea slug or sponge.
The game also includes a field guide with information about the tropical fish featured in the game. [1] Some versions included a teacher management system, allowing teachers to track students' scores and change preferences such as sound and music. [7]
The goatfishes are fish of the family Mullidae, the only family in the order Mulliformes. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus Mullus.
Parrotfish are a group of fish species traditionally regarded as a family (Scaridae), but now often treated as a subfamily (Scarinae) or tribe (Scarini) of the wrasses (Labridae). With roughly 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion.
The crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci, is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest starfish in the world.
Aliens Versus Predator is a 1999 science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Fox Interactive for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Mac OS X. It is a part of the Alien and Predator crossover franchise, Alien vs. Predator. A sequel, Aliens Versus Predator 2, was developed by Monolith Productions and released by Sierra in 2001.
The live fish trade can refer to the live food fish trade or to the ornamental fish trade. The fish can come from many places, but most comes from Southeast Asia.
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Odell Lake is a 1986 educational life simulation game produced by MECC for the Apple II and Commodore 64. The player is a fish living in Odell Lake, a real-world lake in Oregon. It is based on a 1980 BASIC program of the same name. It was followed-up by Odell Down Under.
The California sheephead is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Monterey Bay, California, to the Gulf of California, Mexico. It can live for up to 20 years in favorable conditions and can reach a size of up to 91 cm (3 ft) and a weight of 16 kg (35 lb). It is carnivorous, living in rocky reef and kelp bed habitats, feeding primarily on sea urchins, molluscs, and crustaceans.
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The bluefin trevally, also known as the bluefin jack, bluefin kingfish, bluefinned crevalle, blue ulua, omilu, and spotted trevally, is a species of large, widely distributed marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The bluefin trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ranging from Eastern Africa in the west to Central America in the east, including Japan in the north and Australia in the south. The species grows to a maximum known length of 117 centimetres (46 in) and a weight of 43.5 kilograms (96 lb), however is rare above 80 centimetres (31 in). Bluefin trevally are easily recognised by their electric blue fins, tapered snout and numerous blue and black spots on their sides. Juveniles lack these obvious colours, and must be identified by more detailed anatomical features such as fin ray and scute counts. The bluefin trevally inhabits both inshore environments such as bays, lagoons and shallow reefs, as well as deeper offshore reefs, atolls and bomboras. Juveniles prefer shallower, protected waters, even entering estuaries for short periods in some locations.
The giant moray is a species of moray eel and a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae. In terms of body mass, it is the largest moray eel; however, the slender giant moray is the largest in terms of body length.
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Haemulon is a genus of fish in the grunt family known as the scaled-fin grunts. Most are found in the western Atlantic Ocean, with a few species known from the eastern Pacific Ocean. This genus is considered to be one of the most important fish groups of the coral reefs of Brazil due to its commercial value and crucial ecological role.
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