Odell Down Under

released on Dec 31, 1995
by MECC

Edutainment game that transports players into a thriving coral reef ecosystem. Odell Down Under features several game modes which invite the player to learn about the myriad creatures of the coral reef.


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

The wonders of the ocean blue felt like it followed my timid mind for quite a while throughout my childhood. I personally didn't care for the beach, I wasn't a big fan of sand, and the highlight was seeing horseshoe crabs wash up onshore and helping one flip back over onto it's legs so it wouldn't get eaten alive by the french fry-stealing seagulls. The ocean itself though is just really cool and beautiful, I wanna be just like it.

Odell Down Under is an educational survival game that grants you a kid friendly simulation of playing as a saltwater fish thriving on the Great Barrier Reef, from little Silver Sprats to the monstrous but misunderstood Great White Shark. Instead of exploding into a bloody mess or getting horrifically mangled, fish now vanish into thin air and are replaced with a cartoonish "ARRRGH!" if they are eaten or die of starvation or succumb to poison from eating a sea cucumber like an idiot.

I actually don't find this quite that educational, the fish have some very short write ups in the fish selection window and it can give you an idea of what they want to eat and stay away from, but that's about the extent of it's educational qualities. It's not a terrible thing though, I find it more of a good entry point, because there's quite a ton to learn about these creatures and giving every bit of info at once can be quite intimidating to a wee fry like I was when I played this on one of those iMacs that swarmed every classroom in the late 90s like a bunch of fat multicolored sardines.

Gameplay is basically taking your fish (or mollusk if you got the Cuttlefish, it's not actually a fish, I know specifics and all that) and sprawling about nine screens of real estate to find the food that you prefer to eat and avoid your predators. The most known is of course the Great White Shark, which pretty much eats anything, it's the scariest thing to randomly come across and yet....it's adorable!!! Meanwhile, the Humphead Wrasse looks like something that would hide in my closet and wait for me to go to sleep before eating me alive. That thing scared the shit out of me...it kinda still does to be honest.

It's not the most well programmed game of it's time, for instance the Flashlight Fish has a special ability apparently involving lighting up to attract plankton, but hitting space to activate it seems to do nothing but make your Flashlight Fish start shaking like a nervous chihuahua and I've had moments where moving to another screen would just make it retreat right back to the last one. Speaking of, playing as a plankton feeder is easily the hardest part of this game, because it seems to be a complete gamble whether you can find the little fuckers or not, and that's not even getting into how hard it is to spot them on your cute little viewing space. Manage to find them? Awesome, just eat them until you get enough points. Can't find them or they just don't spawn? Tough shit I guess. It is quite cruel, just like the sea itself, so perhaps it's actually perfect.

It makes me warm and fuzzy a bit to play this again like Number Munchers, but I feel like this one hits a bit closer to home, like a Moray Eel gnawing on my wrist. A feisty bitey boy, but I still think it's rad. Ecco The Dolphin was the instigator of my affection, but Odell Down Under may have been the kickstart to my heart that would ensure this affection for big blue and it's majesty for eternity. My beloved. Why do you never call?