Writings of Mass Deduction

Genre mash-ups are all the rage these days, and some of them are brilliant. It’s interesting to speculate what might have been created had they been popular in the ’80s. We had Pac Man Jr. (video game/pinball hybrid), but we never got that “Double Dragon” “Tetris” mash-up that the world was (probably not) waiting for.

“Fish Bait” is a mash-up between two ’80s favourites: Arkanoid (it’s closer to Arkanoid than Breakout because there are power-ups) and Galaga, but with an aquatic theme. Like Arkanoid, you’re trying to destroy blocks with a “ball” (though, in this case it’s actually a fish), but like with Galaga there are enemies. The enemies don’t shoot you, but (unlike the blocks) they do move around which makes them harder to hit, and in true Galaga fashion one of them likes to occasionally swoop down and try to take you out (they even scroll off the bottom of the screen and back to the top, ala Galaga).

You have your traditional multi-ball (multi-fish?), you have the ability to get your fish to eat bricks (or fish) rather than bounce off them, and even the ability to shoot from your paddle, among other abilities and power-ups. It’s an 80 Microsoft Point diversion that works well and innovates on both of its inspirations.

Here’s what the developer (Dont Press X) has to say about the game:

“—–Imagine arkanoid or breakout but under the sea. 20 Levels, featuring 5 different power ups including multiball and laser guns.”