In the late nineties the world was gripped with Pokemon fever. The game had already found huge success in its native Japan with the release Pocket Monsters Green & Red, before taking the rest of the world by storm with the release of Pokemon Red and Blue. Those of us in the UK however had to wait until 1999 before we could get our hands on the games but by then we had already been initiated from afar thanks to increasingly tantalising reports from the gaming mags of the time. Game Freak’s light hearted JRPG had well and truly struck a chord with younger gamers and its fiendishly addictive premise of catching, trading and battling the titular creatures became an obsession for school-kids everywhere. Of course it didn’t take long for other developers to begin frantically trying to tap into the craze by creating their own rival games.
Also in 1999, in the height of this craze, Legend of the River King quietly released for the Game Boy Color. At a glance it was easy to dismiss the game as one such Pokemon clone, and in fact I seem to recall doing exactly that at the time. In actuality it was the first title in the Kawa No Nushi Tsuri series to be released outside of Japan, a series that had its roots stretching all the way back to the Famicom. The series was developed by Victor-Interactive Software who are most well known for their work on the farming RPG Harvest Moon, series of games.
Legend of the River King, like Harvest Moon, is played as a top-down JRPG. And also like Harvest Moon the game opts for a fairly relaxed and low key setting when compared to your typical, world-ending, beast-slaying, JRPG. Instead, you take on the role of a young boy. Your sister has fallen ill and so your concerned Mum tasks you with finding and catching the one thing that can cure her, the fabled Guardian fish. (I guess they ran out of Calpol.)
Unfortunately, being a small boy you aren’t much of a fisherman, and so you must first hone your skills and with the help of your neighbours learn all you need to save your sister.
The game takes place over 4 different locations along the same river. Each area contains an inn to rest and recover your health, a store in which you can sell your fish for cash, and another store where you can buy fishing supplies and tools to help you on your adventure.
To progress from one area to the next you must first complete tasks for the villagers, and these tasks typically, and rather unsurprisingly, involve catching a particular kind of fish.
When you begin the game you are armed only with a small rod, float and hook. But with that you can attach some bait and begin fishing!
To fish you simply have to walk up to an area of water and cast your line with the press of the B button. Holding the button casts a little further out, and pressing quickly casts it just in front of you. Using the directional pad you can also adjust the angle of the cast in mid-air a little. Once your line is cast the silhouettes of the fish can be seen on top of the water. If there’s no fish nearby you might want to try to cast closer however casting too close to a fish will cause it to panic and swim away. When you think you’re in a good position, it’s time to play the waiting game.
Yep, like with real fishing (no pun intended) patience is a virtue, and in Legend of the River King a fish might swim by several times, completely ignoring your bait before finally taking a bite. When this magic moment happens, you will see the float bob in the water and you’ll be given an audio cue, when you see it fully submerged It’s time to press the A Button and catch yourself a fish!
The action switches to an underwater view at this point where you get a good look at your scaly opponent. The fish will begin by swimming hurriedly to the left, and as he does he will get closer to the bottom of the screen. Pressing and holding the A Button will reel the fish in, but doing so now would simply snap the line. Instead you have to wait for the fish to tire out and come to a stop. When that happens it’s safe to start reeling it in, but be careful as the fish may try to resist and then you’ll have to let it tire itself out once again before continuing. If the fish struggles enough it will make its way to bottom of the screen and then to freedom, taking the bait as its reward. If however you successfully get the fish to the top of the screen it’s finally yours.
This is the basic process of the game, but sadly it’s not always that straightforward. Certain fish will only respond to certain kinds of bait of which there are several different kinds. What’s more there are three different sizes of hook and trying to use the wrong kind of hook on the wrong size of fish will simply lead to the fish breaking free immediately. This means that the game is in large part a matter of trial and error in trying to find the right combination of bait and hook for the right kind of fish. If that sounds far too tedious then thankfully there is a simpler solution. The fly rod is available to buy from the start of the game and when combined with the Wet Stonefly, it serves as a one size fits all solution for almost every fish in the entire game. It also allows you reel in whilst the line is cast making it easier to put it within reach of the fish. Think of it as playing the game on easy mode.
As well as catching fish, occasionally the villagers will want some other tasks completed. These include trading items such as a charm for a teacup, a teacup for a piece of coal, fight and kill a bear, a piece of coal for a wind-chime etc. Wait what was that about a bear?
Yep, you might only be a small boy with a passion for angling but come on it’s only a bear.
The game, despite its gentle setting does contain random enemy encounters. As you move away from the safety of the town you will find yourself confronted with wild animals such as spiders, wasps, bats, and eagles. You can either run away, or you can stand and fight.
Fighting is played out with a simple mini-game in which you must wait for the randomly moving cursor to pass over the creature before pressing the A Button, the cursor speeds up however so the player must be quick to strike. Depending on where the cursor lands the creature will receive a number of damage points. Each creature has their own weak spots to find which is more often than not the face. (Yeah you punch that bee in its stupid face). If you manage to kill the creature you will be rewarded with a small amount of XP. XP increases your strength and health, and also the distance you can cast when fishing. If you lose the fight you will feint and wake up back in the nearest inn with 1HP.
After finishing all of the tasks in the first area you will be rewarded with a raft. This allows you to paddle out into the water to reach more fish. It also enables you to ride the current into the next area. There is a cost however as each time you move in the water, your health will deplete and eventually you will pass out and once again be returned to the inn. You can however carry food bought from the store to replenish your health. This can also be used in battle with the creatures too.
There are 48 different types of fish to find and catch in the game. Each different type will stick in groups to certain locations in the water, and will likely only appear in one or two of the four areas. The different types of fish will be chronicled in your journal, as well as the record for the largest catch of its kind. There is a small reward at the end of the game for filling your journal so I guess you could say you gotta-catch’em all! (Sorry.)
Graphically the game certainly has that same charm that all 8-bit JRPG’s have. The GBC’s colour palette is put to good use too giving the game a nice bright and colourful look though it can also be played on an older Game Boy in monochrome if you prefer.
Underwater the different types of fish are nicely detailed, and easily distinguished. There are some nice back grounds which vary slightly based on where the fish took the bait. I also like the clever use of scrolling in this view which gives the impression of moving water on the river surface.
The music in the game is equally charming with a nice variety of traditional Japanese style chiptunes that can get your toes tapping. My only complaint would be that the music stops when you cast your line though there is some nice ambient sound effects to listen to instead.
Overall I had a great time with Legend of the River King. It’s a short and sweet adventure that is both relaxing and satisfying to play. Some will no doubt find it tedious and boring but for those looking for a charming RPG adventure that can be played in a day or two then you could certainly do a lot worse.
I started this review with my rather unfair dismissal of the game as a Pokemon clone. In reality the two are very different. One is the story of a young boy on his first adventure in which he must find, and catch all of the strange and varied creatures he finds in the wild, and mark them in his journal. The other is of course Pokemon.
The game can be picked up fairly cheaply so if you like what you’ve heard why not seek out a copy of Legend of the River King and learn the secret of Guardian Fish and save your sister.
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