Review - My Aquarium
Wiiware
$5
1 Player
I loved playing with the interactive screen savers back in the day when they were popular, and have tried my hand a few times at pet raising sims before. So, it was no surprise that when I first heard about My Aquarium I was excited to check it out.
My Aquarium is a fish tank simulator where you set up a virtual fish tank on your TV screen. There is plenty of customization to be had in the tank department and there are many varieties of fresh and salt water fish. You can't access all of the fish at first, but rather you have to unlock them by setting up your tank and meeting certain requirements. You can feed your fish with a variety of food and you can play with them by tapping on the glass of the tank (shaking the wiimote) encouraging them to dance for you. You can zoom in on each fish for a detailed view and each fish also has a small bit of educational info you can access. The game features loads of classical music you can play in the background, and you can have up to 6 tanks at one time. You can also share your tank setups and fish with your friends via online.
The fish don't just swim around either. They grow as you feed them and when they are a certain size can even make baby fish. Your fish won't die if you don't feed them according to the manual, but that's probably for the best.
There are only two major things I don't like about My Aquarium. The first is the inability to play our own music via SD card. Yeah the classical music is nice, but if you don't like classical your screwed. They should have at least offered some other genres of soothing music (some of the classical songs aren't very soothing). The second is the fact that the tank size settings are hidden away. I had no idea I could change the size of my fish tank (allowing for more fish), until I read the manual, and even then changing the size of the tank requires you to start from scratch erasing any progress you've made. The tank size setting should be the first thing you see when you click on an empty tank, not a feature that is hidden from view and requires a reset.
The menu also moves a little slow which can get annoying, and placing tank objects where you want can be near impossible if you don't use the D-pad. Some of the fish don't seem to be animated very well, but again this is a Wiiware title so we can't expect too much. Since this is a virtual fish tank the amount of time you spend with it can be very limited if you are not one to enjoy watching the fish swim around. Once a tank is set up all you really need to do is pop in to feed them everyday and that only takes about two minutes.
My Aquarium clearly isn't going to be for everyone, especially in this divisive generation we are in, but it can be fun and relaxing for those who like the idea of a virtual fish tank on their TV screen. I found the game very enjoyable, but also a bit shallow. Then again fish aren't a very interactive pet so I really don't know how much more Hudson could have done.
I GIVE MY AQUARIUM A 7/10 [GOOD]
Value Bias +
Virtual Pet Bias +
PROS:
- Lots of tank customization
- Fish grow and have babies
- Large selection of music
- 40 different fish
- Share you tank and fish with your friends online
CONS:
- Option to adjust tank size is hidden & requires tank reset
- Only classical music available
- Menus could have been simpler/faster
VALUE:
- The game is only $5 and totally worth it if you want a virtual fish tank. There's a lot of variety and with your fish having babies there is something to look forward to.
