King Fishing

King Fishing
Title screen (Excalibur version).
Publisher	Apollo, Excalibur Electronics, Tsukuda, others?
Developer	Simmer Technology
Console	Famicom-based plug-and-play hardware
Date	2000-2001
Engine	Hummer Sound Engine
Alternate names/hacks	King Fishing Live (Excalibur) Tzar Fishing (Russia)

King Fishing, also known as King Fishing Live and Tzar Fishing, is a bass fishing simulator developed by Hummer Technology in the early 2000's. It was exclusively released on a Plug n' Play system that was marketed in various countries around the world by various publishers. The versions released by Excalibur and Tsukuda explicitly credit a company named Silicon Pyramid, a subsidiary of Apollo Electronics., The Unit was also Licensed by Radioshack In Canada.

Overview

The game offers three different modes to the player: Tournament, Practice and King Fish. In the King Fish mode, the player picks a region and the time of day they want to fish, and afterward starts the game by choosing one of five available bait types. Before throwing the line (which can be done either by shaking the rod or pressing START), the player can move left or right on the surrounding area, and the screen switches to an underwater view once the line is thrown, it's also important to note that changing where you choose to throw your line makes almost no difference in where you choose to cast your line. The player can slowly move the bait around in an attempt to catch a bass, this can be done by either using the joystick or tilting the rod from side to side; once a fish takes the bait, the player has to rapidly turn the lever on the fishing rod console to bring it out of the water. The rod/controller will shake rapidly while the fish has caught your line if the tention is high.

You can loose your fishing line if you keep tention too high while reeling in a fish. Afterwards, The lure will not be present in the lure selection menu; instead being replaced with a red X...

• In King Fish and Touranment mode... you can loose multiple lures... if you loose all your lures the hud says "GAME OVER" and you are taken to the leaderboard with the score you had before loosing your last lure displayed.
• In Practice mode, only 1 lure can be lost at a time; If you loose a lure after one has already been lost, the previously lost lure will reappear.

Lure Information

• General Bait - The most popular bait for fishing and the default selection.
• Flasher - A lure that periodically flashes, this lure is useful in the evening to entice fish.
• Suspended Bait - This bait is suitable for beginners, being the most enticing to fishes.
• Floater - Stays closer to the surface and is best for usage in the Gulf.
• Left-Shaped Bait - sinks slower and is best for usage in the Dikes.

Version Differences

Apollo version

• Turtles will swim by.
• The HUD arrangement is different.
• The playfield is one tile taller.
• The copyright line on the title screen has been removed.
• The fisherman now wears a hat, making him bear a striking resemblance to Terry Bogard of Fatal Fury and King of Fighters fame. Not only that but the fisherman has more detailed clothing
• The frames for each region were completely redrawn.
• Graphical glitches have been fixed.
• The Apollo version replaces the Excalibur title card(s) with a singular Apollo title card.
• The "Dikes" theme was modified, now featuring part of the beginning rather than jumping straight to the main chorus.
• While the Excalibur version has a rumble test that can be activated by pressing the ESC button numerous times (consecutively) during the intro/logo cards, this test is seemingly amitted from the Apollo version.

Trivia

• Gameplay elements and various assets (including backgrounds and the "FISH!!" text) are lifted from Sega Bass Fishing, potentially making this the newest game to have been demade for Famicom hardware by Hummer Team.
• The game seems to have been reprogrammed slightly between the Apollo and Silicon Pyramid-copyright releases.
• The game's art style shares many aspects with that of Titenic. it's likely the same graphic designer that worked on Titenic worked on King Fishing considering both games where developed around the same time period.
• Various music tracks from the game were reused for later Hummer Team projects, such as the ZDog, Samuri 60-in-1, and the Super New Year Cart 15-in-1 multicart.
• A button combination can be used on the title screen to show credits to "Taiwan Simmer Company Technology Limited" by pressing: ESC, UP, LEFT, UP, ESC. The credits are mispellled as "Taiwan Simmer Technolog Compamy Limited"; Below the text is contact information.
  • "Simmer" was an alias used by Hummer Team between 2000-2003 and was used on very few projects. The alias seems to have been abandoned shorty after its initial usages, as games like Samuri 60-in-1 and ZDog which where released in 2006 feature the standard "Hummer Technology Co. LTD.," branding.
• The Title screen font is very similar to Hummer's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Font used.
• All of the music tracks featured in King Fishing are present in Rings, both used and as unused leftovers.
• A game known as "Fishing", presumably created by Nice Code Software, shares many visual similarities with King Fishing and features nearly identical gameplay.
  • This game notably shares visual similarities with the Apollo version of King Fishing that are absent from the Silicon Pyramid-copyright version. It is possible that both games were created based off of the same design documents or for the same customer.

Gallery

Excalibur King Fishing Live logo

Promotional image featuring the Excalibur packaging and an unbranded variant of the console.