Funky Fish

Name:	Funky Fish
Company:	UA Limited
Model #:	N2
Programmer:	Unknown
Year:	1983
Released?	No
Notes:	A retail box, manual, and cartridge were found in 2011

Port of the obscure 1981 Sun Corp. coin-op of the same name (we're talking REALLY obscure here), Funky Fish is an underwater shooting game similar to Fantasy Zone but slightly 'funkier'.  It appears that UA Ltd. was going to break into the 2600 market with ports of their Arcadia 2001 games.  For those not in the know, the Arcadia 2001 was an obscure home game system released in 1982.  To say that the Arcadia 2001 didn't take the market by storm would be an understatement, but it was much more popular overseas where dozens of different clones were marketed.  However due to the video game crash UA decided not release any of their games, either in the US or in Europe.

No you haven't traveled back to the 70's, this game really is called Funky Fish (heavy on the Funk).  However you're more likely to find Funky Fish sitting in your local arcade than you are to find any of its home versions as none of them were ever released in the US.  Even though UA announced Funky Fish for the Arcadia 2001 in the catalog that came with the system, it never saw the light of day on this side of the ocean.  In fact the only two places where Funky Fish was released was in New Zealand for an obscure Arcadia clone called the Tunix, and in Italy for an even more obscure Arcadia clone called the Leonardo.

Funky Fish can best be described as an odd underwater Fantasy Zone style game with some strange twists.  The screen consists of five boss monsters which must be destroyed before you can advance to the next level.  Each boss monster (represented by a square) has a swarm of fish defending it, which must be destroyed before you can take down it down.  However the guard fish aren't stupid and as you approach they'll lash out at you attempting to fry your poor Funky Fish (French Fried Funky Fish, try saying that three times fast!).  Each time a guard fish is destroyed it will turn into a piece of fruit which slowly falls to the ground.  If you don't grab the fruit quickly it will turn back into a guard fish, so be quick.  Once you've succeeded in taking out all the guard fish with your bubble blaster the boss monster will die.

Another little twist that Funky Fish adds to the same old tired side scrolling shooter genre is a power gauge.  Yes it appears that your fish has a limited amount of power, and you must quickly defeat each boss monster before the gauge runs out.  Once you've managed to kill all the guard fish (represented by the number at the bottom of the screen), the boss monster will start to glow and a timer will begin to run down.  During this brief time (about 10 seconds) you can recharge your power by touching the dead boss monster.  You can track the locations of each of the boss monsters on your handy underwater radar screen (wouldn't that be sonar?) so you'll always know which direction to go.  If you need a quick break, the Color/B&W switch can be used to pause and resume the game.

While it's commercial success may have been questionable, Funky Fish probably would have slipped into the mediocre part of the 2600 shooting games library.  Nothing about it really makes Funky Fish a stand out other than its rather unusual name.  Interestingly in addition to the prototype, a complete copy of the game with a box and manual has been found.  It is assumed that this was made for marketing and sales so show off to potential retailers as they seem to be ready for store shelves.

Retail Box (Side)

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