Fishing Derby

Fishing Derby for the Atari 2600

Fishing Derby is a simple fishing game released by Activision for the Atari 2600 in 1980. In the game two players (or one player against the computer) compete to be the first to catch 99 pounds (points) worth of fish! Once one of the players scores 99 points the game ends.

The game screen in Fishing Derby consists of a fisherman sitting on a dock on each side of the screen. Players control the fishing lines which can be moved up and down as well as closer or further away from the dock. Throughout the screen are swimming fish; if players move the fishing line close enough to a fishes mouth it will bite allowing it to be reeled in. The number of points awarded for catching and reeling in a fish depends on the depth it was caught at; fish at deeper depths near the bottom of the screen are worth more points than those near the surface. To make the game more challenging, a shark swims near the surface; if players have a fish on the line and it touches the shark it will be eaten and no points awarded. The shark swims about erratically and will get in the way for both players at various times. The game includes two difficulty levels which can be adjusted for each player independently; on the more difficult setting the fishing line will need to be right in front of a fish to catch it while the easier setting provides some more leeway.