I still remember when I was in junior high school, I used my pocket money to buy a GBA flash card, which was filled with dozens of games. What attracted me the most was not "Pokémon" or "Fire Emblem", but a fishing game called "Deep Sea Hunter". At that time, the picture was pixelated, and the fish swam like a slideshow, but every time I hit a big fish, the "beep-beep" sound effect would excite me for a long time. On the way home from school, my best friend and I crowded on the bus and took turns rubbing the LR keys, competing to see who could fry more fish or save gold coins faster. That kind of pure happiness, I can't help but raise the corners of my mouth when I think about it now.
Later, PSP and NDS were purchased one after another, and fishing games were also upgraded to 3D. The graphics of "Crazy Fishing" on the PSP are much more delicate, and the reflections of the fish scales are made, but it always feels like it lacks the refreshing feeling of "bombing" in the arcade. Later, when I got busy at work, all those handheld devices were stuffed into drawers and collected dust.
Until yesterday, when I was browsing my mobile phone, I happened to see "Fishing the Sky". I clicked on it and played it twice. I was completely stunned - wasn't this just my youth back then? As soon as I came up, I received the redemption code ZFT679, gave me a turret gift pack, and started shooting violently. The 3D graphics are much better than those of the PSP at the time. The fish swim with light and shadow, and the explosion special effects also have particle splash. Holding the phone horizontally, the feeling is instantly brought back to the student days.
When I saw someone in the comment area saying "Old Yao Ji has released a new work", I realized that this was actually the official version of Yao Ji. I remember that "Deep Sea Hunter" was produced by Yao Ji. At that time, I was still playing pirated versions on GBA. Now I can finally enjoy the benefits of the genuine version for free, and I silently made up for it with a "game ticket" 😂
Compared with the original version, the current "Fishing Explosion" has been greatly upgraded. The original version could only be played single-player, but now you can connect to the Internet and team up with others to fry fish; the original gold coins had to be accumulated slowly, and now the novice gift pack directly gives you the turret; the original version only had a dozen kinds of fish, but now, from golden sharks to ghost fish, the variety has doubled. But what impresses me the most is that when I used the GBA's cross-keys to aim, it was always crooked. Now I can hit whatever I want with the touch screen of my mobile phone. It's so exciting.
The only thing that remains unchanged is the sense of expectation that "one more big fish will turn the tables". Just like that time after school, we squatted in front of the roadside stall and used the breakfast money we saved to exchange game coins, and one coin played all afternoon. Although there is no need to save money now, the thought of "exploding gold coins" still came back with a bang the moment I opened "Fishing Explosion".
Youth, in fact, has not gone far. It just changed the screen and continued to accompany us. 🕹️🎮