Freddi Fish 5: The Creature of Coral Cove
Spy Fox in
Operation Ozone

By
Randy Sluganski

I don’t
know what the magic number is for sequels before they lose their popularity, but
Freddi Fish (in his fifth installment) and Spy Fox (in his third installment)
have managed to maintain their freshness. I would, though, like to suggest that
from an adult’s point of view, I would someday love to play an adventure game
that featured a team-up among Humongous’s three most popular characters–Freddi
Fish, Spy Fox, and Putt Putt–but I probably stand a better chance of getting
a date with Pamela Anderson, the queen of adventure gaming, than of seeing such
a historic collaboration.

For now, though, I am content to enjoy these excellent
games with son Jacob at my side. Having played probably every Humongous adventure
game, I can say from experience that a reviewer would have to be a real ogre of
Shrek-like proportions to dislike any of these well-crafted products. Not only
are they fun to replay–and really how many adventure games can make that claim–but
they also feature such excellent music that Humongous has finally included exclusive
audio tracks that can be listened to repeatedly on a CD player (honestly, though,
nothing will ever match my memories of the addictive Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo
theme song).

The Humongous characters have also become an industry
unto themselves–toy stores are stocked with plush characters, bookshelves feature
best-selling activity and coloring books, and console systems are attracting a
hitherto untapped audience. For now, though, let’s take a quick look at Humongous’
two latest computer offerings.

Take
a pinch of the offbeat humor of Get Smart, add a smidgen of James Bond’s
impeccable manners, mix in a big furry tail, and what do you have? No, it’s not
Ray Ivey, you silly, it’s Spy Fox. Things have been quiet since outfoxing cow-nappers
in Dry Cereal and saving the World’s Fair in Some Assembly Required,
but now Spy Fox faces a problem of global proportions in Operation Ozone.

Poodles
Galore, the Queen of Cosmetics, has built a space station that is shooting a constant
stream of hairspray into the atmosphere and depleting the ozone layer. As luck
would have it, Poodles’s cosmetic company has just marketed a new sunblock that
is strong enough to block the soon-to-be unrelenting sun. Now it is up to Spy
Fox to put an end to Poodles’s unethical business practices.

To aid him
in his quest, Spy Fox will enlist the aid of Monkey Penny and Professor Quack
and his super-secret gadgets, among which is a Spy Grappling Granny–when you
squeeze her belly, her dentures shoot out and hook to anything made of wood. The
inventory system and offbeat humor are very similar to the early Monkey Island
games, which is not surprising when you consider that Ron Gilbert–the creator
of Monkey Island–was also one of the founders of Humongous. In fact, I
would not hesitate to recommend any of the Humongous adventure games to anyone
who is a fan of Monkey Island, Sam and Max, or Day of the Tentacle–regardless
of age.

Operation Ozone is intended for gamers age 7 and above, but
I daresay that even gamers like me find the puzzles well-constructed and involving.
The game does involve a good bit of deductive reasoning as Spy Fox must question
characters in order to find clues, and as the game progresses so does the amount
of information a character will provide.

For you parents who still are
not convinced about Spy Fox–well, for $19.99, you will not find a better
bargain for your gaming dollar. My boys were always either playing this game with
a friend or looking over my shoulder offering advice when I snuck in for a few
hours of gaming. As for Spy Fox himself, picture Dean Martin as Matt Helm. Now
take away the vivacious women, the liquor, and, uh, Dean Martin and what do you
have left? A big furry fox in a tuxedo with a zany array of weapons and friends
who are a little off-key. Now is that so hard to imagine?

Final Grade:
A

Freddi’s
adventures are aimed at a younger audience (ages 4-7) than Spy Fox’s and, like
Putt-Putt, are a wonderful introduction into the thoughtful, but fun, world of
adventure gaming. This installment has Freddi and her sidekick Luther anticipating
the grand opening of the new Coral Cove Park. It seems, though, that the authorities
have closed the park before it can even open, as a mysterious sea creature is
rumored to be lurking inside the new attraction. Freddi and Luther take it upon
themselves to investigate the whereabouts of this frightening creature and discover
why it has chosen Coral Cove as a hiding place.

As in Spy Fox, the
supporting cast is cute without being insufferable, and recurring characters provide
a link to past games while new personalities also abound. Rollo the Clownfish
has so many riddles and knock-knock jokes to tell you that he is ready to burst,
Marty is an oily sardine interested only in dishonest real estate deals, and Nick
is the quintessential beatnik, except he’s a poetry spouting fish!

For
the parents and the politically correct, Freddi Fish 5 also manages to
broach environmental issues without beating the player over the head. And sexual
stereotypes are nonexistent in this undersea world. But never, not once, does
the player ever feel as though s/he is being subjected to a soapbox pulpit, as
the all of the game’s aspects–the voice acting, the plot, the minigames, and
the puzzles–are smoothly integrated.

The puzzles and wide variety of inventory
items are the stars of these games for the adventure gamer. Inventory-based point-and-click
puzzles bring back fond memories of the LucasArts classics. Puzzles that appear
easy on the surface are deceptively complicated and require numerous levels of
progression to complete. Yet they always manage to sustain a sense of merriment–whether
it be finding a glass bottle for a model ship or figuring out what to do with
a rubber ducky (yes, TLJ lovers, another rubber ducky puzzle). Plus there
are two different paths you can take playing the game–Drill Book or Jawfish–and
each features its own unique set of puzzles.

Highly recommended–and not
just for children–for anyone who loves old-fashioned, point-and-click, mouse-controlled
adventure games with beautiful animation. If you have never before tried any of
the Humongous products, then you are in for a pleasant surprise, and you may find
yourself sneaking to the computer once your child is sound asleep.

Final
Grade: A

System Requirements (Both Games):

Windows:
Pentium
133 MHz
Win 95/98/ME/00
32 MB RAM
20 MB free hard disk space for saved
games
4X CD-ROM
Windows-compatible SVGA video card
Windows-compatible
sound card
DirectX 5.0 or higher (8.0 included)

Macintosh:
132
MHz PowerPC
System 7.5.5
20 MB free hard disk space for saved games
32
MB RAM
4X CD-ROM