Seaman

"Hey You, Seaman!"

Seaman

Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 6/10
Innovation: 10/10
Replay Value: 6/10


Seaman is a classic example of Sega putting their neck on the line in the name of innovation. That being said, you can probably guess that there is no other game quite like this one. The game is basically a pet sim, except slightly more complicated.

The story to Seaman is fairly elaborate for a game of its type. The story goes all the way back to ancient Egypt, where a doctor named Jean Paul Gasse first discovered stories of Seaman in the 1930's while visiting Egypt. The Doctor was fascinated by what he first found and decided to look into the story of the Seaman to see what he could find out. He met a local resident who had actually caught a Seaman and Gasse decided to take some of the eggs of the Seaman. Gasse tried to grow these eggs, but to no avail. All of the Seaman he attempted to raise would die. Any scientists or researchers did not believe Dr. Gasse, having no proof of his findings, and the findings he had were classified as a publicity stunt. Dr. Gasse soon vanished from the public eye, but recently his detailed diary has been found. You decide to study the Seaman after you find this information.

The gameplay of Seaman is what makes it so much different from anything else on the market. You start the game with food, a fish tank, and a few Seaman eggs. From there, you adjust the tank settings, and the game begins! Your Seaman will hatch into tiny babies, and you must feed, guide, and talk to them in order to raise them into their adult form. Yes, talk to them. This is where the Sega innovation presents itself. The game comes with a microphone that plugs into the back of your controller. Using the microphone, you can talk to your Seaman, teach him words, and even carry on conversations with him! Surprisingly, they have a very large vocabulary. Conversation in the game is very interesting. Seaman can be easily offended by certain naughty words or phrases, but at the same time made happy by saying nice things. If you do get him angry, you can tickle him, or if he does something bad, you can flick him in the head. The game also runs in real time, so if you don’t look after your Seaman for at least a few minutes every day to feed them and adjust the tank, then they will die. The voice chat does have its downfalls. Since this is one of the first times an idea like this has been used (the only other example I can think of being “Hey You! Pikachu!”), it has some problems. Occasionally, the game will have trouble recognizing what you’re trying to say, and Seaman will give and answer that doesn’t make sense, or unintentionally get offended. Replay value is ok, but not excellent. It’s a very interesting game for the first few weeks it’ll take you to play completely through Seaman’s life cycle, but after that there really isn’t much else to do. I didn’t find myself compelled to play through the game for a second time.

There isn’t much in the sound department, but that surprisingly works out well for a game of this type. There isn’t any music, just the water, Seaman, and you. This makes a pretty good atmosphere for the game, but I think some light music would’ve accompanied the game a bit better. Graphics are pretty good, but since you can only see Seaman, the fish tank, and anything else in the tank, there isn’t much to look at. What you can look at does look good though.

Seaman is a great example of the innovation that Sega is capable of, and has demonstrated through out the years. If you’re looking for something good to play that’s different from everything else out there, Seaman is what you’re looking for. I wouldn’t go as far as to call if a must buy, but it’s a solid title and worth picking up if you can find it.

Final Score: 78%

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/04