Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

"Easily the strangest use of a license I've ever played"

All kinds of Japanese cartoons have been converted into video games, although usually they were shows that you could realistically make a video game about, like Dragonball Z or the Super Robots series. Which was why I was surprised to find out that Secret of Blue Water had been converted into electronic form for a couple consoles, and even more surprised to learn that its NES incarnation was some weird combination of Shining Force and Battle Chess.

That being weird because Secret of Blue Water (sometimes known simply by the name of its female protagonist, Nadia), while certainly about good versus evil, is anything but about combat. It's about these teens, Jean and Nadia, who live in the world of 1889 (which by a complete coincidence is exactly a century before the anime was released). Jean's an inventor and fascinated by technology, while Nadia is an ex circus acrobat with a magical crystal (the Blue Water) looking to find where she's really from. Over the course of things they get involved in helping Captain Nemo battle the people of Atlantis, who are bent on conquering the world. It's a lot more entertaining a series than it sounds like, trust me.

But like I said, actual combat and violence is not the drawing point for this series. Strangely, like I also said, that is what this game is about. One side controls the "good guys," including Jean, Nadia, the crew of the Nautilus, etc., while the other side controls the Atlantean villains like Gargoyle, Emperor Neo and their army. Your objective is to wipe out the other side by destroying their king (and in case you're wondering, King is not the heroes' king :) ) in a turn-based battle, rather like chess. But unlike chess, each character has hit points and special abilities like healing and long range attacks. If you're a fan of Shining Force or similar strategy games you'll probably eat up the gameplay. For me, it was kind of plodding and boring (and I like Shining Force!). Nothing at all what I expected of a Secret of Blue Water game.

The graphics are, how can I put this tactfully...typical. If you know the series you'll be able to recognize each super-deformed sprite, but all they do is get the job done. I have this feeling enough work was put into them to make them and the fixtures of the battlefield recognizable, but only just.

The sound is, if anything, just as typical. The rendition of the SoBW theme song that plays on the title screen is grating at best, and nothing that played during the battles managed to stick in my mind. The sound in games released a good year or two earlier was better than what this offers. What gives?

All I can say is that if you're a strategy game and you have to play every strategy game ever made, this is worth checking out. If you're a Secret of Blue Water fan, or actually anybody besides a rabid strategy gamer, this isn't. It isn't a horrible game, not at all. But it's not a good one, either. The presentation is merely average in every department, and none of the talent or charm of the anime is evident in this game. If you want a moving story, watch the anime. If you want a well-made strategy game, play Shining Force.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/04