Gamertell has posted a negative review of the Xbox Live Arcade game Sea Life Safari by Sierra Online. From the review:
"Sea Life Safari whittles down a tour of the colorful sea floor floor to a few voyeuristic minutes without the expensive hassles. Instead, you float around and simply take pictures of just about everything that moves and the entire game lasts about as long as your average diving cylinder."
For positives the review mentions the graphics and potential appeal to young gamers.
As for negatives, the review cites mixed messages, overly easy gameplay, lack of decent photography tools and length.
Nick Akerman Writes:
"Don't drop it. Your ice cream, I mean. In the sweltering summer months there is little more you could want to cool you down than that tasty treat. With a barrage of hotheaded, serious games on the way, gamers could be forgiven for not having time to relax properly. Sealife Safari tries to buckle this trend however, as it seems Sierra are getting into the holiday spirit by offering us the chance to unwind without spending heavily and leaving the normality of our own households. In reality though, all that Sealife Safari provides is a simplistic, on-rails journey that is cluttered with vital flaws that aren't going to calm you down; they will put you to sleep."
VG Reloaded really wanted to enjoy Sea Life Safari, something about a nice relaxing game in which you only take pictures was a nice change. It's just a shame it wasn't longer and cheaper, plus the issues over realism for kids may hurt it overall. They wanted it to be good but instead it falls short of the standard for these types of games.
Presentation - 7.0
Gameplay - 6.0
Audio - 6.0
Visuals - 7.0
Overall -
Strategy Informer writes: "We've had uncountable amounts of games set in the vast emptiness of space; from original arcade hits like Asteroids and Spacewar right up to modern day epics like the "X" series, and the "Homeworld" games. Interestingly though, despite the obvious parallels of exploration and the unknown that can be drawn between space and our own oceans, relatively few games have had a purely aquatic setting, and perhaps with the sole exception of the ever popular Ecco there's yet to be a game that truly exploits the environment.
The basic gameplay of Sea Life Safari could be described in any number of ways – my personal favourite is Fish'Em'Up – but the games main premise is simple; take pictures of fish in the best possible position in order to score points. If that seems like a fairly obtuse goal it's worth mentioning that it's actually been done before. "Pokémon Snap" was one of the N64s many Pokémon spin off games that involved taking pictures of various Pokémon in their natural habitat, and recently release Wii title "Endless Ocean" even uses the same setting as Sea Life Safari as a stage for underwater photography."
Aqua vita
Over this any day