The great thing about Live Arcade titles is their skill requirement. These simple puzzle and twitch titles require your full attention, and earning Achievements is an actual achievement. That's not, however, true with Feeding Frenzy.
An update to the Intellivision classic Shark! Shark! (or to put in a more recent comparison, Katamari Damacy), this fish-eating title offers mild amusement, but not much else. The simple mechanics involve nothing more than eating smaller fish until you grow and then begin munching on larger-size critters. The next level starts when you're full.
While new challenges are introduced even towards the final level, such as bombs, barracudas, sharks, etc, the word "challenge" isn't appropriate. This game is far too easy to breeze through in about an hour, and the only time you'll have a rough time is in the time attack mode. Most of the Achievement Points will be earned the first time through the game, and the ones you don't get will be nabbed if you play this one a lot, not always because you're skilled.
The problem is there's not much to keep you playing towards a 10-hour Achievement. There's no multi-player, which should have been a necessary addition. The time trial doesn't require much aside from a little dedication, and once that's completed, you have no reason to go back.
Feeding Frenzy looks the role of a budget title too, with meager sprites, rough animation, and static backdrops. There's no reason for this to cost 800 Microsoft Points. It doesn't offer enough value or challenge.
It would have been a smarter move to port the Intellivision original this is based off of than to give us this. Feeding Frenzy is one of the weakest titles in the Arcade, and to have the audacity to charge 800 for it when something like Geometry Wars is only 400 is ridiculous. It still offers mild enjoyment since it's relaxing to swing through, but it lacks the longevity the majority of Live Arcade titles bring with them.
Feeding Frenzy is a rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.
Article comments
1 - Ken Edwards
Oh Matt -- you just don't want to admit to everyone how many hours you spent playing this game :P