Sharkies

From time to time, developers decide to abandon the natural course of things and just create something purely in the name of fun, disregarding every concern for realism in the process. This way, you get to stumble upon games that have nothing in common with the rest of the industry, making them unique and memorable.

Sharkies is an arcade racing game that took things to a whole other level and replaced the vehicles with sharks, thus becoming the first ever shark racing simulator. Instead of powerful cars with hundreds of horsepower and nitro boosters, you get to maneuver a variety of sharks in wacky competitions at the bottom of the ocean, speeding through shipwrecks and coral reefs.

In order to make the races more exciting, you have to reach certain checkpoint in a fixed time limit, which means that it is not enough to just stay ahead of the other sharks. As you advance through the career, this time limit gets tighter and tighter, urging you to go as fast as you can and disregard any nautical speed limit. Since sharks lack any kind of bodywork, bumping into the obstacles doesn't affect them too much, although it does slow them down a bit.

One thing that shines about the game is the fact that is very easy to pick up and master, since there aren't too many secrets when it comes to shark handling and cornering. Thus, things are quite clear from the beginning and you can certainly take advantage of the responsive controls to best the other racers. The tracks are not that difficult either, despite the occasional obstacle that might slow you down from time to time.

Visually, the game uses every color out there to render the bottom of the sea and the sharks themselves, although the rendering could have been more refined. The shaders are not that great either, since the reflections barely have an impact on the surrounding environment and they certainly do not adhere to any existent laws of physics.

While Sharkies may not be too polished when it comes to gameplay and graphics, it is certainly an original title that tried something different and somehow managed to put a wild idea into practice. Hence, the game is definitely worth a shot, even if the fun might be a bit short-lived.