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Overall impression: Originally when i played this game i didn't know what to expect. After playing it for a few months i have to say this is one of the most creative games ever. You raise your seaman from birth. from little 1 eyed cyclops like tadpoles too full grown seaman fish and the even evolve into more species... but ill let you find that out for yourself. If you own a dreamcast you owe it to yourself to experiance this game... you won't regret it! Gameplay: While there really isn't much to the gameplay. you raise and lower the temp of your creatures tank and feed them and play with them... sounds like any other pet sim right... well that's where your wrong. Your Seaman have a personality all to their own. you speak to them with the Microphone that comes with the game. Now this is were it gets really interesting. Seaman has some of the best creature AI in any videogame. Sometimes you forget that your talking to a game it's so good. You can carry on very deep conversations with your pet. everything from your reletionships to the problems of the world.... btw your seaman is a smartass. Say something rude to him and he always has a great comeback lol. Graphics: well not much to say here the fish look really great and the graphics are about as good as you can get for a 3D dreamcast title. The seaman animation is also great.... your seaman will freak you out with their fish body and human head...look very wierd lol. Sound: no music in the game but the sounds that are there are great. The voice acting is the best and with Nemoy doing the voiceovers are ever great... dunno who does the seaman voice but they are great too. Replay value: You can play this game for months and months never get tired of it and when your seaman die you can always start up a new game. basically what im saying is get this game now!!!Read full review
This is not an action packed video game. This is not a game you pick up to waste some time. A single game of Seaman, without any tricks, can take a month. A single session with Seaman takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours of mindlessly clicking around...if you don't look online to figure out what's going on. So what is Seaman? It's a sort of super tamagachi that allows you to breed a freak fish with a human head. The idea is that Leonard Nimoy (seriously) invites you in to try your hand at growing this new lifeform some scientist found/invented/imagined/who cares. No one knows what to do though. It's up to you to give it a shot. I have no idea how anyone ever played this game without help. If you actually played through this without looking anything up...well I imagine you live in some sort of zen like state where you are neither man nor god. I cheated to play through it (change the date on the dc!), but the joys and sorrows that you will discover day by day over the course of a month will elevate you to a world of understanding beyond that of your neighbors. He also talks, no..converses with you using a special mic that comes with the game (don't buy the game without the mic. it won't play). This ranges from being a cantankerous old man to a a gentle frog man philosopher. Not sure if you lead a boring life? Seaman will let you know. He was speaking gibberish to me about a day after he spoke his first sentence, so i replied "ENGLISH M***, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!?" The damned thing looked me right in the face and said something you should hear for yourself. I fell in love instantly. Honestly, if you have a dreamcast and like quirky stuff, it's a crime that you do not own this.Read full review
I'd heard about Seaman since it first came out in 2000. Since, it has become a famous example of video game innovation and creativity. It is truly a Dreamcast staple. For those who don't know, Seaman is like a virtual pet - it doesn't play like a usual 'mario' type game. A 'virtual pet', meaning something like a tamagotchi, digimon, or giga pet. Virtual pets are an imitation of real-life pets, so you have to take care of them daily with things like feeding and waste removal. Seaman, however, is in realistic 3D and has a unique interface. The screen, when you play, looks like this: a simple aquarium, where fish would live. Except in the aquarium are a unique species: Seaman. What are seamen? They look like fish... except with faces of men! To interact with the Seamen (the virtual 'pets' of this 'game'), you press buttons to feed the Seamen and keep up on the tank's maintenance. But the driving feature is the microphone attachment - BE SURE TO GET THE MICROPHONE ALONG WITH THE GAME! It is an absolutely necessary, integral part of the game. With the microphone, you talk to your seamen. The seamen will talk on their own. But, when you talk to them, they talk back! And sometimes they will even ask you questions which they will remember the answers to and bring up in later conversations. Now, when you first get your seamen, they are like tadpoles. Over days and days, they eventually become fish-like, and finally become frog-like. In the beginning, they are similar to human babies - only speaking and understanding a few words, and using nonsense-words. As they get older, they gain a larger vocabulary and start making completely coherent sentences. The seamen will also ask you questions, to which you answer with the microphone. For example, today my seaman asked me "What month is your birthday?" to which I responded "April". And my seaman said something like, "Oh what fun, a birthday and taxes in the same month". Later the seaman said "So I'm guessing you're an Aries... oh brother. Aries don't finish things they start. I hope you don't do that to me, otherwise I'll be belly up in this tank in a few days." So, in this simple example out of many, you can see that the game isn't just talk and get response, and that's it. The seamen respond intelligently and actually have a personality, and they can be funny. They will even mock you or be sarcastic. For example I asked "Are you cold" to which the seaman responded "What do you care?". I haven't gotten that far, but it's my understanding that the seamen eventually die. But you can make them last a long time by proper care, and transferring between VMUs, somehow. There is somewhat of a story, regarding the origins of seaman. It's quite intriguing, and you learn slowly as you play the game. If you were having doubts about getting this game, I hope my review has helped you! I did my best to describe it from someone's point of view who knew nothing about it. Thank you for reading!Read full review
The moment you pick up Seaman, you know something's not right with the world. The bizarre package cover, the inclusion of a microphone, narration by Leonard Nimoy... No... This isn't just an ordinary game, but then it's not really much of a game at all. So why does it make the best games list? Because, game or not, Seaman stands as one of the best pieces of software released for the Dreamcast. Raising Seaman may sound dull at first, but once you pick up the bundled microphone and begin conversing to it/him/whatever through your Dreamcast, you know you're in for a treat. Seaman is an experience no Dreamcast owner should miss out on. Between Seaman's rambling about the state of the world and religion to asking and remembering personal information gathered about you, Seaman is a remarkably display of game design and technology. You won't hear Pikachu making cracks about your occupation or catch him mating with a Jigglypuff, but Seaman does all that and more. Seaman lets us all experiment a bit with life and learn more about ourselves, and what other game can make that claimRead full review
Unforunately for those in Europe, this was only ever released in the States and in Japan, i bagged mine for a bargain from the good ol USA. First off, if you buying this game ensure you buy the microphone (unless you have, you have wasted your dollars), 2nd: ensure you have a Memory Card with over 25saves left (required to play the game), 3rd: ensure you have an import disc, me? i used DC-X. When i booted this game up, i didnt know what to expect. The tutorial is narrated by Leonard Nimoy (aka Spock from Star Trek fame) who excels in his advice and hints. This is plug in and play straight off the bat and yes you do need to read the manual. So far i have only played for 3 days, but everytime, i hear the babbling talk, i go to work with a smug contented grin on my face. This is an essential game for any dreamcast fans collection, import it now, and i mean now!!Read full review
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