Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse
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Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse | |
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Developer(s) | Humongous Entertainment |
Publisher(s) | Humongous Entertainment[a] |
Producer(s) | Ron Gilbert |
Designer(s) | Mark Peyser Tami Borowick |
Composer(s) | Tom McGurk |
Engine | SCUMM |
Platform(s) | Macintosh Windows DVD player, Linux Steam Android iOS |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Adventure, Humorous |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse is a 1996 video game and the second of five adventure games in the Freddi Fish series of games developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. It was released on iOS under the title Freddi Fish Haunted Schoolhouse Mystery and on Android with a shortened title Freddi Fish: Haunted Schoolhouse.
Plot
Freddi Fish swims to school and waits for Luther, who brings his Codfish Commando Action Figure for show and tell. As they enter the classroom, they find the other guppies in their class hiding in fear. Mrs. Croaker explains that the guppies saw a ghost that stole their toys. While one of the students tells the story, the ghost suddenly appears and steals Luther's action figure before swimming out of the classroom. Believing the ghost to be fake, Freddi promises everyone that she and Luther will find the thief and bring back all the toys.
The two chase the ghost into the basement, where Freddi commands the ghost to stop, causing it to accidentally drop Luther's toy and give Luther enough time to grab it back. The ghost then leaves, vowing to return and steal the toy again, but unknowingly leaves behind a torn piece of sheet. Upon seeing this, Freddi deduces that the "ghost" is really an imposter and uses the sheet piece as a blueprint to build a Rube Goldberg trap that can capture the ghost. However, Freddi says that they still need five missing parts to set it up. She and Luther then set out to find those parts.
If Freddi and Luther leave the schoolhouse after finding and obtaining some of the parts to their trap, Boss and Spongehead (the sharks from the first game) appear and try to scare the duo out of trying to defeat the ghost by telling them they would be "turned into a couple of fish sticks"; this threat does not intimidate Freddi, but Luther is quite frightened by it. When Freddi and Luther are one part away from completing the ghost trap, Boss and Spongehead go to the Squidfather, who tells them to get rid of the guppies in the classroom and give him the toys, indicating that Boss and Spongehead are responsible for the ghost hoax.
After they have everything, Freddi and Luther set up the trap and the latter agrees to use his action figure as bait for the ghost. The ghost then returns and gets caught by the trap after trying to go after the action figure. Sure enough, Boss and Spongehead are revealed as the ghost and they explain they were trying to get toys for the Squidfather, who never had a toy in his life. Freddi scolds the sharks, saying they should not steal things, but Luther pities the Squidfather and willingly sacrifices his action figure for the sharks to give to him. The two return the toys to the guppies and explain the solution to Mrs. Croaker. The teacher congratulates Freddi and Luther on saving the school and everyone celebrates.
Gameplay
The game uses exactly the same mechanics as its predecessor, but contains newer puzzles, collectible and usable items, character encounters, locations, minigames and trivial click spots in the gameplay. The particular parts and pieces for the ghost trap are randomized in every new game. Purple sea urchins return as collectible items from the first game and are now used as currency (being used to buy a pulley, if necessary). Five sea urchins can be found and collected in total.
Development
The game was showcased at E3 1996.[4]
Reception
Publication | Score |
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IGN | 7.6/10[5] |
The Electric Playground | 9.5/10[6] |
PC Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Unikgamer | 7.5/10[8] |
MacUser | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Publication | Award |
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Game Developer's Choice Awards | 1997 Spotlight Awards - Best Educational Game[10] |
Freddi Fish 2 was generally well-received, getting a 3-star rating from Allgame,[11] 7.6 out of 10 from IGN,[5] 9.5 out of 10 from Electric Playground,[6] 5 Stars from PC Magazine,[7] and Unikgamer gave a 7.5 out 10 score.[8] The Game Developer's Choice Awards awarded it as "Best Educational Game" in the 1997 Spotlight Awards.[10] MacUser declared it one of 1996's top 50 CD-ROMs.[9]
Notes
- ^ The DVD player version was published by Take-Two Interactive.
The IOS and Android versions were was published by Tommo.
The Steam release was co-published by Tommo and Night Dive Studios.
References
- ^ Uppendahl, John. "Humongous Entertainment Ships a New World of Animated Fun in Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse" (Free Limited ed.). Archived from the original on February 10, 1998.
- ^ "Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse on Steam". Steam. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
- ^ "Freddi Fish: Haunted Schoolhouse - Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ^ "Humongous Entertainment Handcrafts Another Junior Adventure, Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse; Freddi Fish 2 to Be Previewed at Electronic Entertainment Expo May 16-18". Business Wire. May 1, 1996. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2023 – via The Free Library.
- ^ a b "Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse Review". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Bonnie James (November 22, 1996). "Freddi Fish 2: The case of the Haunted Schoolhouse - Electric Playground". Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on August 4, 1997. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
Freddi Fish is funtabulous! The folks at Humongous Entertainment certainly know their stuff. I would love to meet the people who created such an engagingly silly universe.
- ^ a b "PC Magazine - Vol. 15" (19). After Hours. November 5, 1996: 457. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
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(help) - ^ a b "Freddi Fish series on Unikgamer". Unikgamer. Archived from the original on June 15, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ a b The Editors of MacUser (December 1996). "MacUser's 1996 Top 50 CD-ROMs". Kid's Stuff. Archived from the original on June 5, 2000. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ a b "Game Developer Choice Online". UBM Tech. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
- ^ Brad Cook. "Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse - Review - allgame". Allgame. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
External links
- 1996 video games
- Adventure games
- Android (operating system) games
- Children's educational video games
- Classic Mac OS games
- Detective video games
- Humongous Entertainment games
- IOS games
- Linux games
- Point-and-click adventure games
- SCUMM games
- ScummVM-supported games
- Single-player video games
- Tommo games
- Ubisoft games
- Video games developed in the United States
- Video games featuring female protagonists
- Video games with underwater settings
- Windows games