Seaman - Don't Panic
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.
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