Game Review #359: Sea King (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Bradford “The Waffinator” E.

Publisher: Interactive Stone

Developer: Interactive Stone

Release Date: 06.17.2019

Genre: Action, Multiplayer, Party

Price (at time of review): $4.99

Buy Sea King in the Nintendo Switch eShop here.

Argh, Maties!

Party games are on the rise, as they should be. I wouldn't say single player is a dying trend but more and more multiplayer style games are hitting the gaming market. I honestly can’t remember that many party games growing up, mostly just Mario Party and a select few others. The newest game Sea King from Interactive Stone is taking party games to a whole new level by bringing the battle to the sea! That's right; you are playing as a pirate ship either against AI bots or up to 3 other friends!

Sea King offers a nice tutorial that starts off by having you fire at a target to learn how to fire from all 4 directions. Once the target clears it becomes an all-out battle royale kicking this game right off into some party fun. Sea King offers 8 different ships to control on the open seas (my favorite is Doomy the pirate ghost ship thingy) and 12 different mini games (not including the playable tutorial) to wage war on each other. I have played all twelve and I am TERRIBLE at every single mini game. My new name should be “Waffles the Terrible" or at least in Sea King. Even though I may be awful the games are fun and cute and offer a little something for everyone. These however are the ones that were I would say more common party/battle royale games and were fun to do as a battle ship:

Kraken Hugs: A Kraken slowly shrinks the area. Be the last one standing and get 5 victories to win. Reminds me of Fortnite.
Capture the Flag: Need to capture and hold the flag for 10 seconds to win. Everytime you die however your timer resets.
Last Ship Standing: Be the last ship standing each round to win. First to 5 wins gets the victory.
Deathmatch: Unlimited respawns and goes until someone destroys 5 ships.

There are 12 total mini games like I said but those were just the more common style mini games. The other mini games are similar to a lot of these mini games but with more interesting win conditions and payouts. I would recommend maybe starting off with one AI opponent and get used to the games if you’re playing single player. I only say this because I would always go gung-ho and play against 3 AI Bots and got smoked. I think out of the 30 matches I have played I only won 3. I know, I know; Waffles the Terrible, like I have stated.

Controls

Being a party game the controls are made to be nice and simple so that way it is more entertaining and enjoyable. You use the left thumbstick to maneuver, X button to fire from forward cannon, A button to fire from right side, Y button to fire from the left side and B button to fire from the bottom cannon. Make sure you have a good shot because there is a reload time for each cannon. The reload time is fairly quick, but so is someone shooting back at you. Also with you battling in the open seas the movement is slower and a bit tricky. This game will take some getting use to but the simplistic button layout has you covered.

Audio/Visuals

Sea King is played from a bird’s-eye view (from above) and in a certain sized arena. If you leave the allotted play space it will reset you and have you come back to the side of the map. The overall visuals are 3D and and more on the cartoonish side. Not comic book style cartoonish or Spongebob cartoonish but the vibrance and the contrast and how well the colors splash are very captivating and nice.

As for the audio the only thing I wish it had was some kind of background music while in the arena. During battles all you get are basic sound effects with occasional sayings/commentary from some pirate sounding dude. The half booty style pirate voice is hilarious but not enough to make up for the awkward silence while slaying other ships. Overall the background sound effects did help make you feel like you are at sea. You got your seagulls cawing, the blasting of your cannons, and the sounds of the waves as you glide through the waters.

Final Thoughts

Don't let this one pass you by if you like party games with the family or friends or when with both family and friends. Its It's a fresh new game and offers some silly new adventures to play together. I mean the matches do go by quick for the most part so it makes for a great opportunity to pass the controllers over to another player if you wanted to set up teams even. With the 8 different ships to choose from and 12 mini games to play, Sea King makes for a good time and gives a break from the norm.