Aquanaut's Holiday

Aquanaut's Holiday (Japanese: アクアノートの休日, Hepburn: Aquanaut no Kyuujitsu) is a video game for the PlayStation developed by Artdink. The game is an underwater simulation in which the player assumes the role of an overworked marine explorer who returns to the water for pleasure after having brought harmony to the world's oceans. Aquanaut's Holiday was followed by a few Japan-exclusive sequels on various PlayStation consoles.

Aquanaut's Holiday
North American cover art
Developer(s)Artdink
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Kazutoshi Iida
SeriesAquanaut's Holiday
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • JP: June 30, 1995[1]
  • NA: July 7, 1996
  • EU: October 1996
Genre(s)Simulation[1]
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Gameplay in Aquanaut's Holiday takes place in a first-person perspective and consists primarily of the player exploring vast stretches of ocean, occasionally discovering underwater ruins or treasure, or communicating with underwater creatures. The game has no time limits, enemies, or other obstacles. The game's objective, aside from exploring, is to build a large coral reef to attract a wide variety of fish and other marine wildlife.[2][3][4]

Development

Aquanaut's Holiday was developed by the Japanese studio Artdink and directed by Kazutoshi Iida. The game designer was also behind Artdink's Tail of the Sun and later headed development of Doshin the Giant for the GameCube.[5]

Reception

On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored Aquanaut's Holiday a 24 out of 40.[7] The game won a Japan Software Award in 1996.[12] Critical reception has been mixed. USA magazine Next Generation reviewed the game as an import prior to its release in North America, commenting that, "Seen from a first-person perspective, AH's exotic sea life and realistic landscapes soon have you believing you really are exploring the floor of the ocean. And though the gaming aspect is a little on the subtle side, it's enjoyable just swimming around." They scored it four out of five stars.[10] Their later, much briefer review of the domestic release lowered the score to two stars and said "Points for effort, but most gamers will be bored."[13] IGN stated that Aquanaut's Holiday does not truly qualify as a game, but instead "a fun and immersive 3D underwater sim of the most relaxing kind".[9] Shawn Sackenheim of Allgame likewise called the game to be a great stress-reliever and complimented its "beautiful" presentation and "rewarding" gameplay model.[3] Victor Lucas of The Electric Playground agreed that the graphics were most impressive, but ultimately found the combination of exploration gameplay and atmospheric music extremely boring.[4] NowGamer was also unimpressed, summarizing, "Unless you’ve got more money than sense, our advice is to save your pennies and spend them on a title that truly pushes the PlayStation to its technical limits without relying on the contents of Captain Birdseye’s pantry."[2]

The game sold more than 200,000 units in Japan.[14]

Legacy

Aquanaut's Holiday was followed by a few Japan-exclusive sequels. Aquanaut's Holiday: Memories of Summer 1996 and Aquanaut's Holiday 2 were released on the PlayStation in 1996 and 1999 respectively and were later made available for download on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in 2008.[15][16][17][18] Another game, Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Memories, was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2008.[19]

References
  1. Sony staff. アクアノートの休日 [Aquanaut's Holiday] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  2. NowGamer staff (November 1, 1996). "Aquanaut's Holiday". NowGamer. Archived from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  3. Sackenheim, Shawn (1998). "Aquanaut's Holiday Review". Allgame. All Media Guide. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  4. Lucas, Victor (May 1, 2001). "Aquanaut's Holiday Review". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on May 1, 2001. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  5. IGN staff (September 30, 1999). "Iida the Giant". IGN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  6. Lemas, CV (August 1996). "Aquanaut's Holiday". Computer and Video Games. No. 177. pp. 64–65.
  7. NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: アクアノートの休日. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.342. Pg.32. 7 July 1995.
  8. Iredale, Andrew (October 1996). "The Aquanaut's Holiday". Hyper. No. 35. pp. 52–53.
  9. IGN staff (November 21, 1996). "Aquanaut's Holiday". IGN. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  10. "Aquanaut's Holiday". Next Generation. No. 11. Imagine Media. November 1995. p. 168.
  11. "Aquanaut's Holiday". Play. No. 10. August 1996. pp. 44–45.
  12. Artdink staff. "Company History" (in Japanese). Artdink. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  13. "Every PlayStation Game Played, Reviewed, and Rated". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 57.
  14. "Anti-Game Feeds Senses". Billboard. September 14, 1996. p. 72. Archived from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  15. Sony staff. アクアノートの休日 [Aquanaut's Holiday] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  16. Sony staff. アクアノートの休日２ [Aquanaut's Holiday 2] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  17. Sony staff. "アクアノートの休日 MEMORIES OF SUMMER 1996" [Aquanaut's Holiday: Memories of Summer 1996] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  18. Sony staff. アクアノートの休日２ [Aquanaut's Holiday 2] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  19. Sony staff. "AQUANAUT'S HOLIDAY 隠された記録" [Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Memories] (in Japanese). Sony Computer Entertainment. Archived from the original on September 4, 2010. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
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