Derrick the Deathfin is the world’s premiere underwater papercraft game.

It’s a fast-paced arcade action title set in a unique aquatic world made entirely out of paper & card. In the game Derrick rampages around the globe munching on paper creatures and destroying everything he sees under the guise of avenging the death of his parents.

Luckily this gives him a flimsy pretext to destroy everything in his path in an orgy of rigid destruction! Derrick’s quest takes him all around the globe, through 3 types of level, 4 different continents, 11 vibrant environments and 32 challenging levels. On the way Derrick must race against the clock and his own metabolism, collect diamonds, jump through flaming tires in the sky, puzzle his way past man-made obstructions and duel to the death with oversized paper baddies.

Derrick the Deathfin Launch Trailer! from Different Tuna on Vimeo.

If you want a fast, unique, artsy looking, interesting and fun game, then Derrick the Deathfin is here to save the day! Different Tuna is bringing us a PSN exclusive that has been handcrafted with love and care, and that reminds us of why old school games were, and still ARE, some of the most fun games we’ve played.

In Derrick the Deathfin, our shark is out for vengeance, trying to bring down the corporation that killed his parents (you know, like Batman except under water, and with paper craft enemies, and lots of collectibles, and a health bar that continuously decreases if you don’t eat something, and having to jump into the air to pass through big tires that explode, and a boss here and there… yep, totally like Batman).

There are 3 different types of levels: regular ones, speed trials and the “beat down the corporation” puzzles.

In the regular ones, you must race against Derrick’s hunger and always look for something to eat on his way to the goal. There is a HP bar that goes down, down, down and can kill Derrick in a matter of seconds, which is why you must never stay in one place without moving. Luckily, grabbing the diamonds (which act as collectibles) in these levels also fills up some of his lost HP bar, which means that you could do a run focusing on the diamonds, and then replay the game to eat as many enemies as possible in order to obtain a bronze, silver or gold medal for your effort (there are trophies related to said medals. Trophy hunters, rejoice!). Inside regular levels you’ll find huge bosses that must be defeated the only way Derrick knows how: by eating them! You’ll get a lot of points by showing them that size doesn’t matter, but don’t be too cocky because they can quickly deplete your HP bar if you’re not careful.

In speed trials, eating is bad since it slows you down and you need to get to the goal before your time is up. A perfect run to get a gold medal is sometimes tricky and you must replay the levels over and over to find the sweet spot and pace to get to the golden prize.

Finally, you have the corporation puzzle games. Without giving too much away, lets just say that Derrick has all the time in the world to find a way to destroy the corporation’s property before moving along to a new area. These puzzles never overwhelm you, and are a nice change of pace between the frantic run for food, and the mad dash to the finish line in speed trials.

If you want to know how the game was made (and how they managed to make it look so good), you can take a look at this video:

The Making Of Derrick from Different Tuna on Vimeo.

All in all, it will take you roughly 6-7 hours to complete all levels, find all collectibles and gain every single medal. While that might seem short, I do need to mention that you’ll never feel bored or feel as if you’re just grinding for trophies, which really can’t be said about most of the games I’ve played during the last year. Do have to mention that you just can’t avoid collecting diamonds or jumping through the crazy exploding tires since there is a minimum you must collect in order to unlock the next continent in order to carry on playing.

Derrick the Deathfin is a very fun game that keeps you coming back for more until you’ve found every last collectible and have obtained all gold medals. Online leaderboards might have helped with extending a bit the replay value of the game, but as is, you can’t go wrong with this purchase.

[review score=”90″ pros=”Fastpaced and fun.
Unique artstyle.” cons=”Would have liked some extra racing levels”]

Disclaimer

This review is based on a PS3 version of Derrick The Deathfin provided by Different Tuna.