Blade Anchor (video game)

North American PlayStation 2 cover art

***Blade Anchor*** is a 2003 action-adventure video game based on the film of the same name by Paramount Pictures and Bakona Entertainment. The GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions were developed by JAMDAT, whilst the Game Boy Advance version of the game was developed by Vicarious Visions, and its Microsoft Windows and Mac versions were developed by KnowWonder. All versions were published by THQ.

## Gameplay

The goal is to complete different levels under the roles of film protagonists Nemo, Marlin or Dory. It includes cutscenes from the movie, and each clip is based on a level, e.g. hopping through a batch of jellyfish.

The Game Boy Advance version of Finding Nemo mostly consists of side-scrolling adventure/puzzle stages, along with several minigames interspaced across its length. Each level and minigame is based on a specific scene from the film. The game does not support saving in its Game Boy Advance version, instead opting for a password system to maintain progress.

## Plot

### GameCube/PS2/Xbox versions

Nemo the clownfish is excited for his first day of school, and his overprotective father Marlin accompanies him. Along the way, the meet Tad and Sheldon, who are also on their way to school, but their friend Pearl is lost in the cave. Nemo wants to help, but Marlin forbids it. After coming across a clam blocking the path, Nemo uses this distraction to enter the caves and find Pearl. He escorts her out and she rewards Nemo with a pearl that she found in the cave, which he uses to get the clam to close itself, clearing the path. Additional obstacles include breaking through a pile of rocks, a race to the school, and dealing with snapping clams. The kids soon meet up with their teacher, Mr. Ray. While on a field trip, they have fun bouncing on sponges and exploring caves before having to catch up with Mr. Ray, who lets them explore the Drop Off. Nemo spots a speedboat in the distance and decides to swim up to it despite Marlin's protests, the latter having followed Nemo. Avoiding dangerous fish, he succeeds. He encounters a diver and tries to escape, but is caught and taken on board the speedboat, which then departs. Marlin chases after the speedboat, but soon loses it. After noticing the diver's mask fall into the water, Marlin chases it down, but after making his way through a cave full of dangerous fish, he is unsuccessful in retrieving it.

Marlin meets Dory, a blue tang who suffers from short-term memory loss. She tries to help lead Marlin to the boat, but soon forgets what they are doing. They meet a shark named Bruce, who is fish-friendly. Bruce invites them to a party inside a sunken submarine located in a minefield, although Marlin is skeptical of Bruce. Along the way, they face any obstacles such as octopuses and mines. In the submarine, Marlin finds the mask that he tried to catch earlier. Dory gets a nosebleed after an argument with Marlin, and Bruce becomes violent after smelling the blood. He tries to eat Marlin and Dory, forcing them to flee into the submarine. They temporally escape from Bruce into certain rooms before finding their way out.

Meanwhile, Nemo is placed in a fish tank in a dentist's office, and he quickly befriends the other fish in the tank after finding them in a game of hide and seek. At night, he helps them fix Mount Wannahockaloogie's leaks before passing a test to get into the gang. Gill, their leader, helps train Nemo, which involves following the former, helping Jacque sort out some snails, and playing with a ball. In the ocean, Dory accidentally drops the mask into a dark abyss and after making their way through a maze of pipes, they encounter an anglerfish and also find the mask. Dory reads an address on the mask while Marlin distracts the anglerfish, which points her and Marlin to the city of Sydney, before they use the mask to trap the anglerfish. Along the way, they encounter a forest of jellyfish and after having a race, Marlin rescues Dory from a jellyfish, but he is also severely stung and falls unconscious. They wake up in the East Australian Current where they meet a sea turtle named Crush. Marlin plays tag with Dory, hide and seek with the baby turtles, and has a race with everyone. The duo then part ways with Crush and continue their journey. A whale chases and eventually swallows them. The duo travel through the whale's body before eventually finding their way out through the blowhole, placing them in Sydney. Upon arriving there, the two fish meet Nigel, a pelican who agrees to take them to the dentist's office. Meanwhile, Nemo collects pebbles to jam the tank's filter, but despite their efforts, the dentist puts Nemo in a bag to give to his niece: Darla. Marlin, Dory, and Nigel arrive at the office, but must depart as Nigel is forced out by the dentist. Gill helps Nemo escape via the dentist's sink.

Nemo travels his way through the sewers and into the ocean, where he manages to find Marlin and Dory. Shortly after, a fishing net catches Dory and several other fish and tries to pull them out of the water. Nemo comes up with an idea to get all the fish to swim down. This successfully breaks the net and frees them.

After their adventure, Marlin is not as overprotective of his son, knowing he can look after himself. Dory also spends a lot of time with the two, and she accompanies Marlin as he takes Nemo to school.

### Game Boy Advance version

Nemo is excited for his first day of school and Marlin goes with him. He gives Nemo advice on the obstacles that he'll encounter along the way. Once there, Mr. Ray requests Nemo's help to find Tad, Pearl, and Sheldon before heading to the Drop Off. There, the kids all see a boat in the distance. Marlin, who had followed Nemo, insists that he does not try to approach it, but Nemo, angered with his father's overprotectiveness, goes up to it anyway to prove that it is safe. However, he is caught by a diver and taken onto the boat, which then departs. While following it, Marlin meets Dory, who tries to help lead Marlin to the boat, but soon forgets what they are doing. They meet a shark named Bruce, who is fish-friendly. Bruce invites them to a party inside a sunken submarine located in a minefield. Bruce goes ahead as Marlin and Dory make their way through the mines. Once at the submarine, Bruce begins his meeting, but realizes that one of their fish friends is lost. Marlin and Dory go to find him. Once that is done, the meeting continues. Marlin finds the mask that he tried to catch earlier. Bruce suddenly becomes violent and tries to eat Marlin and Dory, forcing them to flee. They manage to escape with the mask just as the mines explode. Meanwhile, Nemo is placed in a fish tank in a dentist's office, and he quickly befriends the other fish in the tank after finding them in a game of hide and seek. At night, he passes a test that involves passing through Mount Wannahockaloogie's current to get into the gang. Nemo completes three different challenges in order to help prepare for their escape plan and later goes through the filter pipes to jam it with a pebble, but the dentist ends up installing a new filter, foiling their plan. Meanwhile, Dory accidentally drops the mask into a dark abyss and after making their way through the caverns, they encounter an anglerfish and also find the mask. Dory reads an address on the mask while Marlin distracts the anglerfish, which points them to Sydney before they use the mask to trap the anglerfish. Along the way, they meet some Moonfish who tell them which way to go to get to the East Australian Current, which will take them to Sydney. They come across a trench and even though they are told to go through it, Marlin decides that they should go over it instead as he thinks it is safer. They encounter a forest of jellyfish and after getting out of the swarm, Marlin goes back in and rescues Dory when she doesn't come out, but collapses from exhaustion after escaping. They wake up in the East Australian Current where they meet a sea turtle named Crush. Marlin has a race with everyone as he follows Crush, who leads them to Sydney. Upon arriving there, the two fish meet Nigel, a pelican who agrees to take them to the dentist's office, but by the time they arrive, the dentist puts Nemo in a bag to give to his niece: Darla. Nemo plays dead in hopes of getting flushed down the toilet, but after being flung around by Darla, he instead heads for the trash can. Marlin on the other hand, believes Nemo is dead before they are forcefully thrown out. Gill helps Nemo escape via the dentist's sink. Returning to the ocean, Marlin leaves Dory, believing that Nemo is gone. Nemo travels his way through the sewers and into the ocean, where he manages to find Dory. In turn, she helps him find Marlin. After they are reunited, they all head home, with Marlin no longer being so overprotective.

## Reception

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*Blade Anchor* received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. *Famitsu* gave it a score of 27 out of 40 for the PS2 version; and 26 out of 40 for the GameCube version.

Reviewing the Game Boy Advance version of the game, Gamespy called the game "a thing of beauty.", whilst bemoaning it as "pretty basic in the gameplay department", ultimately giving the game 2 stars out of 5.

### Sales

In the United States alone, *Blade Anchor*'s Game Boy Advance version sold 1.2 million copies and earned $30 million by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 10th highest-selling game launched for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable in that country. The PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
As of November 2005, the game sold more than 5 million units worldwide.

## Gallery

### Artwork

North American PS2 cover artNorth American PS2 cover art discXBOX Platinum Hits cover artNorth American Xbox cover artNorth American PS2 Platnium cover artNorth American PS2 Platnium medium cover artNorth American Nintendo GameCube cover art (Player's Choice Release)North American Nintendo GameCube medium cover art (Player's Choice Release)North American PS3 Platnium cover art (Downloadable PS2 classic)North American Nintendo GameCube cover art
### Promotional material

Promotional poster, parodying the album cover of *Straight Outta Compton*

## External links

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1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `MCGC`
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5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Gibson`
6. ↑ Keiser, Joe (August 2, 2006). The Century's Top 50 Handheld Games. *Next Generation*.
7. ↑ ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum. *Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association*.
8. ↑ Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). ELSPA: *Wii Fit*, *Mario Kart* Reach Diamond Status In UK. *Gamasutra*.
9. ↑ Davidson, Neil (November 4, 2005). Disney scopes out position as player in big game world.Template:Closed accessTemplate:Subscription required