Small Fry stars Finley “Small Fry” Fryer, a little orange fish on a mission to race through the ocean collecting clams in this comedic arcade game for iOS. Things aren’t so easy for Small Fry though as he’s constantly on the run from Wallace “Big Mack” Mackenzie; a shark who would love to make sushi out of the little hero.

Little fish with big ambitions

You control Small Fry as he dives deep and leaps high while avoiding all sorts of aquatic critters. Momentum is built by having him bounce on air bubbles rising above the water. If you bounce on enough of them, he’ll eventually head into space where he must dodge asteroids. There are various powerups he can grab along the way that launch him forward, protect him, and help him collect coins. To keep from things getting repetitive, the game offers up objectives (e.g. swim a certain distance, hit certain objects) that earn you more clams. Coins can also be used towards silly things such as buying Small Fry a costume.

Each game ends when the shark, Big Mack, catches up to Small Fry and chomps down on him. The game warns you when Big Mack is on your tail and swimming into other fish will almost certainly spell doom.

How to play

The controls for Small Fry are simple: holding your finger on the screen makes Fryer swim deeper, releasing it makes him rise to the surface. It’s not long before the ocean is crowded with all sorts of marine life and tapping the screen becomes essential to weave in and out of traffic.

How it looks

Small Fry has beautiful graphics that endear you to the star of the game. The little fish even has facial expressions: he grins when he’s happy, puffs out his cheeks while holding his breath in the air, and looks frightened when Big Mack closes in. The sound for the game goes perfectly with those with those expressions. Small Fry cheers when he picks up speed, a sound similar to Jaws plays when the Shark is getting closer, and he shouts, "Woohoo!" as he bounces off of bubbles.

The Verdict: Underwater fun

Small Fry is an addictive time-waster with cute graphics that you’ll find yourself coming back to over and over.