A drunken angler once said, "There's a fine line between fishing and sitting on the dock like an idiot." But as Activision's classic Fishing Derby proves, there's a even finer line between pretending to fish and sitting on the couch like an idiot.
Gameplay: There are six levels to Fishing Derby's little pond, and the deeper you drop your line, the more you'll score. (That's not a euphemism; this is a title from Activision, not Mystique, so settle down.) Fish are worth one to six points, depending on how deep they are when you catch them, and the first player to 99 points wins.
However, securing a permanent place in the Fishing Derby Hall of Fame is not as simple as dropping your line in the water and reeling them in; you've got to get your catch past the quick and wily and unpredictable shark, which can be quite difficult. Luckily for you, programmer David Crane included some helpful advice in the game's manual: "WATCH OUT FOR THE SHARK! I've made him quick and wily and unpredictable. If your fish touches the shark anywhere, he'll turn in a flash and snap it up. So try to keep your fish away from him while you're reeling in."
These days, you'd have to shell out 20 bucks for a separate book with that sort of strategy, but Activision included it in the manual, for free. Thank you, David Crane. You are a gentleman, and one hell of a programmer.