I've never fished in real life, but I have been on a fishing boat and watched people fish and it doesn't seem very fun. There's a whole lot of waiting around involved and while cans of beer alleviate the boredom, there are other things I'd rather do with my free time.
Luckily, Sega Bass Fishing removed all the boring stuff from fishing and provides all the action-packed reeling in that you need. The only downside is you don't get to have fresh fish afterward, but you can always store a cooler full of market-bought fish and ice next to you while you play this game if you really miss that fishy smell. I don't.
One of the pros about Sega Bash Fishing is that it gives you a plethora of choices about where to fish, what season to fish in, and what time of day to fish at. That means you can fish in the rain at 6 in the morning without actually having to get soaked with rain or get up at 6 in the morning. Not knowing much about fish schedule and seasons, I just randomly chose locations and seasons based on how nice the scenery looked.
As I mentioned before, Sega Bass Fishing eliminates a lot of the waiting and guessing it takes to catch fish. No matter where I cast a line, there would be at least one or two fish in the vicinity. After wigging the bait for a bit (wiggling the nunchuck), the fish will bite and the announcer (who is ALWAYS with you) shouts "FISH OFF!" or something and it's time to do the reeling in.
It took me a few tries to get the hang of reeling the fish in. You can use either a combination of the A and B buttons to reel your line in or use the nunchuck to mimic turning the reel. I got lazy and didn't feel like making circular motions with the nunchuck, so I just swung it from side to side and that works as well. Swing it fast reels the line in more quickly.
While small fish are easy to reel in, bigger fish are more prone to break your line if you're not patient enough to watch the line-breaking meter. There's an annoying beep that sounds when the line is about to break, but if you react quickly enough with how you reel your line in and where your wii-mote is pointed, you can avoid that.
I have to admit that a video game about fishing sounded as interesting as real fishing to me, but the game's actually fun. I imagine it would be even better with an ice cold beer nearby — just like real fishing! It's challenging but rewarding trying to reel large fish in. Between this and Endless Ocean, I may never need to set foot in the Pacific ever again
Published: Mar 3, 2008 06:33 pm