The Nintendo Wii has crappy fishing games. What's up with that? Three fishing titles have come out and none of them have managed to be more fun than the fishing minigame in Twilight Princess. At the end of February SEGA will throw its hat (and line) into the ring when it releases SEGA Bass Fishing, a sequel of sorts to the popular arcade and Dreamcast series. They came by the office and dangled the game like a lure in front of our faces until we bit.
Though the series doesn't have numbers attached to the titles, players can think of the new Wii title as SEGA Bass Fishing 3 ½. In addition to seven completely new levels, the game features eight remade levels from the arcade and Dreamcast versions. So long time fishing fans will get to see some familiar spots along with the new ones. We got a chance to check out the Dam, Country, Spring, and Castle levels. Each one has a distinct feel to them, even when underwater. It doesn't become the same thing once the lure dips below the surface.
The levels have different variables that can be selected by the player before starting. The Season, time of Day, and Weather can all be selected from a variety of options, and the gameplay changes based on the player's choice.
As far as the fishing mechanics go, SEGA Bass Fishing operates similarly to other fighting games. Player's hold the Wii remote in their left hand like a fishing pole, and fling it to cast. By rotating the nunchuck in their right hand the player can drag their lure, or reel in fish. There's also a Wii remote only mode of play, where reeling is controlled with the A and B buttons. It works, but seemed to be far less fun, especially since SEGA Bass Fishing is a series based on being a very tactile fishing experience.
One of the biggest additions to the new Bass Fishing is the incorporation of four species of bass, instead of just one. There's Florida Large Mouth, Red Eye, Small Mouth and Northern Spike Large Mouth. That's four times the fish! The extra types of fish will hopefully add new levels of depth and complexity to a pretty basic series. Already we got to see some of the fish AI, and how they react different to different lures. The separate species have unique strategies for trying to get off the hook.
SEGA Bass Fishing features four different game modes: Arcade, Tournament, Practice, and Nature. The first three should be pretty obvious, especially for players of the previous games, but Nature is a new mode. It's like a Free Play mode where players can fish as long as they want without the timer, objectives, or dramatic fishing theme music. It's designed to create a more casual, realistic fishing experience that doesn't require the player to wake up at 3 a.m.
Those competitive fishing enthusiast gamers who are hoping to get some multiplayer fishing action in will have to wait. SEGA Bass Fishing is single player only. It's designed to stay true to the arcade roots of its predecessor. Perhaps they will appreciate SEGA's effort to make the game more accurate by getting fishing experts to confirm the names for the various fishing terms and 20 different lures.
Source: ign