Once a fish bites, and you've yanked the Wii Remote upward to set the hook, the battle begins. While the smaller fish are easy to pull in, hooking a big bass can result in an epic struggle. Just as it did in the arcade, a goofy-sounding voice will shout out commands when you've got too much tension in your line or when you need to tilt your rod. The Nunchuk replicates the old fishing controller well, letting you crank it when you first get the catch and slowly reel it in when the tension is tight. The inaccurate line-tension gauge and the lack of feedback to tell you if you're tilting your rod enough hamper the fun of snagging a big one. These annoyances result in a few broken lines or loosened hooks, but they don't happen so often that they completely ruin the experience.
It's been 10 years since the original Sega Bass Fishing debuted in arcades, and the graphics look like it. Sure, they've been smoothed out a little and most of the textures look a bit cleaner, but the Wii can do much better. The completely generic fisherman looks like he wondered out of Time Crisis, and the water effects are shameful for a game with so much water. Even the menus and heads-up display are identical to the old version. At least, the fish animate and behave realistically.
The sound is classic Sega. Your fisherman enthusiastically spits out "Bite it!" every few seconds while Sonic The Hedgehog-style elevator rock bumps in the background. Hooking a fish brings up the tension gauge, which is accompanied by an assortment of warning alerts and bleeps. It definitely bumps the excitement level of the sport up a few notches. The Nature Tour mode ditches the music for ambient sounds but keeps the nerdy fisherman's voice.
Sega Bass Fishing won't keep you entertained long. As a stand-alone game, it doesn't offer much more than the handful of fishing budget games or minigames found in the dozens of Wii minigame collections. You might find some quick nostalgic thrills with Sega Bass Fishing, but this is one catch you can throw back.
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Where to buy
Sega Bass Fishing (Wii):
$22.49 - $29.99
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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$22.49 | See Site |
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$29.99 | Yes |
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