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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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There are three game modes to choose from: Original Mode, a Dreamcast
exclusive which offers participation in the Sega Bass Fishing Association,
with four locations and a selection of morning, afternoon or evening tournaments;
Arcade Mode lets fishermen compete against the clock and Practice
Mode which gives lots of time for practice.
The graphics, as you'd expect from a high-detail Dreamcast game, do look
great. The fish move about flapping their fins, the scenery looks tidy and
appealing and the rippling effect on the water is gorgeous. It only loses a
point for not being outstanding like a game packed with action that feels
like the DC's processor has something to worry about. Oh and for the fact
that there's no 60Hz mode, so you get black borders on your TV. I left my
Panasonic 32" WS TV in "Auto" mode, so it zoomed the picture in slightly
like an analogue 14:9 TV broadcast.
The sound is rather a disappointment. Cast your bait into the water (SPLOSH!),
wiggle it about a bit (imagine that one) and add some dodgy-sounding disco-ish
70's-style music. The sort of thing you might expect to come from the soundtrack
of
Deep Throat If there's one thing that saves a game, it's great playability - something this game knows little about when trying to play it with a joypad. Wiggle your analogue controller and the bait reels back and forth a little. Holding the buttons underneath reel the bait in. Everything else is guesswork. Of course, with the virtual fishing rod things may be easier, but I never got to find out. Since Sega's PR dept. only had a handful of rods to hand, they'd all gone by the time I received the game. The press release did also contain contact details for two other companies dealing with them. One cleared things up quickly, saying that most of the rods they had had gone to retail shops, so that was that, but the other kept me hanging on the phone for about fifteen minutes while I was put through to no less than five different people, the second of whom said, "Yes, we've got lots", but finally the last person said they had none! When queried on the "lots" guy, he said that he meant they had none for evaluation. I could go out and spend £20 for a rod myself, but the game hasn't grabbed me anyway and even if it had, we in the UK have not been treated to an official Sega rod, just the third party offerings which, by all accounts, aren't that hot. I am led to believe that you can play a mean game of Soul Calibur with the rod when used to swish about in the breeze, carving up your opponent!
It's weird. You're looking at the fish looking at your bait, thinking about them in human terms and how they perceive the bait and its movement as you wiggle it. However, they're completely thick and they'll follow it anyway if they're hungry enough, but they're not hungry, they're CGI fish, not living, breathing bits of flesh floating in the blue yonder. I admit I did get a bit of excitement as I tried to reel a fish in on a couple of occasions, since the more you reel it in and the fish struggles, the more the line-tension-ometer increases. Reel constantly and it'll snap, but ease off a bit and the bar will go down again, allowing you to try reeling in again. However, in real life such things aren't thought of in such definite terms - the line's either in one piece (in which you carry on) or it's snapped (in which case you go home or thread another line). The idea, of course, is to catch as many fish as possible and catch the heaviest ones possible. Bigger fish = more points. And what do points make? Yes, a high score (not prizes!)
However, perhaps Sega ought to program a Sega Porn Star game. You play porn-star John Holmes: Wiggle your joystick to improve your technique - and the better you do the more girls you'll "score" with - and instead of have a line-tension-ometer, it'll be an excitement-ometer. Alternate the back buttons too fast and too often and you'll suffer premature ejaculation. Ease off a bit and you'll regain some of your strength. When the girl's had enough you could turn it into one of those shooting games as you judge your trajectory and angle when you go for the "money shot". Of course, protect yourself at all times, since if you die of A.I.D.S. whilst in your forties, you lose the game completely! Definitely a case of try before you buy, although if you rent it you certainly won't get the rod with it. Then again, when I played Crazy Taxi I didn't drive a cool car for real and interacting with Tomb Raider 4 didn't mean that I'd play with my hands on a sixteen-year-old girl... :)
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Sega Bass Fishing
is a conversion of the arcade game. Does it pitch you against aliens in an
intergalactic trade war full of gore and violence with mad bad guys that
shout "S.T.A.R.S." at you? Er... no. It sticks you in a boat
and pitches you against fish and stupid ones at that. You know the type - the ones that
have the memory span of a... erm... something or other.
