The game starts by telling you to that you will be matching wits with the tenacious bass. I'm no biologist but this sounds like some sort insult to the human mind's ability to outsmart a fish. Then again, this looks to be about the 80th fishing game that Hot-B has made so perhaps I should listen to their judgement on the matter.
There are a generous THREE save slots available in this game. In each one you get to make your angler; male or female, name, clothing, even deciding if you are right or left handed. I of course chose the most outlandish costume with the hopes that it will attract more and bigger fish. That's how this sport works right? Maybe it should be noted that I haven't gone fishing in at least eight years.
After character creation you are taken to the first "stage": the Local Amateur Tournament at Green Valley. Sounds peaceful. However either there's a Laurel and Hardy convention in town or someone around here likes dressing up as old timey movie actors. Seriously, look at that guy. Not only that but Mr. Creepy John the expert fisherman chooses me out of the fifty other fisherman to offer his services as a "guide". He claims that I'll be sure to win if I take him along. Sounds a little fishy (har!) to me but why not? And with that, the tournament starts.
The dock area is pretty lively looking; the graphics here are actually pretty decent for a fishing game. Let's head out somewhere where the fish are located; according to John I should be looking for reeds or lily pads. However it turns out that there aren't any fish here; at least none that will take the bait. Even though it is PORK FLAVORED. Whatever, I hate picky fish.
I move on to an area covered in weeds and bring out the trusty spinner bait. Lo and behold, I actually caught something! It actually took several tries to figure out how to "hook" the fish (hint: hold down and A or Y). I reel my prize catch in and...whats this?
A frickin' crappie!? Nobody wants the worst named fish; this area sucks. Maybe the shoreline with it's trees will be better, so that's where I head. When I get there I check out the standings where I discovered I'm in 26th place. Out of fifty. With no bass to my name. Either everybody after me is tied for 26th or something is afoot. Anyway, back to the fishing; Swisher bait for the trees, I'm told. I give it a try and what do you know, I catch a bass!
Then right after that, an even bigger bass! Sadly, third time is not the charm as this monsterous beast tears my lure from the pole. I vow revenge and grab the natural color Swisher and fling it back out. He grabs it again and gets loose, opting not to eat my precious lure this time. One last try; I lure him close, he bites and I start reeling. Whoo, I got him! Wait, what the..
Who the hell is stocking this lake?! I blame that fatass who seems to be running the whole thing. I'm not terribly sure how much more of this game I can endure, so I'll go ahead and skip to the end. How's that, you ask? By repeatedly ramming my boat into the shore until it breaks. Then we go to the weigh-in! A pure stroke of genius I say.I figure "I didn't catch anything that big and I wrecked my boat. I bet I'm still 26th." Imagine my surprise when I get first place by just over a pound!
Overall this really isn't that bad of a game. It can get frustrating when the fish completely ignore your bait and the furious attempts to make said look like appetizing; I don't recall ever having that much trouble enticing a fish to eat when I was younger.
