Okay. I admit it. I love these fishing games more then actually going out and fishing where the bugs get in my face, the fish stink and my feet get wet.
Here at home, in the comfort of warmth, I can catch all the fish I want...and never have to cook them..or smell them...or accidently 'Foul Hook' them. But this game was a bit disapointing.
The world of fishing games has been a continuous problem with developers for a long time. They have developed fishing games that were great in arcades but have been awful on consoles. Konami tried to make a good fishing game for the console by taking it's popular arcade fishing game, Fisherman’s Bait, directly to the Playstation. But, Fisherman's Bait is a dead-on port that is another title added to that list of bad fishing games.
Fisherman’s Bait has six different types of fish to catch (Snakehead, Blue Gill, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, and two types of Catfish) and seven original lures to catch them. You are positioned on 15 different spots on 4 different lakes to fish.
There are four different modes in Fisherman’s Bait. For beginners, there is a beginner’s mode, which teaches how to use the game’s controls on an easy lake with lots of fish in it. In training mode, you pick a lake and just fish so you can be ready for the main mode. In Versus mode, you and a friend fish-off to see who catch the biggest fish.
The main mode in Fisherman’s Bait is the Tournament mode. This mode is exactly the same as the arcade version where you try to reel in many fish and get the biggest fish in the given time. The bigger the fish you catch, the more time you get back. When your time is up, the game is over and you can use a continue to keep on playing. When the continues are up, the game is over.
There is barely any sound in Fisherman’s Bait. The sounds you hear are the voices from the narrator. He says the opening, "Fish On", what type and size fish you caught, and when you have a bite. The sound is pathetic in Fisherman’s Bait.
The graphics in Fisherman’s Bait look like a bad PC game with horrible graphics. There’s only a little bit of 3D in the game. The only parts that are look are the fisherman and the close-up of the fish underwater when hooked. There are two screens when playing. The main one is looking behind the fisherman overlooking the lake. The backgrounds here are photo-realistic, but sometimes look a little grainy. The other screen is a small window in the top-left corner showing a bad quality 2D shot of the lure you have.
After playing a little bit of Fisherman’s Bait, I started to get bored and played a different game. Fisherman’s Bait has barely any entertainment in it unless you really like to fish. The game although has some realism as you try to reel in strong fish using real-life tactics. Overall, Fisherman’s Bait is a bad fishing game with little realism and no entertainment value that should be thrown back into the sea . Unless you are a diehard fishing fan, then you should rent the game first instead running out and buying it.
If you are a great fishing fan get Get Bass for the Sega Dreamcast. It really is a class game and the little rod is great. It is so easy to play and will keep you goin' for ages!