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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Sport Developer: Hudson Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment |
Even in the systems first year, players are already starting to see a somewhat troublesome trend occurring in the game design of Wii
games. Banking off the heels of Nintendo’s popular and very simple “Wii Sports,” publishers are now pushing out their own simplistic
game design onto the console, filling Nintendo’s innovative platform with dozens of extremely basic, yet full priced, games. Some of the
there are some games that haven’t gotten the hint yet, and Hudson’s “Fishing Master” is a fun game but it is also amazingly simple,
obviously rushed and much too expensive.
With a game like “Fishing Master” the design is there, though it is intentionally about as simple of a game as possible. Players walk
around a tiny piece of land, cast with the Wii Remote and reel in the line with the nunchuk. If a fish takes a nibble on the line, something
that the fish will do on nearly every cast, a simple flick up of the nunchuk will set the hook and then it is all about reeling in the catch to
shore as soon as possible.
As the only actual game play element in “Fishing Master,” hooking a fish immediately launches the game into a man versus fish mini
game. If players reel too fact and the line will snap, but if they reel in too slow and the fish will run away with the bait in its mouth. Every
once in a while the fish will make a quick move, forcing players to either motion left or right with a flick of the Wii Remote to keep them
hooked.
There is a bit of a catch here, no pun intended, the game is actually kind of fun. It isn’t the type of game that will leave players thinking
that the price they paid was worth it, but instead in the most simplistic way. The game actually includes some decent options, as
players will be able to purchase new live bait and lures and upgrade poles. They will also be able to fish multiple spots in each divided
section of Japan. As players continue to improve their skills, Grandpa, the only other character in the game, will assign players with a
new fishing mission to complete, as well as appraising their catch for the day. The more fish the player catches the more cash they will
pull in to use towards more expensive bait, lures and rods. This of course allows players to catch more and more types of fish and gain
even more cash. Of course this continues on and on through the entire duration of the game.
The novelty of fishing with the Wii Remote tends to wear off fairly quickly, and when this does happen, there is very little, if anything, that
will keep players from working their way through the game. There is the occasional tournament to take part in, and there is a simple
multiplayer mode where four players can fish together, but in general it never gets any more or less exciting than cast, hook, reel and
repeat. Even the most die hard of fishing enthusiasts will only be able to see the silver lining in this game for so long and when it wears
off there is definite trouble in the game. The game is low polygon and menu based for the majority of the time. There is no voice over in
the game, very little animation aid from the sliding fish and basic navigation of the character around the selected spot and the art
direction, if that is what it can really be called, is quick and messy. The textures in the game are cookie cutter and bland and some of
the backdrops, including the tree lines and sky shots, are often thrown in by actually taking what looks to be a real photo mapped to a
low polygon object. When fighting with hooked fish players will see below the water line so any cinematic feel that can be found in other
fishing games of this type is unable to be found anywhere in this title. The game controls a lot better than most of the other games but it
would barely pass as a flash game in both visuals and game play.
“Fishing Master” isn’t all bad, it is just a little too shallow for its own good, or to be worth even the budget price of $40, if that can be
considered a budget. The Wii Remote motion sensor works for the most part, as players can crank the line, pull from side to side when
prompted to battle the fish, and even move the pole is a realistic 1:1 if for no reason other than to just do it. Players that are looking for a
fun and simple game of arcade fishing may find a few hours of entertainment in this game. However, they will soon come to the
realization that many current flash games, handheld titles and LCD fishing games from nearly a decade ago have the same amount of
depth as this title. If “Fishing Master” was a Wii Ware title with a price tag of $5, or even $10 for a stretch, it would be worth the cast for a
specific type of gamer, but $40 is a little too expensive.
games. Banking off the heels of Nintendo’s popular and very simple “Wii Sports,” publishers are now pushing out their own simplistic
game design onto the console, filling Nintendo’s innovative platform with dozens of extremely basic, yet full priced, games. Some of the
there are some games that haven’t gotten the hint yet, and Hudson’s “Fishing Master” is a fun game but it is also amazingly simple,
obviously rushed and much too expensive.
With a game like “Fishing Master” the design is there, though it is intentionally about as simple of a game as possible. Players walk
around a tiny piece of land, cast with the Wii Remote and reel in the line with the nunchuk. If a fish takes a nibble on the line, something
that the fish will do on nearly every cast, a simple flick up of the nunchuk will set the hook and then it is all about reeling in the catch to
shore as soon as possible.
As the only actual game play element in “Fishing Master,” hooking a fish immediately launches the game into a man versus fish mini
game. If players reel too fact and the line will snap, but if they reel in too slow and the fish will run away with the bait in its mouth. Every
once in a while the fish will make a quick move, forcing players to either motion left or right with a flick of the Wii Remote to keep them
hooked.
There is a bit of a catch here, no pun intended, the game is actually kind of fun. It isn’t the type of game that will leave players thinking
that the price they paid was worth it, but instead in the most simplistic way. The game actually includes some decent options, as
players will be able to purchase new live bait and lures and upgrade poles. They will also be able to fish multiple spots in each divided
section of Japan. As players continue to improve their skills, Grandpa, the only other character in the game, will assign players with a
new fishing mission to complete, as well as appraising their catch for the day. The more fish the player catches the more cash they will
pull in to use towards more expensive bait, lures and rods. This of course allows players to catch more and more types of fish and gain
even more cash. Of course this continues on and on through the entire duration of the game.
The novelty of fishing with the Wii Remote tends to wear off fairly quickly, and when this does happen, there is very little, if anything, that
will keep players from working their way through the game. There is the occasional tournament to take part in, and there is a simple
multiplayer mode where four players can fish together, but in general it never gets any more or less exciting than cast, hook, reel and
repeat. Even the most die hard of fishing enthusiasts will only be able to see the silver lining in this game for so long and when it wears
off there is definite trouble in the game. The game is low polygon and menu based for the majority of the time. There is no voice over in
the game, very little animation aid from the sliding fish and basic navigation of the character around the selected spot and the art
direction, if that is what it can really be called, is quick and messy. The textures in the game are cookie cutter and bland and some of
the backdrops, including the tree lines and sky shots, are often thrown in by actually taking what looks to be a real photo mapped to a
low polygon object. When fighting with hooked fish players will see below the water line so any cinematic feel that can be found in other
fishing games of this type is unable to be found anywhere in this title. The game controls a lot better than most of the other games but it
would barely pass as a flash game in both visuals and game play.
“Fishing Master” isn’t all bad, it is just a little too shallow for its own good, or to be worth even the budget price of $40, if that can be
considered a budget. The Wii Remote motion sensor works for the most part, as players can crank the line, pull from side to side when
prompted to battle the fish, and even move the pole is a realistic 1:1 if for no reason other than to just do it. Players that are looking for a
fun and simple game of arcade fishing may find a few hours of entertainment in this game. However, they will soon come to the
realization that many current flash games, handheld titles and LCD fishing games from nearly a decade ago have the same amount of
depth as this title. If “Fishing Master” was a Wii Ware title with a price tag of $5, or even $10 for a stretch, it would be worth the cast for a
specific type of gamer, but $40 is a little too expensive.
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