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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Sport Developer: Hudson Soft Publisher: Hudson Soft |
Over a year ago, Hudson Soft released “Fishing Master,” a title that received a lot of harsh reviews even though it had a good control
scheme but suffered from the game being way too simplistic. Compared to “Wii Sports,” “Fishing Master” pulled back the complexity of
game play and tried to wrap it up in a game that featured halfway decent game play. It fell into the same category as “Carnival Games”
and other titles of that type. Those games were amazing compared to some of the titles that are finding their way into bargain bins at
retail stores.
“Fishing Master” wasn’t a bad starting point for the series, and its sequel proves that the game mechanic is strong enough to support a
larger and much more mature experience. It is still the same awkward character design and is still very easy to play, but the end result
this time around is a game that would be recommended for younger gamers. This is a game that is trying to push the game quality part
of the game a little bit, even if it is still seems to be a little bit thrown together. It feels more like a PS2 game than a next generation title.
“Fishing Master: World Tour” takes that original design of the first game and expands on it in nearly every way. For those who didn’t
play the original game, the concept was very simple. Players take on the role of a young boy or girl with a cat or dog that follows them
around. Players went on a tour of Japan in the first game, a tour of the world in this new title, based entirely around the sport of fishing.
They enter tournaments, upgrade equipment, fish in local waters and unlock new information in a journal, all while fulfilling missions for
people. The last game only gave players a few extra rods to use, a handful of lures and the option for ocean or lake fishing. This time
players have a larger world to move throughout with a lot more fish to catch. From Hawaii to Tokyo, this game offers a lot more for
players to experience.
One element of the game that has been captured well is that of line tension, and the ability to make fishing battles more realistic. After
casting, which is easily done with a flick of the wrist, the Wii Remote actually tracks the pole in a one to one fashion, tilting and moving
whenever the players moves their hand. It doesn’t add much to the game since the game is so simple to begin with, but this shows
that the developer is making great steps towards developing a very realistic game. Once players hook a fish, the game switches into
the same arcade style fish battle mechanic, with reel controls and a tension meter at the top of the screen. Let out too much line and
the fish can get away. Keep the line tight and it can snap and lost the fish and the bait. Returning from the previous release is the ability
to pull off power moves to weaken the fish faster. These pop up randomly during battles, having players perform left or right motions to
wear down the fish and give players a few seconds to reel in the line faster. All of this still adds up to very simple controls, but is still a
lot of fun.
Unlike other fishing games on the Nintendo Wii, “Fishing Master: World tour” almost guarantees a fish on every single cast of the line;
the challenge comes in with trying to catch the right fish and landing it. Certain species of fish will only go after certain types of bait, and
with shadows in the water for easy fish spotting; it can be a frustrating and challenging moment when players cast out in the direction of
a large fish, only to find out that it doesn’t like the bait. Instead, the bait will sit in the water until some tiny fish swims up and takes the
bait. This time around the game also adds special glowing shadows in the water, pointing out any rare fish that are in the water. The
developer also allows for the weather to change and darken during these moments of the game, adding a little bit of tension to the
overall game play.
“Fishing Master: World Tour” won’t keep the most hardcore gamers interested for hours on end, but it is a large step over “Fishing
Master” and a move in the right direction for the developer. The core game play is basically the same, so players yet again have very
simple cast and reel controls and a lot of emphasis on fish battles instead of constant line wetting with very little results. Players are
given a lot more places to fish, more quests to fulfill, more tournaments to enter and the addition of the ocean fishing is a nice upgrade.
The visuals in the game have been upgraded a bit, along with the audio and text, but it is still very similar. The addition of online
connectivity, more overall content and a cleaner front end shows that the game is making progress, and with this much overall content,
this game is easy to recommend to younger players. With that said, the older crowd will probably be very bored with this game, and
hardcore gamers will only be able to stick with it for a couple of hours. This is a nice catch for children, but for those looking for a
deeper title, this game should be thrown back and they should wait for a bigger catch in the future.
scheme but suffered from the game being way too simplistic. Compared to “Wii Sports,” “Fishing Master” pulled back the complexity of
game play and tried to wrap it up in a game that featured halfway decent game play. It fell into the same category as “Carnival Games”
and other titles of that type. Those games were amazing compared to some of the titles that are finding their way into bargain bins at
retail stores.
“Fishing Master” wasn’t a bad starting point for the series, and its sequel proves that the game mechanic is strong enough to support a
larger and much more mature experience. It is still the same awkward character design and is still very easy to play, but the end result
this time around is a game that would be recommended for younger gamers. This is a game that is trying to push the game quality part
of the game a little bit, even if it is still seems to be a little bit thrown together. It feels more like a PS2 game than a next generation title.
“Fishing Master: World Tour” takes that original design of the first game and expands on it in nearly every way. For those who didn’t
play the original game, the concept was very simple. Players take on the role of a young boy or girl with a cat or dog that follows them
around. Players went on a tour of Japan in the first game, a tour of the world in this new title, based entirely around the sport of fishing.
They enter tournaments, upgrade equipment, fish in local waters and unlock new information in a journal, all while fulfilling missions for
people. The last game only gave players a few extra rods to use, a handful of lures and the option for ocean or lake fishing. This time
players have a larger world to move throughout with a lot more fish to catch. From Hawaii to Tokyo, this game offers a lot more for
players to experience.
One element of the game that has been captured well is that of line tension, and the ability to make fishing battles more realistic. After
casting, which is easily done with a flick of the wrist, the Wii Remote actually tracks the pole in a one to one fashion, tilting and moving
whenever the players moves their hand. It doesn’t add much to the game since the game is so simple to begin with, but this shows
that the developer is making great steps towards developing a very realistic game. Once players hook a fish, the game switches into
the same arcade style fish battle mechanic, with reel controls and a tension meter at the top of the screen. Let out too much line and
the fish can get away. Keep the line tight and it can snap and lost the fish and the bait. Returning from the previous release is the ability
to pull off power moves to weaken the fish faster. These pop up randomly during battles, having players perform left or right motions to
wear down the fish and give players a few seconds to reel in the line faster. All of this still adds up to very simple controls, but is still a
lot of fun.
Unlike other fishing games on the Nintendo Wii, “Fishing Master: World tour” almost guarantees a fish on every single cast of the line;
the challenge comes in with trying to catch the right fish and landing it. Certain species of fish will only go after certain types of bait, and
with shadows in the water for easy fish spotting; it can be a frustrating and challenging moment when players cast out in the direction of
a large fish, only to find out that it doesn’t like the bait. Instead, the bait will sit in the water until some tiny fish swims up and takes the
bait. This time around the game also adds special glowing shadows in the water, pointing out any rare fish that are in the water. The
developer also allows for the weather to change and darken during these moments of the game, adding a little bit of tension to the
overall game play.
“Fishing Master: World Tour” won’t keep the most hardcore gamers interested for hours on end, but it is a large step over “Fishing
Master” and a move in the right direction for the developer. The core game play is basically the same, so players yet again have very
simple cast and reel controls and a lot of emphasis on fish battles instead of constant line wetting with very little results. Players are
given a lot more places to fish, more quests to fulfill, more tournaments to enter and the addition of the ocean fishing is a nice upgrade.
The visuals in the game have been upgraded a bit, along with the audio and text, but it is still very similar. The addition of online
connectivity, more overall content and a cleaner front end shows that the game is making progress, and with this much overall content,
this game is easy to recommend to younger players. With that said, the older crowd will probably be very bored with this game, and
hardcore gamers will only be able to stick with it for a couple of hours. This is a nice catch for children, but for those looking for a
deeper title, this game should be thrown back and they should wait for a bigger catch in the future.
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