Sega Bass Fishing Game Sample – Dreamcast

FISH!! Welcome to Lake Paradise!

It’s a shame that while we own this, Sega Marine Fishing (which advertised itself as the sequel to SBF), SBF2, and SBFD, I’ve only ever played the first game in any real detail, so I need to play the rest. This game was/is pretty cool for a time, if not a little basic and focuses on the thrilling aspect of fishing (just going in for the fish) more than a huge selection of lures or customization, which is probably part of the reason I always liked it. I can still remember catching a 21lb+ fish in the Inlet or a 19lb+ fish in the Palace (they’re pretty darn rare though) and smashing those in-game world records…

For the purpose of this video, we won’t try to catch them if we don’t have to. This is a basic video showing the Arcade Mode in action, as it gets right to the gameplay. If people “need” to see the Original Mode, I can put that up too. This game was also released for Arcades, Dreamcast, Windows, Wii, and as part of the recent “Dreamcast Collection” for Xbox 360. In the game, you play as a male or female fisherman and cast out on your boat using different lures with different characteristics and “luring power”. You also have to monitor the temparture and weather conditions when you fish; if it’s warm outside, fish are less likely to go for lure that floats at the top of the lake and you’ll need lure that goes deeper. You can use the bait in different ways as well which helps attract fish. If you use the right lures during the right conditions, you hardly have to do anything at all and the fish will fly straight towards you from the bottom of the lake.

All you do in Arcade Mode is play against the clock. By default, you start with two minutes (a generous time limit) and one minute for each additional level (where winning is partially luck-based), gaining more potent lures as you catch more fish. If you lose, you can just continue (where you’re given two minutes instead of one). You can adjust these settings somewhat in the options menu. In the Original Mode, you compete as an amateur SBFA (Sega Bass Fishing Association) angler against the computer to become a world class champion angler.

The graphics were pretty good for its time, especially when you consider that it’s an update of a game from 1997, but they could’ve been a little better as they’re barely interactive (this is what sequels are for, right?) and have some spats of slowdown. The music… heh. What can I really say? It gets you in the mood for fishing and when you’re fighting a huge bass, the music conveys your struggle against it. Unless you bring an Ipod or something with you, you’re not gonna hear that out on the lake. It’s sort of a mystery in and of itself how games of this kind suceed year after year. On one hand, you want to think that it’s really dumb, but when you actually sit down and virtually fish, you feel a certain degree of joy that’s hard to rationalize. This game is made even better and more realistic if you have the fishing controller.

Anyhoo, this is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.