Gaming Target - Dreamcast: Reel Fishing Wild

Written by Bill Elder on August 06, 2001

Review: Wild my ass, I mean we're talking about fishing here!

I was really looking forward to getting my hands on Reel Fishing Wild. I recently previewed Sega Bass Fishing 2, and I was expecting Reel to entertain me until Bass Fishing 2 is released. Unfortunately, Reel failed to entertain me for a little over ten minutes.

When I first started the game up I was impressed with the introduction movie. It kind of reminded me of one of ESPN's fishing shows, except of course without the ESPN logo. I was even more impressed with the first menu screen (which changes each time you load the game up). The menu screen is a highly digitized landscape (a stream or lake) that looks super realistic. It's on this screen where you choose to play a New Game or to continue a game previously started.

Whatever your choice may be, you will ultimately end up in the lodge. This is what the game is based around. You can check out all of your supplies (lures, bait, rods, etc.), read through the fishing glossary (which teaches you about the fish you have caught and other things you have unlocked in the game), gaze at the fish you've caught, and finally choose a place to fish at. You choose a fishing location by going into the Fisher's Notebook. You start off with one stream, and the more fish you catch, the more locations you unlock (along with other supplies).

Catching fish in Reel can actually be challenging at first. I couldn't catch squat when I first started playing. You will soon learn the mechanics of how to catch the fish though, for example, the proper way to turn the rod (or push the analog stick on your controller) and when to reel in. The game doesn't feature a bar at the bottom of the screen that tells you how much pressure is on the line so you will have to learn how to tell by yourself. But basically, if you use the bait on your line the correct way you will catch fish.

For all you simulation junkies out there, Reel does offer a lot of realistic play mechanics, such as the temperature of the water. Natsume actually did a good job of making the game easy to play for casual gamers, as well as simulation fans alike. But there's nothing really new here.

Visually, Reel is a mixed bag. Not only is the first menu screen digitized, but the actual locations you play at are as well. Well, at least parts of them are. On the surface (above the water) the locations look magnificent. The digitized graphics provide realistic looking backgrounds and landscapes; however, the game doesn't look so magnificent once the view changes to the underwater camera (the view stays above water until a fish gets close to your line, then it switches so you can see what's going on). Natsume tried to mix digitized graphics with polygon graphics and the result is some pixilated surfaces when the camera gets in close (like the ground).

Because of the pixilated surfaces under water, the graphics in general are pretty mediocre. The sound is also mediocre. The music is extremely boring, and I don't even remember what the sound effects sound like, so you know they aren't anything special.

Reel Fishing: Wild

Review: Wild my ass, I mean we're talking about fishing here!