Sega Marine Fishing

"Let's fish until the fish are gone!"

Fishing is a hobby that fluctuates between being relaxing and flat out boring. Combining this feeling with the constant action of an arcade game is a strange idea, but that's exactly the sort of thing Sega seems to live for. The resulting hybrid of these two seeming opposite ideas is the game Sega Marine Fishing. The jovial fishing guide Masala and a mute boat captain [who probably can't get a word in edge-wise thanks to Masala's constant jabbering] join you on your never ending quest to fish, fish, and
fish some more. So what do you and your digital companions get to experience?

Graphics: A whole lot of love went into this game. In Get Bass, the precursor to this title, the only creatures the animators had to worry about were slow, stupid bass. In SMF there's a whole host of aquatic animals just waiting to be yanked out of the water for your amusement. Barracuda, sharks, big, weird looking tarpon and all manner of other fish swim about and behave in a different manner from one another. All the fish are also animated fluidly, whether they are ignoring your lure, thrashing around on your line, or gasping for breath when Masala hoists them into the boat for you. What's more, I like the idea that someone out there specializes in designing video game fish. It's that level of dedication that sets this sort of game apart from the pack, not that there are a lot of action fishing games out there to compete with.

The fishing areas are all nicely designed with lots of coral, rocks, jellyfish, and other nifty background clutter floating about. There are also so many fish jammed into such a small area you start to wonder how the ecosystem could support them all, but when you're trying to catch as many fish as possible in the time limit you don't have a chance to worry about little things like that. Even though the fish behave in a mostly believable fashion you can sometimes pull one in from an amazing distance if you have the correct lure. Again, you would wonder how on earth the fish homed in on your lure from nowhere if you actually had time to think about it.

Control: While the game is playable on the standard controller, nothing beats using a DC fishing controller. Who wouldn't want to play a video game where you have to spin a fake reel in order to win? The game play is easy to pick up [c'mon, how hard is it to fish?] even if the individual lures take a bit of getting used to, plus some of the fish are easier to land than others.

Sound: There's a nice range of funky scene specific background tunes that are dropped for wholly inappropriate guitar riffs that start up the moment you hook a fish. Masala, who seems much more excited about catching the fish than you do, screams out a constant stream of advice or just yells out cheerful exclamations.

Extras: If you thought games like Capcom vs SNK were going overboard with the extras you had to unlock, just wait until you work on unlocking all 266 items hidden in SMF. While some of the items are cosmetic [''A new hat for my character to wear? Score!''] most of the items are fish and other doo-dads that you can stick inside a giant virtual aquarium. Who wouldn't want their very own private aquarium where you could store Easter Island heads, a fully grown sperm whale, and a sunken nuclear sub? Sure, an aquarium that's large enough to hold a small city seems like a bit of an extravagance but a world-class fisherman such as yourself deserves nothing less. The only down side is that while the cumulative effect of stocking your aquarium is fun it does get to be a bit of a drag unlocking the items one rock at a time.

Game play: Get out there and fish! Even though it's a home conversion, SMF still shows it's arcade roots with it's pick up and play style of game play. There is some strategy involved in picking out the correct lure, choosing a good casting point and knowing how a fish will behave once you
have landed it, but otherwise it's mostly a matter of tossing out your line and wrestling in whatever takes the bait. I'm sure some fishing games are obsessive where you have to worry about time of day, water temperature, and the behavior of fish but that's not the case here. While this immediacy is a plus it's also a detriment, making the game feel a bit shallow at times. While the repetition in the game can create a relaxing groove where you enjoy endlessly pulling in fish, you can also get the feeling you're doing the same thing again and again. It's a great game to unwind with but it's also the sort of thing you can get burned out
on very quickly.

Still, the game sets out to be an action fishing game, and it in that it succeeds admirably. Besides, who hasn't wanted to spend their lives sailing about the seas with nobody but your boat captain and sweaty assistant for companionship as you fished to your heart's content? Okay, I doubt many people besides me have thought that would be a good idea, but besides creating a virtual world I seem overly interested in, SMF offers plenty of straight-ahead fishing action. SMF sets out to create a fishing game with the immediate rush found in an arcade game, and it succeeds admirably.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/21/01, Updated 07/21/01