SeaBass Fishing 2

"There is nothing FISHY about this game... ;)"

I have played ''Sea Bass Fishing'' countless of times on my Sega Saturn, and I was really hoping for a great sequel to come. And I can not say that I am disappointed about the sequel, because it keeps the same quality as the previous part. The only thing that really disappoints me about this game is, that it never got released in Europe and the USA. The most of the game is, naturally, in Japanese, but still it is no bigger problem to start a new game and start fishing, because the option menu is in English, and even though things are in Japanese, it is easy to understand what you are supposed to do.

As in the previous game, the ''story line'' seems to be the same. There is a fishing competition, and you are taking part of it, and the goal for you is to win the competition and to become champion. Plain and simple. You can either take part in the competition right away, where you must win three contests to become champion, or you could practice your fishing abilities on your own. In the previous part, you always chose a captain, and you were fishing from a boat. That has changed for this game, now you are standing on the land.

A very interesting feature in this game is also, that there is a ''cooking'' section, where you get advice about delicious food to cook, with photos and instructions (all in Japanese). Another interesting section is the ''instruction'' section, in which you get advice from a professional Japanese person, who is much into fishing. This section contain plenty of videos of great quality, in which this person gives advice about what equipment that is needed for fishing, how you should be dressed etc. He is, of course, speaking Japanese, so I don't understand very much of what he is saying, but in any case, this is a very interesting, and pleasant feature, which didn't exist in the previous part for the Sega Saturn system.

Graphics: 10
With very clear backgrounds, and very detailed fishes in the water, and extremely smooth movement of the fishes when you are ''fighting'' against them, when you have gotten a ''hit'', makes me setting 10 points to the graphics. The sunrise- and sunset-effects looks better than in the previous part, the rain-effect looks better, the waves in the water looks better as well. There is nothing to complain about, when it comes to the graphic.

Sound: 10
As in the previous part, the music is made by ''T's Music'', more known as the staff that created the music for the legendary game ''Final Fight''. And the music has the same beautiful quality as before. As you are fishing, you can now chose between two songs (there was only one song available in the previous part), and there are also various songs when the fish bites. The sound effects, when the fish splashes in the water, and other sounds from seagulls, and boats are very realistic.

Control: 8
The control is hard to learn in the beginning, but once you get a hang of it, the control is pretty simple. The control is slightly easier than in the previous part. With two buttons you pull the wire quickly, with one button you do it slowly. With arrow button, you can turn your fishing rod up, down, left and right for various effects, and with the top buttons, you can make your player moving left and right on the beach.

Fun factor: 9
It is hard for me to rate the fun factor, but I say at least that it deserves 9 points. But I clearly understand if other players would find the game boring. After all, the only things you are doing, is throwing out the lure into the water, pull the wire in, and hope for a nice fish to bite, and then you do it over and over again. And from time to time you change lure and go to other places to test your abilities.

Difficulty level: 10/5
The difficulty itself is 10 points (the game is very hard), and that is too hard, in my opinion, so I think the difficulty worth is only 5 points. The game is slightly harder than the previous part. In the previous part, you only had to win the final contest to become champion, but in this game, you must win every contest in order to advance to the next one. That is sometimes very difficult to achieve. Your rivals are certainly no amateurs, so really big fishes are needed in order to win.

Replay: 3
I haven't completed the game yet, but I believe that the replay is pretty low for this game. Once completed, you have most likely seen everything, there is hardly anything new discover. The only thing you could do is to try to break your own records. But as for me, I find something very addicting about this game, which is hard to explain, which probably would make me playing this game over and over again, but I hardly speak for everyone when I say that.

Buy or rent?
If you are much into a fishing, then this game is certainly worth to buy. If you have a certain interest (like that you go fishing with your own rod maybe twice a year), then I still think that this game is worth to have in a Saturn collection, very much thanks to its brilliant graphics and sounds. If you are not into fishing at all, I wouldn't even recommend you to play this game at all. You would most likely get bored very quickly. I bought my game over Ebay for only $3.00, so I'm sure that you could get this game for a cheap price if you look around.

Overall, a very very pleasant game, which you could spend many hours with on rainy days. The game is great made, done with a lot of effort, and with improved graphics and features compare compared to the previous part.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/01, Updated 10/02/01