Rapala Tournament Fishing

"Decent enough for fans"

I don't care for fishing either in real life or in video game form. I've never found it very interesting. Was Rapala able to hold my attention? Read on!

This game has some rather average graphics to it. The water looks kind of bland as does everything else. The fish look pretty good except their seems to be no real size or anything to them while they are in the water but when you pull them out they will look small or big, depending on if they are small or big (obviously). It's not that the graphics are bad, just average and not up to par with the other 360 games out there.

The sound in the game isn't bad. No voice work and no real sound effects to mention. The music, when it's used which isn't often, sounds pretty good. A little jazzy almost. I actually liked it enough to take note and actually remember it.

The game has some really weird controls. This was a rental so it didn't have a manual and I almost turned it off when I couldn't figure it out just by hitting buttons. Driving the boat is simple, like any racing game, R trigger for Gas and L trigger for brake/reverse. Now, the fishing portion took me a while. Hold L to bring up the casting meter thing. Now hold the right stick in a direction and the gauge fills. This is for aiming and length I guess. Now hit the R button to cast it away. R will also reel the line back in. Once a fish bites I would hold down on both sticks, not sure which it is and the game doesn't help much but it was most likely just the left stick. Now, if the fish pulls so stunts a message messages and just push the stick(s) in that direction. It's simple but complex if you don't know how it all works.

The game play itself is a little dull but that might be a personal thing. You can enter a tournament or arcade mode. Arcade has you catching X amount of fish in X amount of time to advance. I didn't care for that mode much.

The tournament mode was interesting. You get different lakes to pick from and each has 3 days of fishing. That equals about 30 minutes or so a day. So it is a bit long. You can only hold so many fish. Drive you boat and use the radar to see where fish are and cast your line. Wait. Get a bite and pull it in. Not much else. You need to try and get certain goals but I found the game easy.

The game has a kind of high learner curve so it may frustrate some gamers. It has a good amount of content to offer, a lot more than the Cabela hunting games.

Fishing fans only apply for this title. It's not too bad of a game but those who enjoy fishing will like this game. Not for everyone and it's a little too complex for its own good. Bland visuals don't help much either.

Story - N/A
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay Value - 6/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/07