Sega Bass Fishing has been designed so that it is quite realistic as well as being exciting and fun all at the same time. You control a fisherman who is sat on the front of a boat and in freefishing you have to guide your fisherman around the lake you have chosen catching as many big fish as you can but it is not always as simple as it sounds. The fish are highly intelligent and believe me they wont go into your net without a fight.

As you cruise around the lakes with your boat you will encounter complete Eco-systems, weather effects, and seasonal changes. First of all in freefishing you have to choose the lake or area to fish in but as this is freefishing you can choose from most of the areas so if there is a particular area which you enjoy to fish in you, you can go straight there. In every lake there are many different areas of the lake that you can attempt to fish every one contains different types and sizes of fish. The first lake that you come to is Lake Eagle with a choice of five areas to choose from. To start off as you play you are given the view of your fisherman sat at the front of his boat so first of all you have to move the boat around to the correct part of the lake where you think the biggest fish will be. To help you with this task you are given a fish radar which is located in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. When you think that you are in a lucky area its time to fish. As in real life fishing you have to select the right kind of lure for the job so selecting your lure is your next step. As you get further into the game you given more options of better and special lures but to start off with you can only choose from a selection including lures called topwater lures, crank baits, lipless crank, jurk bails, jigs, wire baits and soft baits. You are told the characteristics of each and every lure, which can help you, if you are not as clued up on fishing as you think. As well as seeing a picture of the lures to help you with you choice you are told the lures colour, length and weight.

So your lure is selected now its time to cast your line. You select the power that you line is cast at so now all you have to do is try and land it where a massive fish is swimming and real the baby in. As you cast your line out it tells you in yards how far you have cast it out but the more you cast your line out the more you have to real your line in. Should you be lucky enough to land your lure near a fish and tempt it to bite your line all you have to do is real it in. When a fish bites a meter bar appears on the right hand side of the screen and this tells you how much tension is on your line. If the tension is too great the line will snap but if you let it get too loose the fish will escape so you must use all of your skill to pull the fish in. Happy fishing.

Once you feel that there is not enough excitement in free fishing its time to test your fishing skills in a competition so its time to go to the next option which is Tournament mode. In this mode again you have to fish but the pressure is on to see who is the best fisherman. You begin fishing in the SGBTA amateur series. The aim to catch as many bigger fish as you can. Five fish are weighed in per day and the total weight of fish for the day will determine the players ranking. The total points from all of the tournaments will determine annual ranking. But if you do manage to win the SGBTA series its not over because there are more important tournaments which are only unlocked when the more basic tournaments are completed. To get to higher-ranking tournaments such as Professional series, Top Anglers series and SGRTA series you have qualify at least third. Scores awarded during your fishing depend on the players ranking i.e. first place will give you 30 points up to tenth which will give you 2 points. As well as the basic scoring system points can also be gained or awarded for a big fish prize which is given to the fisherman who catches the biggest fish and this gets you an extra ten points.
Character mode gives you the chance to choose from a list of players who you want to use to fish with, Their statistics are listed to help you choose. In the list players skills like casting distance, casting accuracy, retrieve speed, sight, fighting technique and catching technique are all listed so that you can choose a player which has skills more to your advantage. For a bit of fun to personalise you player you can also choose the players dress sense such as clothes, sun glasses, cap/hat and also boat colour.

As an extra mode there is a data book mode. This gives you a chart showing all of the fish which you have caught including the total number of fish you have caught, the total weight of the fish you have caught and the average weight of all the fish caught through out the game. As well as this just in case you want to show off to your friends when you catch a whopper you can also look at a picture of any fish which is shown on the chart. In another chart you can also look at other data such as tournament data and lure data showing a list of lures that you have unlocked through out the game.
To improve your skills you can practice; you can try to practice using training mode. Here you can practice boat operation, lure selection, casting retrieve/hooking and fighting. Buy now you should be up to professional standards and you can beat all of your friends in the fun two-player mode. Here you can battle with duel friends and enemies in fantastic split screen battles. In sudden death mode with two players you and your friends can take turns within a time limit to catch a fish, if both players catch a fish then the next round begins with a shorter time limit until one of you fails to catch a fish revelling a Sega Bass Fishing winner.

If fishing is the sport for you then you will definitely be able to get into Sega Bass Fishing. It is a unique game with its own style and is fun to play. The music can get a bit boring but the idea to the game is good and if a fishing rod is released for the Playstation 2 like on the dreamcast version then this game could be much more fun as the controls on the joy pad are a bit annoying after using a rod on other consoles. The game is fun though with good graphics and it is easy to get into so good luck, I hope you catch a big one.