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PRO BASS FISHING
Manufacturer: Sunstorm Interactive/GT Interactive (1998)
Genre: Warm water angling simulation.
Requirements: Win 3.1 or 95, Pentium, Mouse, SVGA, Sound Card, 16
MB RAM, 30 MB HDD Space.
... Pro Bass Fishing is Sunstorm's latest fishing simulation. Using photorealistic graphics and action, PBF almost puts you right on the water- complete with buzzing insects, swimming frogs, diving turtles and swirling fish!!! Coupled with great sound and action, PBF is a challenge for even the most serious cyber (or real life) angler.
The main menu is pretty simple- nothing fancy and straightforward. Your options range from starting a new fishing trip to viewing your record catches. Once you click on the "New Fishing Trip" button, you are taken to a menu which allows players to select any of five lakes (each with it's own unique characteristics and fish population) and the weather conditions (clear, cloudy or rainy). Like I said, pretty straightforward.... ..
Once at the lake you can cruise around in your boat, using your fish finder to locate "honey holes". Once you've found a prospective hot spot, clicking on the "Go Fish" button whisk you to the fishing screen. The lake screen and the fishfinder (a Sunfish 2000) are pretty ho-hum in appearance, but do the job.
At the fishing screen players can select lures and rod/reel combos. While the selection of rod/reel combos and lures are not the "overflowing, unlimited tacklebox", the selection is decent and useful enough to get one through any situation in the game. The actual menu bar is the various hatches and stowage compartments of your bass boat (which I found pretty cool). The tackle box is one of the Plano-looking jobs with the nylon/velcro cover- when you open it, you can actually hear the velcro ripping open (nice little touch). You can troll about using the trolling motor to shift positions. All of this along with a drag and tension meter are presented in the "god cam" overhead view.... ..
The action is pretty standard. Cast, reel, set the hook and (hopefully) boat the fish. What makes PBF interesting is the total lack of viewable fish. Unlike other fishing sims where you can see and choose which fish to go after, PBF makes you fish the odds; working your lure around/in "fish magnets" like slop, pads, stumps and other types of cover. It's not shooting fish in the "cyber-barrel", it takes some practice and technique to be successful and coax the fish into biting. If the action is slow, the on-screen angler will yawn, stretch and make comments like "Are there fish in this lake?"
The animation is pretty effective with buzzing dragonflies, swimming frogs (that swim, surface, and dive) and turtles which surface and submerge. Fish will also boil and jump as well. Once a fish takes your lure, set that hook carefully- or lose the fish! The fish fighting graphics are just as well done as the rest- with runs, leaps and assorted hooked fish behavior. Once boated, your catch is tossed into the livewell which holds a maximum of five fish. Smaller fish are replaced by larger catches. Then it's off to a new location...or new lake.
THE SCOUTING REPORT:
THE PROS:
THE CONS:
Review by Steven Ellis