This is a fishing simulation.
Think about that for a second, a fishing, simulation.
I don’t know if any of you have ever been fishing, but what it basically breaks down
to, is watching something float on the water for a few hours and hoping something else
happens.
That’s fishing, hoping something else happens.
And to simulate that, what’s you’re really saying is, “Let’s simulate, waiting.”
This is a waiting simulator.
And waiting, and waiting, it’s Super Black Bass…
And waiting, and waiting…
So this is, no joke…one of the most realistic fishing games, I’ve ever played.
Realistic in the sense that, the whole thing is just a test of the limits of human patience.
It’s about seeing how much of your life you’re willing to watch spiral down the
drain, as you try to catch electronic bass, in an electronic lake.
It’s an entire game, about sitting on a pretend lake.
Which is ironic, for a game this dry.
Go sit on a real lake, you know?
That’s at least fun.
Fishing is fun when you’re actually there.
But it’s one of those things where it’s, like…if you try to explain it someone, it
never sounds as much fun as it actually was.
“What’d you do today?”
“Oh, I skipped work and sat on the boat all day.”
“And…?”
“Oh, that’s it.
Just…just, kind of sat there.”
Super Black Bass is more like the explanation than being there.
Now, of course, that’s all subjective.
I find this game, ruthlessly boring.
You literally sit there for hours in this game and wait for your rod to move, phrasing.
Not my idea of a good time.
But hey, maybe it is yours, whatever floats your boat…
Come on, that was good.
And that’s the objective part of Super Black Bass.
Regardless of your opinion on fishing games, this is a great one.
It’s ultra realistic, maybe even to a fault…but if you want a fishing game for your Super
Nintendo that’s slow, and challenging, and…slow…
Well, you want Super Black Bass.
What you don’t want are Bluegills.
They’re like the dandelion of fish.
So to me, the main thing about Super Black Bass, the thing that defines it…is that
pace we talked about.
I mean, actually catching a fish in this game, the right fish…it takes a lot of time, and
even more patience.
You have to find the fish on the lake…and by the way, they’re in different places
at different times of day, and in different weather.
So just finding them takes time.
Once you do that, you pick a lure, from the freaking ton of lures that you have…and
then you cast.
And that’s when things really get difficult, because each lure has to be moved in a certain
way to attract certain fish.
And uh, if this sounds like real fishing, that’s because it basically is.
This is a game that doesn’t just reward patience, it demands patience.
Otherwise, you’re up the creek without a paddle.
Alright, maybe I should scale it back.
Reel in it, with the fish talk.
I mean, if it’s bothering you, let minnow.
So the gameplay is what it is.
Objectively great at what it is, subjectively dependent on your patience.
But it really is a great fishing game, and that carries over to the presentation.
All the locations look really nice, you actually see the lake beds through the water…and
I love the changes in weather, too.
Like, as the day goes on, things start to look different.
That’s a really nice touch.
I guess on the other hand, I wish the fish animated a little better…and the sound is
mostly ambient natural noise, which is about as good as you’d expect from a 16-bit game.
So it’s a mixed bag in terms of presentation, but the good parts are really good, and the
bad parts honestly are kind of nitpicky.
This is a very well-done fishing game.
You can tell the development went quite swimmingly.
I mean, in some areas, it flounders a bit…
Look, I’m sorry, but the game keeps baiting me.
Alright, that one was for the halibut.
Thanks to Rob, from Easley, South Carolina, for sending it to the show.
It’s Super Black Bass, for the Super NES.
A great fishing game, if you like fishing.
If you don’t, it’s kind of…crappy.