Approximate Release Date: May 1993
Genre: Fishing simulation
Developer: Starfish
Publisher: Hot-B
My poor performance in Super Black Bass is proof I shouldn’t be an outdoorsman.
I caught zero fish in my hour or so of playing the fishing video game Super Black Bass. It was an excruciating hour. The game helpfully suggested I focus on shallow waters in the morning and move out to deeper waters after noon. This is done in an overhead map where you zoom your little boat around and use your fish-finder to know when to stop and cast a line. Eventually, I found a group of fish and I started the casting process.
Casting your line reminds me of playing a golf game. You can adjust your angle and press A to start a meter to see how far your cast will go. Then, you reel it in and hope you find some fishies.
I was able to get some fish to nibble on the line a few times and that was exciting, but they never bit. I’m sure that different lures work better on some fish, but I tried all of them and the fish seemed uninterested.
I generally don’t look up GameFAQs guides when I’m playing games for the site, but I did after being frustrated for a while. I didn’t learn how to catch fish, but I did learn that by catching fish you improve your stats. Also, there are four lakes in Super Black Bass. That doesn’t seem like enough given how small the first lake is. My worry is the game will make you grind out stat points to slow your progress.
I’m sure there’s fun to be had in Super Black Bass if you’re willing to invest some time and patience in such a sim-oriented fishing game. Hopefully there will be fishing titles in the future that have a little more arcade action. I’m not up to this bass challenge.
Next week: It’s time to both run and gun in Super Turrican!
