I never really fancied fishing myself; it just isn't my idea of fun. Sitting there for hours, messing about with live bait in the hope of catching a fish that, in many places, you have to chuck back in after you've caught it - and the idle chit chat you have to make with your fishing partner, probably about the weather, or politics, or how politics are affecting the weather with global warming. No thanks - I'd rather let Captain Birdseye provide my Omega 3, thank you very much. However, SEGA Bass Fishing has had me hooked over the last week. It baited me in with its arcade look and feel, and it tugged me out of the waters of scepticism and into the fresh air, the fresh breeze that is this fillet of fishing delight. Could I have a brand new outlook on my perception of fishing?

Nope. I still cannot stand the thought of sitting near stagnant waters, being eaten alive by flies and all that. Only if fishing was as surreal and funny as SEGA Bass Fishing would I reconsider boating out and bating up - so it's a certainty that I'll never know the pleasure of fishing for real. Or is that reel?

SEGA Bass Fishing is a lot of fun and it's perfectly suited to the Nintendo Wii. Swap your Wiimote and nunchuk over so that your nunchuk is in your dominant hand, then bring the nunchuk close to the Wiimote, and picture a fishing rod. Your Wiimote is now your rod and your nunchuk is the reel on the side of the rod. As you'd expect, you cast your line with your Wiimote by waving it over your head and towards your TV - but obviously remember to keep hold of it! - and then with the nunchuk you just wind, and keep winding, to reel in your bait and hopefully a nice big juicy fish along with it.

As you'd expect, there's a little more to it than that. You can select your lure, unlock new lures, and even select the colour of your lure - but most lures do the same thing in the respect that a fish will bite if your bait is anywhere nearby. You can shake your bait by shaking the Wiimote or the nunchuk - shaking might attract fish that weren't interested to begin with - and you can tug the rod in any direction to give it a bit of a pull. When a fish bites, you have to tug to get that hook through the fish's mouth, and then you're battling with a Bass!

So, there's a certain number of yards between you and your fish. Now you have to be careful, because winding too fast or too slow puts you in risk of breaking the line, so your fish will escape, but then just winding alone won't be enough to get a bigger fish out of the water; you will have to tug your rod, give this fish a bumpy exit and follow quick instructions from the narrator, who will shout phrases such as "lower your rod" - if you don't follow his advice then you might go home without supper. This narrator makes the game a compelling experience for me. He's a typical SEGA narrator, the same voice you might hear on classics like Outrun or House of the Dead - so enthusiastic and so excited about fishing! He tells you what size and weight fish you managed to catch, too. Sometimes you'll pull one out and in his enthusiastic tone he'll proclaim, "It's a HUGE ONE!" but many times he'll tell me what many women already have - "Awww, it's too small!" - gee, thanks for lowering my self-esteem there SEGA.

The graphics in this package is where SEGA Bass suffers from that common fishy disease known as Finrot - i.e. it's not very good to look at. Now, the Nintendo Wii isn't famous for its glorious graphics, but the water effects, the speedboat textures and even the way the fish swim to your bait, simply don't ooze any degree of graphical style or realism. Sure, it's an arcade game, so I'll cut it some slack, but even arcade games deserve some graphical love and it looks like SEGA Bass received none, which is a bit of a shame. The audio matches the arcade style; cheesy music fills up the background and the narrator does a good job of entertaining with his vintage passionate vocal talents.

Surprisingly there are quite a few modes to get your hook into, but they all boil down to the same fishing mechanics. My personal favourite is the Arcade Mode, where you just have two minutes to catch fish and each one you snag gives you a time extension. When you have enough fish in weight you move onto the next stage, until you've done every stage - then you'll receive a rank based upon your skill. There are tournament modes, practice modes and a rather bizarre nature mode that lets you pick your stage, the time of day, the weather and then gives you six full hours to fish and be at one with nature! The chances are that if you bought this game you didn't buy it for realism though, so it makes no sense to me why any of the SEGA Bass punters would want to become one with virtual nature. If you want that then the real world is ready and waiting for you.

It came as a little shock to me when I found out that the game lacked multiplayer modes however; it would have been a nice game to break up the FPS action in game nights and LAN parties, even if it only supported two players. Obviously there's nothing stopping you passing the controller around and having two minutes each on Arcade Mode, and SEGA Bass Fishing isn't too boring to watch somebody else play; in fact it's quite comical to see your friend struggling with his makeshift rod! Even so, given the chance, I think that anybody in their right mind would prefer to play than watch.

SEGA Bass Fishing has a lot going for it. For a start, it's not overpriced. You can pick it up quite cheaply if you don't get sucked into the rod peripheral sale; you do not need a housing for your Wiimote and nunchuk to turn them both into a complete rod - it doesn't add anything to the experience, so don't fall for that line! Aside from the bargain price, SEGA Bass Fishing has a wonderful arcade feel, complimented by innovate controls that further that special arcade feel and really immerse you into the act of fishing. I'd happily blow a couple quid on this game down at the amusement arcades, so why not pay a bit more and own it? It's a good catch, all things considered!

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).