Preview: Fishing Master World Tour -- FISH ON!

Since this is the Wii, fishing will mimic real life fishing techniques. Players will bring back the Wiimote and then swing the Wiimote forward like you would a real fishing rod. Once your fishing line is in the water, players will move the nunchuk in a circular motion to pull in the reel. Players can also use the joystick to bring back the fishing line.

You’ll know a fish has taken the bait as the words "FISH ON!" (I love Engrish) will appear on the screen letting players know it’s time to reel in the catch. Players will need to reel in the fish with the nunchuck and will have to be mindful of the reel meter that pops up. If you reel in too hard, the line will break.

As you’re reeling in the fish, players will need to swing the Wiimote either left or right based on the on screen prompts. This is in order to stun the fish and add extra points to your catch score. Once the fish has come close enough, players will swing the Wiimote straight up to drag the catch out of the water. Players are then given their score based on the weight of the fish and all the combo stuns they performed during the “battle”.

Players will travel to over 40 locations in seven regions to fish for the over 200 types of fishes the game offers. Before you can travel anywhere though, you have to prove yourself in the game through the tournaments.

Tournaments will see players trying to catch for a certain amount of fish within a time limit. Players will also have to catch the target fish to pass the tournaments. Winning the tournaments will unlocks new areas for the player to go to continue their quest to become the fishing master.

As you play through, you’ll urn new fishing rods and baits to use. Most fishes won’t take your bait unless you have something they’ll like. A lot of the fishes can only be caught in certain regions as well as certain times of the day.

A new addition for World Tour will see deep sea fishing. Players can get on a boat and head out to open sea where they can catch fish from the boat. Bosses have also been added to the game that will see different type of catching methods. I didn’t see any boss action, but I did see a couple of bosses such as the Great White Shark and a Giant Squid.

World Tour will have four-player support where players will try to catch as many fish as possible in a certain amount of time. All four players can move on a very limited space and will fish just as it’s done in the single-player game. The player that catches the most fish in terms of weight wins.

I’ve never been much into fishing so I was pleased to see that Fishing Master World Tour is a very straightforward game. It doesn’t take forever for a fish to bite and it's a pretty simple experience.

Fishing Master World Tour is developed and published by Hudson Entertainment for the Wii. No price has been announced yet and the game should be out in Winter 2009.