When I first saw this game I thought it might be boring, but there are enough different fish, challenges and places to see to keep it interesting. That said, I would rate it as primarily a family game, a great way for kids and parents or grandparents to share some fun family time together. It’s not too difficult for kids maybe 5 or 6 and up, and not too childish for an adult to enjoy. There is a fair amount of reading in the beginning in the form of the captain giving instructions on how to do the fishing maneuvers and such, but this could be explained to a child and there are enough onscreen symbols once they start playing to understand the game play.

If you enjoy fishing, I think you’ll get a kick out of this. The graphics are excellent as Wii games go and you don’t get stuck fishing in one place on a pier somewhere. There are 40 different locations, in 7 regions of the world, Europe, Japan, South America, Africa, Australia and more. Imagine deep sea trolling in Hawaii, or fishing in a fountain in Paris. You start off in Japan and open locations as the game goes on. The scenery and fishing spots are quite stunning. They did a good job on this game. The characters are cartooney and you get a few choices of boy or girl characters. You even get to pick a dog or cat to keep you company and accompany you on your travels. (The cat gets really excited when you hook a fish!)

The controls are about as realistic as you can get using a wiimote and nunchuck. You press the B button on the wiimote and forward casting off motion to cast your line into the water where the fish are. It takes a good hard motion to cast it a great distance. Little effort won’t get you far enough out into the water to find any fish. There’s a meter on the screen to show you how far out you’ve cast the line. You reel them in by rotating the nunchuck just as you would a fishing reel. The controls are very responsive and make good use of the Wii’s capabilities. They’re also very natural and intuitive. The tutorial when you first run the game goes pretty quickly and shows you how to do everything such as casting, hooking the fish, fighting and landing him. It’s not as easy as it sounds when you first try (unless you’re already a fisherman maybe) and I had quite a few lines break or fish escape before I finally landed one. And that was only a small fish. I think it could turn out to be a real adventure trying to bring in a big struggling fish.

There are over 200 different fish and the captain of the ship tallies up what you’ve caught for the day and you can keep track of the different types of fish you’ve caught in a journal. You get points and are striving to become an international fishing master.

This is also a game that you can play online and fish with people all over the world trying to be the best. Imagine fishing with your friends in other parts of the country or grandkids who live far away. Internet hook-up is easy and it opens a world of possibilities.