TGS 2008: Fishing Master World Tour Hands-On

TOKYO--Last year, Hudson released Fishing Master, a cute little Wii game that sought to give players all the thrill of casting a line out to sea without any of the fishy smell. The plot told the story of a young boy being taught the ways of fishing by his grandfather, a regimen that began and ended within the boy's native Japan. In the upcoming sequel, Fishing Master World Tour, instead of being confined to one country, you will go all over the globe in search of the biggest catch. We spent a bit of hands-on time with the game at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show to see what else to expect from this maritime simulation.

The simple mechanics behind Fishing Master have been maintained for this go-around. You flick the Wii Remote to cast your line out, then twist the Nunchuk to reel in your line. If you've got a particularly feisty fish, you'll need to tinker with the direction and pace of your reeling to make sure the string doesn't get too taut and snap in two. But before you ever cast your line, you'll want to prepare by making sure you've got the right lure and rod for the situation at hand.

World Tour's title is derived from all the new locations that will be available to you. There's the San Francisco Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, the mysterious Easter Island, the Caspian Sea with views of oil rigs, and a water fountain in Pairs--just to name a few. You can also go trolling from a moving boat in Hawaii. Altogether, you'll find north of 40 fishing locations in the game.

Some of the other new features included in Fishing Master World Tour will be four-person multiplayer and boss fights. Who will be able to dredge up the biggest tire while fishing in Detroit? Who can snag the nastiest piranha in the Amazon? This time around, these questions will finally be answered. You can expect to see Fishing Master World Tour released this winter.