BassTour

BassTour and BassDuel is an excellent fishing game by Dick Olsen, who marketed his games as mail order shareware titles between 1991 and 1995.

Although graphically dull, the games attracted a loyal following with their excellent attention to real-life fishing conditions, a wide variety of lures and fish, and reasonably realistic behavior of fish. Both games are part of a trilogy of bass fishing games, and play very similar to each other. In each game, you play a professional bass fisherman who is competing against other pro fishermen various bass fishing tournaments for prize money. As in real life, you have to carefully choose the lures, assess the appropriate spot to fish, and deal with changing weather conditions. You view the action from the bird's eye perspective, looking at the whole lake in the center screen, with information and options arranged around it.

This naturally means you will not be able to fish in an arcade style that is common in modern games such as SEGA Bass Fishing), but if you prefer strategic fishing games, BassTour and BassDuel are a lot of fun. BassDuel is the most polished of the series, and the only one that allows you to compete against another human player (hence the name) by taking turns on the same computer.

With a lot of options, excellent mouse-based interface, and a wide variety of lures and variables, BassTour and BassDuel remain years later two of the most enjoyable fishing games ever made. Two thumbs up!

Review By HOTUD