Rapala Tournament Fishing (Xbox 360, 2007)

I'm a tournament fisherman with 30 plus years on the water and I can tell you this game is full of holes if you love fishing. Lets start with the negatives first. I'll start with the fact that all you have in you tackle box is Rapala plugs, Rapala line, Rapala reels ect. This makes for great advertisement, but not such a great game. It's like having a racing game with only one car or a shooter with only one gun. All the other methods and forms of catching fish are forgotten, worms, jigs, tubes, spinner baits, ect. Now, when you do get to fishing in the game all the fish act alike. They all run at the bait stop, look at it and then all you have to do is stop tap the lure twice and they hit. Even the PIKE, tell me one time anyone has ever seen a Pike run on a lure then stop to look at it. They hit a lure at full speed and never stop. When a Bass hits a sub-surface plug they don't stop to check it out. Now let's get to the fight, once you have a fish hooked I couldn't see any change in the action when I moved the pool one way or another with the fish close to the boat. The fights were often short and not very challenging. Now we have the fish in the boat. When was the last time anyone has seen an 11 inch 3 pond bass or an 18 pound large mouth. The sizes on these fish are not possible in many cases and hard to believe in others. When it comes to the size of the lakes, they're more like ponds than lakes. I couldn't figure out what season it was. This has a lot to do with were to look for fish. So I found myself going to point and other structure were you might look but this took a lot of fun out of the game.
On the plus side, the graphics are good, castings not bad and I did find fish were you would think to find them. Pike in shallow bays, Walleye on rocks a ledges ect. In close, if you know fishing try Pro Fishing Challenge this game was done by people who know fishing. All type's of presentations are available. Fish move with the seasons they hit and fight like they should. It will give the fisherman in the family hours of fun. Rapala Pro fishing should be call Kids Fun Fishing and as such might rate a little higher. If you want to buy this game for a young player they might have fun with it. Just stay away if it's for someone who Know's Fishing.

Well if you like to fish its definelty a great simulation game. You start off a couple of different ways , either like an Arcade type style where they give you a boat or you can fish off shore witch ever you like , a choice of three pre-unlocked lakes and pre-selected lures and jigs as well as rod and reel setups. There is also a career mode witch you start out with the bear essentials and have to purchase everything with your winnings from Tournaments that you enter.

As far as game play is concern learning just exactly how to cast at first might be a little tricky for most it envolves , using the left trigger and a joy stick simuataneously then the right trigger to release , once the lure hits the water you have an under water view of the fish and vegitation which you would think make things easier but not quite you really have to jig fish your lure or work your baite as if your really fishing and you actually dont know whats underneath the water. A great game overall....

Hope this helps you make a decision either way thanks....

Lanceton Michael

It's the only fishing game I found for 360 on ebay,It's a outstanding game good quailty good fishing...!!!!

This is the best fishing game I have seen to date. Graphics are mind blowing tight. (keep in mind Im hook up on 720p hd.) Fish realistic looking with great detail and some put up a massive fight.This has both an above water view and under water view.The view can be switch at the tap of a button at will. You do have a little thought you have to put into this game. Match the right lures with the right line and pole and land a 20# bigmouth bass. This is when you want the above water view. The big ones will jump out the water.
This game has 12 lakes you fish at across the country, with 22 different fish to try to land. You can do tournaments or free roam fishing. You have six boats to choose to fish from or you can fish the bank. boats, lures, lakes and things unlock as you progress. Lots of achievement gamer points to be unlocked.
This game has wide open game play. You can land all your gamer points,Unlock all the items, but you never really beat the game. There is no end to fishing. I have always like to go fishing, but I really like fishing from my lazy boy.
the only thing I dont like about the game is it dont keep track of record catches. I play this so much I made my on record sheet on an excel program. It helps keep the replay value up when your on the hunt for the big one......
This game is a must have if you like to fish.

The graphics are pretty good, though there are some glitches here and there such as pulling the fish out of the water upside-down with the fisherman's hand going through its belly. It's not a very realistic game, but knowing that you see the fish hitting the lure you surely aren't coming in expecting too much realism. For example, in one night of playing I caught 3 largemouth bass that were over 19lb and it only took me seconds to get them in. The record largemouth bass is just under 15lb and I caught the record 3 times in one spot, come on Rapala. The part that makes it fun is just trying to get first place in the tournament, which on normal difficulty isn't very hard providing you know which fish to target. (ie stripe bass are larger than largemouth)