Top Angler

In the past most fishing games have kind of paled in the fun factor area, that is until Sega Bass Fishing hit the scene and the fans went nuts! A fishing controller to be used with a fishing game and it was actually fun for people who didn’t even fish! This drew many casual gamers into the Dreamcast scene and the arcade as well. Now that SBF has set standards it is time for someone to carry on that legacy, and who better to do that than the original developers? Coming from the people that also brought you House of the Dead is Top Angler for the PS2.

The main thing you have to grasp with fishing games is making them fun while at the same time true to the sport, which can prove challenging at times. Everyone knows that fishing can be a very boring sport if the fish aren’t biting that day. What TA brings to the table is a fun, arcade style of fishing that keeps gamers interested and fishing gurus pleased as well. You are not going to start off catching the biggest fish in the water with the default lures you are given, you must progress your way through the game and earn new ones in order to catch the best fish. You will also open up new lakes and areas to fish in, the coolest aspect of Top Angler is that you can customize your settings in the single player mode such as weather, time of day, and location. This adds replay to the game.

Now where the replay fails to capitalize is that there is no 2-player mode in this game. That would have been an awesome addition to an already great game. Making this game a competition between friends would have added much time to it’s shelf life. It doesn’t ruin the whole experience but it does taint it’s shine. Needless to say that even without a multi-player mode this game packs a punch that has yet to be matched on the PS2 for fishing games.

The visuals are very reminiscent of SBF, and this is not a bad thing. The environments are very highly detailed and are in a very nice high resolution barring almost any jaggies found in other PS2 games. The game moves at a pretty steady frame rate until the screen splits when hooking a fish, now this is a cool idea being able to see the player and the fish at the same time. This gives it almost a TV style presentation, making you feel as if you are really there catching the fish yourself!

I think that for the price tag this game delivers it’s weight in gold, you cannot go wrong with this fishing title as it is fun for anyone who enjoys gaming. Grab a buddy and get your fish on with Top Angler. This isn’t going to go down in history as one of the best videogame ever, but it may go down as the funnest PS2 fishing game ever! Do yourself a favor and grab this game at it’s awesome price of 29.99 you will definitely not feel cheated!

Written by
Ken is the Editor-in-Chief of this hole in the wall and he loves to troll for the fun of it. He also enjoys long walks through Arkham Asylum and the cool air of Shadow Moses Island. His turn-ons include Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid and StarCraft.