Summertime vibes solely, child. It is July, it is scorching, I am pondering enjoyable within the solar, I am pondering Sega Bass Fishing. Sega is providing free Steam keys of the oft-ported Arcade/Dreamcast traditional as a restricted time promotion—you simply have to enroll in the corporate’s mailing checklist to obtain a free copy of the usually $8 recreation on August 1.
I did so instantly, verified my electronic mail, and eagerly awaited my code solely to find that lone catch: Sega is not going to be sending out the codes till after the promotion ends. You will have till July 31 to enroll in your free copy of Sega Bass Fishing, and codes will then be despatched out August 1. That is okay, as a substitute of on the spot gratification you are sending a present to your future self, like when there was a six-month wait on Steam Deck preorders.
August 1 does not provide plenty of time to catch “The Huge One” earlier than Baldur’s Gate drops simply two days later, however I’m assured that I will get my fill of fishing in earlier than Larian’s mega RPG drops and I totally embrace my Forgotten Realms alter ego: an Elf Who’s Good at Every little thing.
One be aware about Sega Bass Fishing on PC: it doesn’t appear to work terribly nicely with the Dreamcast’s unique fishing rod controller, even with an adapter. In line with consumer AV on the sport’s Steam boards, “The rod motion on this PC port is hard-coded to be tied to the the analog stick on an Xbox controller, so that you both nonetheless have to manage the rod motion with the stick (really helpful) or have a surgically regular hand for menu navigation by setting all the things to your rod motion (extra irritating than it sounds).” Don’t drop $86 on a Sega Dreamcast fishing rod controller on Amazon expressly to be used within the PC model of Sega Bass Fishing.
I’ve by no means even beheld a Dreamcast in particular person—I used to be a Nintendo child—however screenshots and gameplay of Sega Bass Fishing fills me with the identical sense of formless, nostalgic craving as all of that ’90s Sega “Blue Sky” stuff—the vibes are impeccable, from these early water reflections, to the extraordinarily Dreamcast fishermen designs, to the neon cursive “Fish!!” message that pops up in gameplay. However do not simply take my phrase for it.
Picture 1 of 4
In Gamespot’s unique April 28, 2000 assessment of Sega Bass Fishing on Dreamcast, James Mielke wrote, “As an all-around title for the everyman who may personal a Dreamcast, Sega Bass Fishing is a non-threatening, frivolously difficult little recreation that ought to hold fishing followers more than pleased with its placid, lakeside choices.”
In IGN’s 2008, 6/10 assessment of Sega Bass Fishing’s Wii port, Mark Bozon wrote that “Irrespective of the way you have a look at it, Sega Bass Fishing merely comes up brief.” Wait, that one’s not nearly as good. IGN credit unique NieR and Drakengard improvement home Cavia for porting Sega Bass Fishing to the Wii, although MobyGames solely lists a single Cavia worker, producer Ryuichi Makino, within the recreation’s credit. Did IGN’s 2008, 6/10 assessment of Sega Bass Fishing stick within the thoughts of a younger(?) Yoko Taro, inspiring the sense of harm and injustice in his later masterpieces of the NieR collection? Who can say for certain.
