Fishing Superstars Review

Fishing isn't the most exciting of activities to partake in, instead frequently popular for its relaxing and calming nature. Fishing Superstars doesn't capture that serenity but it does provide some quite thrilling arcade style fun, even though I wouldn't recommend playing it out and about.

Players embark upon a career of fishing, starting out at the simple Wapo River and gradually levelling up to try out better bodies of water and gain better equipment. It works well as a learning curve as there is plenty to learn.

Fishing Superstars is a very physical game at its best with tilt based controls. It's possible to switch to touch controls but it's nowhere near as fun as actually flicking the iOS device around.

To throw out the fishing line, the player has to flick their iOS device back then forward in a movement similar to actually doing it. Once a fish has been snagged, a similar movement is used to hook onto them. Finally, a reel appears on the side of the screen to reel them in. It's not the easiest of control methods to master but it does feel immensely satisfying to learn. Extra layers of depth emerge in the form of resistance. Just like in real fishing, the fish aren't keen to be caught so fight back. Some careful movements are required to gradually tease them in.

Practice is essential here but Fishing Superstars is very much worth perserving with as it's quite detailed.

This level of depth extends to outside of the core game mechanics. The levelling up mechanic keeps players feeling like they're progressing with a steady stream of new locations, fishing poles and other items being unlocked. These items have to be purchased with gold, acquired through catching fish, but they benefit the character's statistics.

Those benefits are also where the in-app purchases of Fishing Superstars show up. Players need energy to fish which slowly replenishes over time, or can be purchased with real money. This rule applies with gold also, but it is perfectly possible to avoid spending anything. It just takes more time to succeed. A regular supply of quests go some way to counteracting any need to spend real money, as well as providing a focus on completing certain requisites.

Given the focus on quite physical controls and the reliance on loud vibrations to indicate certain conditions, I wouldn't recommend playing Fishing Superstars in public, purely because it's going to make players feel quite self conscious.

There's little else out there on the App Store quite like Fishing Superstars which benefits it greatly. It's a fresh take on a very traditional hobby and really quite enjoyable.