Game Review: Rapala’s Fishing Frenzy (Wii)
Fishing Frenzy is an arcade style fishing game for the Nintendo Wii. Use the remote and nunchuck to cast and reel in the big ones. Fishing Frenzy features simplistic, easy to get into gameplay. But is it the catch of the day? Read on to find out:
In Fishing Frenzy, pick a male or female angler and venture out to popular fishing spots and real life lakes to catch bass, trout, catfish, and others. You can jump right into quick play mode at any unlocked lake to catch the biggest fish and get the highest score. Or participate in tournament challenges that task you with reeling in a certain number of species of fish, for example. Earn trophies and other unlockable goodies when you fish well or catch a certain number of fish.
Fishing Frenzy on the Wii fully integrates motion control into the experience. The game comes with a shell (some assembly required) that allows you to hold the remote and nunchuck like a rod and reel. But like other useless Wii shells like the Zapper (Link’s Crossbow Training), the Mario Kart wheel, or those insipid Wii Sports attachments, you’ll soon discover that Fishing Frenzy ends up controlling MUCH better without the rod and reel attachment.
Flick the remote to cast and rotate the nunchuck to reel in the fish just as you would imagine yourself holding a rod and reel. While reeling in a fish, make sure to move the remote left and right so you don’t break the line. Other actions also use the Wii remote’s motion controls, like steering and trolling your boat when floating around the lake looking for fish with the boat’s fish radar. Again, play control is pretty decent once you remove the rod and reel shell attachment.
What makes Fishing Frenzy a more arcadey experience is that at certain times while you fish, on screen icons pop up and prompt you to move the nunchuck control stick or Wii remote in certain directions. If you do so properly, you can get bonus points added to your score, and sometimes get a temporary power boost to help you reel in fish faster or attract fish to your lure better. It’s not very realistic, but it does keep the gameplay going by at a fast clip, even for a fishing game!
Aside from the awful rod and reel shell, the only other main problem with Fishing Frenzy is it may be a bit too simplistic for its own good. There isn’t a wide variety of fish to catch or lures to use, and the gameplay experience may not be deep enough for some. The fishing mini-game in Zelda: Twilight Princess seems more complicated than this. But if you want a mildly entertaining, pick up and play fishing game the whole family can get into, Fishing Frenzy may reel you in.
Kid Factor:
I don’t know if it’s because I live in the south, but every kid I know likes to fish. And it’s a tradition to give each kid in our family a fishing rod for Christmas at some point in their childhood. Because of the easy to get into gameplay, kids will probably get into Fishing Frenzy pretty well. Reading skill is helpful for the instructions, but the game has pictures cues to let you know which way to move the remote. Fishing Frenzy is rated E for Everyone.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Hi! I recently purchased Fishing Frenzy for my son, we cant seem to cast with ours. Every other command works great what are we doing wrong…Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you, Jackie
November 20th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
You need to hold the nunchuck control stick up as you cast by flicking the remote. Again, don’t use the fishing controller shell. –Cary
November 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
can’t get my Wii Fishing Frenzy to cast either. Jackie did you get yours to cast?
steve
December 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
hi for christmas i am getting it age 10
December 21st, 2008 at 3:43 am
Hi, we have just worked it out! You must hold the wiimote horizontal and push up on the control stick and hold it, then lift the wiimote to the vertical position and it will let you choose a casting distance.
Hope this helps.
December 21st, 2008 at 3:44 am
Oh, when I said hold up on the control stick, I mean the stick on the knunchuk.
December 25th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Thank you motherofdoom, we just got this for xmas have been trying to figure out how to cast all day!!!!
December 25th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Thanks, motherofdoom! My 6 yr old received this for Christmas. We tried various combinations…. at various times during the day….before finally ejecting and putting it back in the gift bag. We will try your suggested solution in the a.m. I find it interesting that Rapala finds it necessary to warn about what to look for after casting……but they never mention HOW to cast.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
We, too, got it for Christmas and cannot cast! Absolutely horrible “instructions.”
Nothing about how to cast.
We’ll try the solution here. My 6-yr-old is dying to play!!!
December 25th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Thanks motherofdoom, instructions from you were wonderful. We also were ready to ship it back to the company.
December 25th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
After figuring out how to cast, we have been fishing and now can’t seeem to keep it on the hook…what’s the secret to hooking the fish?!?!?
December 26th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Thank god i found this site i was going mad ,my manuel is in spanish .
December 26th, 2008 at 6:30 am
my manuals in spanish too, still havent a clue?
December 26th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Great instructions, motherofdoom! They worked perfectly!!!
Detrobodine, make sure you chose a lure and the fish will come to you… it’s still hard for me to reel it in, but eventually I get it… good luck, everyone!!!
December 26th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
thankyou… you just saved my boxing day!!!
December 26th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Thanks for the info. We just figured out how to cast. Horrible instructions.
December 27th, 2008 at 5:07 am
my manual is in spanish so i cant work out how to do anything. i’m so annoyed
December 27th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
How do you land a fish? There is nothing in manual or online I have found thus far. Thanks.
December 27th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
How do you do a “reel-in boost”? It says to press the A+ but I don’t understand what that means.
December 27th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Thanks for the info on casting–now how do you reel them in—I am shaking the nunchuck like crazy—–but they keep getting away and they say better luck next time!!!
HELP
December 27th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
to do “combos” press and hold “A” wile moving the wiimote back and forth in the directions indicated on the screen… as you get the correct motion a sound will occur along with a light circle around the wiimote icon… move on to the next motion. It gets easier as you play.
ditto on losing the controller shell. Another is to “roll” the nunchuck stick when you see a similar icon “rolling” at the bottom center of the screen.
Landing does not involve the player… just get the fish close to the boat.
to set the hook, press and hold “A” while pulling the wiimote back/up.
… we are playing in tournament mode, and having trouble figuring out how to activate the ligher gear.
Anybody got any advice???
-Good Luck
December 28th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Casting is no problem here, but it’s saying to reel out and we don’t have a clue how to do that. Any advice would be appreciated.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:28 am
You guys are awesome. I was more than a little frustrated. I haven’t been able to cast either. I’m planning on trying all of the tips! Thanks! Hope I can cast soon.
December 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am
to “reel out” press the “Z” (bottom button) on the nunchuck… be careful not to press the top button “C” (cut line)
December 29th, 2008 at 4:38 am
First and foremost, take off the rod accessory. It works far better without. Its next to useless.
Then hold the remote horizontal, with the nunchuck at 90 degrees. (i,e pointing at the remote) while pushing the nunchuck joystick towards the remote. (towards the remote).
You will then have this shape “|-” with reomote on left and nunchuck on right.
Now bring the remote vertical, while pressing in the top button on the nunchuck (Button C)
This should lift the fishermans arm ready to cast.
Then flick the remote a few times and then throw the remote. Dont release the C button on the nunchuck.
Hope this helps.
December 29th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
“c” is not involved in casting… press up on the nunchuck joystick and move the wiimote in a casting action.
December 29th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
“c” is not involved in casting… press AND HOLD “up” on the nunchuck joystick while moving the wiimote in a casting action.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Kinda good to hear that others had the “casting” problem. I was starting for feel like an idiot.
December 30th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Thank you! I am so glad I found ya’ll… my husband got this for Christmas, and had already thrown it 10 times cause we couldn’t figure out how to cast.
January 1st, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Thank you motherofdoom. We were ready to chuck it out the window all our instructions in spanish. Now we catch the fish but can’t keep them LOL
January 10th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Thanks so much for posting…Otherwise we would have had a broken fishing pole and remote very soon!!!!! lol thanks MOTHEROFDOOM for you help…You rock
January 11th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Hey folks, here’s an even better fishing game:
http://www.gamingwithchildren.com/2009-01-06/game-review-fishing-master-world-tour-wii/
January 30th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
mega ditto’s to everyone for the helpful postings. I felt like an idiot until I found this
January 30th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for the helpful info. We were trying to figure out how to cast all night! Just caught a 13 pounder. Much happier now.
February 7th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
can’t land the fish. Get it to the boat and a circle appears with a fish in in and then says – failed. I have tried for hours I give up – help or this goes in the trash
March 11th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Any advice where the Z button is located?
March 24th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Thanks everyone for all of the helprull hints. These instructions are the worse I have ever seen with a game, and you can not even get squat from the web site on instructions. I will def try all of these hints, and hope I do not throw this game and remotes against the wall!! lol
March 24th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
The “Z” button is the bottom button on the Nunchuck remote.
April 30th, 2009 at 2:05 am
I bought my copy yesterday and caught fish straight away. I recomend losing the “rod” and just using the wiimote, as you would in any other game. The unlocked open fishing lakes are a bit cramped due to the restrictions. There are plenty of fish in these areas though. The easiest way to cast is to press the “joystick”on the nunchuck forward and cast with the wiimote, as you would do with a real fishing rod. When you’re trolling your boat, keep an eye on the fishfinder on the bottom right of the screen. As soon as you see a fish, get up, select a lure that will dive to the depth of the fish and you are certain to hook into one.
Happy fishing!
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 am
Instructions? What instructions. When catching a fish, we get msgs like “set drag up A+” and “Reel Boost A+” . How do we respond to these msgs? We keep loosing the fish.
Help.
November 1st, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Hey guys does anyone know how to buy new lures with the money you earn?
February 23rd, 2016 at 2:40 pm
ho appena acquistato gioco rapala’s fishing frenzy e canna da pesca non riesco a capire come si usa la canna chi me lo spiega grazie!!!
May 1st, 2016 at 5:38 am
They will reward your model devotion with a few good voucher offers.