Ahh - looks, feels, and smells like 1999. Now that's bad fish.

Sega Bass Fishing services Wii anglers with a standard variety of modes. Arcade mode naturally features arcade style stage by stage play – catch a bass of a minimum size within a certain period of time or you're out of luck. Tournament mode plays somewhat differently, requiring prolonged competition with other anglers. Nature trip mode loses the restraints of other modes and allows you to fish at your own pace. Actually catching a fish is surprisingly simple and within a minute or two in any mode you'll be able to reel in a bass, even though it might not be the big one.

The fish you're dying not to catch.

Unfortunately you'll quickly discover that catching fish is not the deepest of activities; you just cast, wait, and reel in, ad nauseam. While the audio cues of the announcer can add some unintended humor and immediate urgency to the action of reeling in a bass, the game's dated presentation with its smarmy textures and simple environments reeks of a shoddy Dreamcast port that Sega didn't feel the need to update for this Wii release. While some parts of the presentation are period turn-of-the-century Sega including the aforementioned overly joyous announcer and some rather out of place female vocals in the options music, any points gained by this quaintness are easily negated by its sloppy visuals.

Controlling the game with the Wii Remote may seem like an intuitive setup at first. The Wii Remote acts as the fishing rod, which you can flick back and forth to cast the line and tug it left or right while in the water; conversely, the Nunchuk reels in the line. The truth of the matter is that these motion controls were essentially ported over wholesale from the game's previous analog scheme, so waggling the Wii Remote or Nunchuk in any direction will have the same effect as pressing a button. That being said, the game does not control poorly, but seems gimmicky.

Some good can be said of Sega Bass Fishing, primarily its lower price-point, which may actually be $10 more than it warrants in light of its pre-twenty-first century origins. If the Wii Remote controls were incorporated more appropriately it would deserve a better recommendation, but its nostalgic Sega presentation can't hide its relative mediocrity.

You can almost set it like clockwork: another Sonic game at least every year. This fall Sonic returns to racing in Sonic Rivals 2 for the PlayStation Portable. Is the Hedgehog racer worth a run?

First off, let me break it down as to what this game features: a story mode and racing mode. In race mode, all you do is pick one of eight characters and battle it out through a bunch of different levels. This is essentially what the game is all about - you racing against opponents. It’s a fun and engaging experience.

The same can not be said for the story mode which is poor to say the least. Sonic games aren’t about the story at all, they're about speed and moving as fast as you can through a level.

In the story mode, you pick one of four teams to race with, with each team featuring two racers. There are several issues with this, the first being the game's combat. There is too much of a focus on combat and not nearly as much on the actual racing.

In regards to combat, once you get close to an opponent you can press the circle button to pass or jump over them. You also can acquire items throughout the level to utilize in order to attack your opponent. In addition, characters are given unique abilities if they collect enough rings in a board. This is unfair to say the least as some characters are given a significant advantage over others like Tails's ability to fly compared to Silver’s power.

The focus of combat in the races continues when you’ll have to face off against the other characters in a one-on-one battle. To put it mildly, it’s not the most exhilarating experience because whoever gets hit twice loses.

That is followed up by another race and then you come to a boss battle. The ending battle features the same kind of gameplay that was popular in the original Sonic series in the 90’s. The difference here is that you’re also battling your rival in the boss fight to be the first one to hit the boss. The focus on battling your rival and a boss at the same time is utterly irritating to say the least.

That’s not to say that Sonic Rivals 2 doesn’t have its fun parts. The race mode isn’t bad as stated above because it’s not focused on the rival aspect.

Also, the graphics in Sonic 2 are phenomenal particularly for a handheld game. The game moves incredibly fast. In fact you do get the sense of speed you’re supposed to. In addition, the characters and environments explode off the screen.

While that is nice, the story and sound are quite poor. The game features typical bland Sonic music and horrible voice acting.

Overall Sonic Rivals 2 isn’t a terrible game, the problem is that it focuses too much on battle. In fact, the racing is pretty fun and you do really get a feel for the speed and pace of the game and it’s worth a run through.

Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release: Nov 13, 2007
MSRP: $39.99
Everyone

Sega has released a slew of new screenshots of Sega Superstars Tennis for the PS2, DS, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. The game is scheduled for a Spring 2008 release.

Check the link to view more images.

According to Famitsu, Nights will feature an art gallery and a movie playback option. There is no word of a North American release at this time.

Hit the link to view more images.

The game is expected to have over 30 titles. Check out the first screenshots below.

Sega Rally Revo will feature online capabilities, with multiplayer splitscreen modes and several vehicles for the player to choose from. The game is due out in 2007. Expect more at next weeks E3 Expo.

The game is expected to have an MSRP of $29.99.