0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Black Bass with Blue Marlin

Black Bass with Blue Marlin is a sports game focussed around fishing and is two games combined into one, with The Black Bass being the fresh water fishing game from HOT-B, while the Blue Marlin series is their salt-water fishing series, the game was published by Starfish.

The game is also known as Super Black Bass X2 and Super Black Bass X2 & The Blue Marlin for it’s two Japanese releases. The game released first in North America on the 18^th of November 1999, with Super Black Bass X2 releasing the following year in Japan on the 3^rd of February 2000. The final re release Super Black Bass X2 & The Blue Marlin coming in May of 2001 in Japan.

 

Black Bass with Blue Marlin combines the elements of HOT-Bs two main fishing franchises into one, the game features four real life lake locations for you to fish for the biggest bass you can catch as well as having 12 marina locations all packed with fish, as well as twelve locations for you to test you fishing skills against Marlin.

The game features a vast array of fishing equipment from baits and tackle both for fresh and salt water fishing, the game makes use of realistic rod and reel movement and has 12 fish species for you to pit your angling skills against.

 

When starting the game up for the first time, you have three options on the main menu, the freshwater and saltwater fishing are divided up into two separate modes, these are Black Bass Fishing and Blue Marlin Fishing. The final option on the menu is the options menu.

Both modes in this game have controllable boats, movement of the boats is done with the D-Pad, up is used to accelerate the boat, while down is to decelerate, left and right are used to steer the boat. When driving the boat the L1 shoulder button is used to toggle the area map, speedometer, compass and radar.

The triangle button is used to access the icon menu, while the R1 shoulder button is used to control the camera position. Both Black Bass and Marlin fishing modes have the same boat controls. Moving on to casting in Black Bass mode, the D-Pad pressing up or down on this will change your casting style, while the left and right D-pad buttons move your anglers position.

 

When ready to cast your line into the water the square button is used to activate, you cast, pressing the square button a further two times dictates the power on your cast. When you have a fish on your line, to set the hook you press up on the D-Pad, to then reel in the fish the square button is used.

When the fish tires or releases tension on your line, you can press the circle button to reel in the fish faster. The camera angle can be changed from a third person perspective behind the angler, to an underwater view by pressing the triangle button.

Controls for the Blue Marlin mode differ from the Black Bass mode, when a fish is on your line the X button is used instead of the Square button. Rod movement is also different with the square button used for both up and down movement, the drag can be adjusted by pressing the circle button. The triangle button remains the same, With this button used to access the icon menu and cancel/toggle the above water/underwater view while reeling in a fish.

When driving the boat around the available locations, prior to deciding on a location to fish, on the bottom left of the screen the current time, weather and temperature will be displayed. When toggling the L1 shoulder button once in the top left of the screen the minimap will be show, this shows you your location on the lake. To the top right of the screen will be the speedometer and the compass, showing you your current speed and direction of travel.

Pressing the L1 shoulder button again will remove the minimap and replace it with a small sonar detector, this shows you the depth of the current location, a black line signifies the bottom of the lake, fish symbols also appear on the sonar, this also gives you an idea of the depth that the fish are located as well.

 

When accessing the icon menu you are able to change the lure that you are using, each of the lures on offer have some information about them. This includes the lure type, size, diving angle, buoyancy factor, shaking range and sound.

For example the Lizard lure is a sinking type lure, that is medium in size, has a neutral diving angle a negative buoyancy factor, a medium shaking range and sound wise the lure is quiet. On the other hand Crankbait is a floating lure that is medium in size, has a steep diving angle a neutral buoyancy factor, medium shaking range and sound wise it causes vibrations.

Switching to the underwater camera once you have cast, at the top of the screen a bar will appear which shows the strain that is currently on the line, general reeling in of the line with not fish on the line will fill the bar from green up to the yellow range.

The faster you reel in the line the more strain is put upon it when reeling in quickly the bar will turn red. Alongside this bar is the current length of line in the water, as you reel in this number in feet will decrease. When casting the same bar is used to indicate the power you have put into your cast, the green end of the bar indicating a short cast, while the red end at the right of the bar indicating a long cast.

Moving on to game modes, when selecting the Black Bass mode you have four modes to choose from. They are tournament mode, free fishing mode, beginners mode and two player mode. In addition to this is the tutorial mode, this provides information on their feeding habits, general behaviour, environments where they are found, the final option provides information on the fish that are available in game.

Moving over to the Blue Marlin game the player has the choice of four locations, these are The Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Cabo San Lucas and Kona Coast, each of these four locations have their own individual fishing spots. For example The Bahamas has The Tongue, Grand Bahama and N.E. Providence.

Critic reviews for this game are very light on the ground with only two available, the first of these comes from Official Playstation Magazine, as a result there is no information on what the magazine’s reviewer had to say on the game. The review score is available for the game with OPM’s reviewer scoring the game at a 2 out of 5.

 

So we will now move on to IGN who’s review is still available, there reviewer rated the game slightly higher at a 5 out 10. In their review the review commented on the sheer number of fishing games that are available on the Playstation, with Hot-B deciding to jump on the bandwagon with Black Bass with Blue Marlin.

The review praised the level of content in the game, calling Black Bass with Blue Marlin one of the most decked out fishing games available for any gaming console. They continued by praising the varied locations and the substantial number of lures on offer as well as single player and multiplayer gameplay modes.

The review found the game control wise plays well, with either the duel shock or the standard digital pad. The review was a little disappointed that the game does not support any of the fishing game peripherals, with the game manual not mentioning any support, the review also tried the Agetec fishing controler without any success.

The review also praised the games graphics, saying it is one of the best looking fishing games on the Playstation, but still it won’t make any one say wow. The review found the same for the games sound, with authentic boat engine sound and ambient sound effects.

Concluding the reviewer found the game to be one of the deepest fishing games available, especially with the inclusion of the Marlin fishing mode, which is something completely different and offers different techniques and challenges.

The reviewer however found the overall experience greatly hampered by the lack of fishing controller support, which is fine for games who have no interesting in buying one, they should go ahead and buy this, but for those games who do have one, they are better off going out and catching some real fish.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, who will give you $2 if you are looking to trade in you’re copy of Black Bass with Blue Marlin. If on the other hand your are in the market for a copy of the game from Gamedude, you will be looking at an outlay of around $7.

 

Heading over to Retrogames.co.uk we don’t find the game available or even listed, so we will quickly head over to eStarland.com. Where we do find the game is listed, however at the time of writing this the game is currently out of stock.

When used copies are in stock, they have a usual price of between $6.90 and $11.50. Also on offer at eStarland is a trade in for this game, with eStarland offering up to $4.50 for a complete copy of the game. This price however will fluctuate depending on the completeness of your copy, with a disc only copy worth just $1.80 at trade in.

Lastly we head over to Amazon.com where we find two versions of the game on offer, the first is the North American release, the second is the Japanese imported version titled Super Black Bass X2 + Blue Marlin. Starting with the North American version we find quite a few incomplete copies available on the first page of listings.

As well as several copies that say they are in good or better condition but don’t state that they are complete copies of the game. One copy that is complete, and comes professionally cleaned is priced at $6.99, and comes in very good condition and has free shipping. This copy however is shipped by Amazon, so the free shipping only applies to Prime users and those spending over $25.

Moving on to the second page we find two more very good condition copies, these again however don’t state that they come complete, these two copies are priced up around the $10 mark. We do find a copy that is complete, this copy is in like new condition and can be picked up for $11.74. a very good condition copy, which also comes complete can be picked up for $12.64, this copy is the original black label release of the game.

Another good condition copy is available for $12.90, again however this is an shipped by Amazon copy so free shipping is only for prime users and those spending over $25. another very good condition copy can be picked up for $14.58, this again is complete.

There are a handful of new copies of the North American release available, if you are in the market for a new copy the current minimum you will be paying for one is $43.38. Prices for new copies don’t reach much higher than this, with the current price high for a new copy coming in at $44.01.

Moving on to the Japanese version of the game, where a definite condition difference is visible, with all of the used copies on offer being in good or better condition. With prices for a good condition and complete copy starting from $12.81, this also comes with free shipping as well.

Very good condition copies start from $16.42, at the time of writing this is the best condition you can get for a used copy of the game. There are also a few new copies that are available, these start from $24.52, raising to a high point of $30.33, all four new copies that are currently on the market come with free shipping.

Written by

P J Gibbon