When somebody mentions fishing all I can think of is maggots, bad smells and the pissing rain, so when Bass Fishing Mania turned up on my phone, along with the message "No fish puns - ed", I wasn't best pleased. I presumed it would be a murky, slow-paced aquatic slog.

I was wrong. After spending some quality time with virtual rod in hand (albeit on the couch, not a boat) I'm pleased to report that my original doubts were completely unjust. There's no stormy weather, no falling asleep next to your granddad; just fast, frenetic button-mashing action.

There are two ways to play the game. If you want to brush up your skills, Freeform lets you fish at leisure without any time constraints. Then you have Competition mode, which pits you against a wealth of other rod-wielders in the bid to become king of the lake. Through days one to three you'll have to finish in the top half of the field, before vying for first plaice on the final day.

Control is simple and feels very responsive. After guiding your speedboat to one of four locations across Lake Horizon, you're presented with a view of the lake and a rod directly in front of you. '5' casts the rod, '4' and '6' tug the line left and right respectively and '8' strikes a fish if you've got a bite. Once hooked, you have to rapidly press the direction indicated to reel 'em in whilst also making sure that your rod tension is slack enou

gh.

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