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Ridiculous Fishing review: It's not just fun to play; it's hysterical

Ridiculous Fishing is a great diversion, with upgrades that suck you in, and the kind of arcade action that makes it easy to recommend to any iOS gamer.

Jason Parker Senior Editor / Reviews - Software
Jason Parker has been at CNET for nearly 15 years. He is the senior editor in charge of iOS software and has become an expert reviewer of the software that runs on each new Apple device. He now spends most of his time covering Apple iOS releases and third-party apps.
Jason Parker
4 min read

Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption is a simple and hilarious fishing game with an old-school graphics style, tilt controls, and addictive absurd gameplay. Loved by critics and iOS gamers alike, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about for what -- at first blush -- seems like a game you might have played on the original Nintendo. Also, some recent updates added new items and fixed earlier issues, making the game better than ever.

8.5

Ridiculous Fishing

The Good

<b>Ridiculous Fishing</b> is simple, yet addictive, with great arcade action and dry humor throughout to keep you coming back for more.

The Bad

There is no landscape option for the iPad, making the game uncomfortable to play for long periods.

The Bottom Line

Ridiculous Fishing is a fun and funny diversion, with upgrades that suck you in, and the kind of arcade action that makes it easy to recommend to any iOS gamer.

Ridiculous Fishing has simple graphics, but excellent gameplay (pictures)

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In Ridiculous Fishing, you play as a fisherman named Billy, sending a line into the depths to catch as many fish as possible, then reel it back in. As your hook travels downward, you tilt your device to guide it past schools of fish to reach the lowest depth possible. When you reach the limit of your fishing line or the bottom, you slowly move back to the surface while tilting to catch as many fish as possible before you reach the top.

Once at the surface, the game takes a turn toward the absurd, as all the fish you've caught are flung into the air and you are commanded to "shoot the gills off of them!" At this point you touch the screen frantically trying to shoot all the fish. When the last fish is shot, you're greeted with a "Fish Report" that tells you how much money you made. Each type of fish is worth a different amount, and it pays to know which ones will give you the most loot as you're bringing in your haul.

Billy also carries a tablet computer where you can access the main menu of the game. Here you'll find four buttons to go to the in-game store, learn about the fish you catch in Fish-O-Pedia, read messages from your bird friends in Byrdr (an in-game Twitter-like feed), and access the map.

Ridiculous Fishing
In the first phase of fishing (left), you want to avoid fish to get as deep as possible. Once you've caught a fish, you'll want to catch as many more as you can as you head for the surface. Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET

At the store, there are a number of options to upgrade your fishing line, weapons, and other abilities. As an example, when you start out, your fishing line is fairly short, but as you earn money in each round, you'll be able to buy longer fishing lines in the store. You can buy more-powerful weapons, like the Uzi that lets you "roll like a gangsta," or the shotgun that simply says, "chk chk BOOM." There are also upgrades like the lamp that helps you see when you're navigating the dark depths or the chainsaw lure that lets you blast through fish on the way down.

The rest of the buttons on the tablet bring you to the other important information in the game. Fish-O-Pedia is where you can see the fish you've caught so far and how much money you get for each type. The map button shows which areas you have unlocked and lets you quickly travel there to fish in different and more dangerous waters. Finally, Byrdr is where you can read "tweets" from your bird friends, mostly with pithy comments on the things you buy, but with the developers' unique style of comedy found throughout the game.

Make no mistake, Ridiculous Fishing is hilarious, from the funny "tweets" in Byrdr to the fish descriptions in Fish-O-Pedia. For example, the description for goldfish says, "A fish made out of gold-colored fish," and for the piranha, "Careful, hard to spell." This dry humor is present throughout the game and definitely had me chuckling between rounds.

Ridiculous Fishing
Open the tablet to access the store where you can upgrade your weapons, buy lures, and upgrade your reel for a longer fishing line. Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET

Recent updates to the game add new items the store, fix some crashing issues, and let you play your own music while you play the game. One new item in the store is a particularly welcome addition: the knife. With the knife you can cut your line if you want to quickly restart after a bad cast. You'll need to earn the money to buy it, but it was a highly requested feature according to the developers, and I think it's well worth the somewhat expensive price.

The only problem I had with Ridiculous Fishing is a small one, but worth noting. The game can only be played in portrait mode. This is fine when you're playing on your iPhone, but it can get annoying when playing on the iPad. Holding the iPad in landscape orientation is simply the more comfortable option and if you spend a significant amount of time playing, the weight of the iPad starts to make you tilt the screen forward. Certainly not everyone will have this problem (depending on which iPad you own), but I found myself wishing I could switch to landscape more than once.

Overall, Ridiculous Fishing is a joy to play for the addictive fishing and shooting action as well as the comedic style. The games draws you in with the need to upgrade your lures and weapons, and keeps you interested by making you catch every species of fish to move on to the next area. Whether you're playing on an iPhone or iPad, this game is incredibly easy to pick up and play, and the absurdity of the gameplay only adds to the fun.

8.5

Ridiculous Fishing

Score Breakdown

Setup 9Features 9Interface 8Performance 9