Killer Bass is an obscure horror and fishing simulator hybrid that combined a fishing competition with the hunt for a cold-blooded killer bass. Developed for the first PlayStation console in 2000, the game is an absolutely wild ride from start to finish, but was never a household name by any means. A recent Twitter thread, however, dredged the depths of video game history, and has uncovered the unhinged lunacy that is Killer Bass, the horror-fishing sim.
Killer Bass was developed by Magical Company, a Japan-based entertainment studio that mainly developed games for the Sharp 68000 and Nintendo Family Computer (the predecessor to the popular NES) throughout the 1980s and 90s, before shifting to the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles in the late 90s and early 2000s. NES hosted its own share of strange games during its tenure (Enix made an NES game where Jesus was a space station), so there was certainly precedent for high-concept video game titles by the time Killer Bass was released. Still, Killer Bass never managed to make a big splash, and has remained relatively unknown.
A recent Twitter thread from user Chris Pruett has brought Killer Bass back to the surface in vivid detail. The thread features some of the more incredible features in Killer Bass, such as the game's manic camera system, which Pruett notes "is unmitigated chaos," and eclectic selection of live-bait lures (most fish were apparently caught with live mice). Reeling fish in Killer Bass appears nearly impossible due to its control scheme and constantly shifting camera, making them as annoying to take down as the notoriously disliked fish wyverns of Monster Hunter. The greatest benefit of Pruett's thread, then, is that the game's frenzied gameplay can be experienced through its video footage.
Killer Bass Has A Fishing Competition For A Genetically Enhanced Fish
The plot of Killer Bass is as wild as its camera angles. The titular Killer Bass Jack escaped its experimental lab and went on a murderous rampage. The Killer Bass Cup was organized to catch the killer, and players needed to work up the luring skills (and the nerve) to reel in Killer Bass Jack. Pruett also notes that, according to the game's manual, Killer Bass Jack had already been captured, and was released again for the express purposes of hosting a Killer Bass Cup. Why anyone would catch a genetically altered killer fish, then release it again for a fishing competition, remains a mystery.
Fishing games have come a long way since Killer Bass. Red Dead Redemption 2's fishing missions made the game even better by telling its human stories through the shared experiences of its characters in the beloved pastime, and that was only a mini-game feature. The closest to human empathy Killer Bass gets is the implied tears of a grieving mother at the water's edge after her child is devoured. Still, Killer Bass is a quirky, entertaining glimpse into another era of gaming, where vipers could be used for live bait and a 200-pound killer bass could be the bone-chilling antagonist of a horror-fishing simulator. Stranger games are out there, but Killer Bass is certainly an odd catch from the archives.
Source: Chris Pruett/Twitter