When I heard that Camelot (makers of the first Everybody's Golf and Mario Golf) were teaming up with Capcom to make a golf game I was very excited. It seemed like the perfect match - A cute japanese arcady front end with a deep sim engine under the hood.
I could have waited for the UK version, but I didnt...
Instead I put my loader of the free variety to good use, Payed around £35 and imported it. Ordered from Japan and the game came within 3 days! First let me say the the Japanese version does not have online. I knew this already and bought the Japanese version knowing that I'm going to upgrade to the UK version in a few months.
The game loads and screams "WE LOVE GOLF" yes we do
The front end is very simple, you're taken to a screen showing 1-2-3 or 4 players represented by different boxes then each player chooses their character (Miis included), what hand they are (L or R) cloths and then you go in to the game modes.
The game modes are exactly what you'd expect, which is a good and bad thing. You have tournment, COM vs, stroke play, ring shot, target practise, chipping practise and individual hole practise.
All very basic and I find it a shame there's something not more substantial, a career mode would have topped off the package nicely instead your left with what feels like the bare minimum. Which incedential is also what makes this game so good.
Because when it gets down to the actually golf this game is good. Everything within the HUD is what you'd expect. When you first start playing you'll notice the ball trajectory is drawn in full even the landing roll off, which makes the game very easy I finished my first 18 holes at -19
. Luckily this can be dialed right back incrementally so for me I turned it completely off, which restores the zen like quality of golf.
Course design is good with a mixture of fantasy and classic courses, most of the fantasy course aren't too over the top and usually air on the side of real courses. That said there are some crazy ones in there for full blown novelty value which I'm not a fan of. After you turn off the dreadful music the courses come to life with some beautiful sounds, birds chirping, water falls, and rain among a few all done very organically without the usual "its on a loop" feel.
Swing mechanics are where the game falls down - or though slightly weird at first. Select your shot distance, then begin you back swing with the Wii remote as the club face travels up the power meter its pursued by a shadow club face which when catches up with yours will automatically start the forward swing. Once it passes the shot zone on the way down you take a nice brisk swing forward to complete your shot. This however involves little skill, and you can do any type of crappy swing to complete your shot with no effect to the ball. It could almost be replaced by a button saying would you like to take your shot?
Slice and fade are decided before hand by a twist of the wii remote. The whole system works very simply and will only take 5 Min's to get to grips with.
The camera control in this game is amazing. Point towards the screen to pan down the course, point up for an over view and down for behind the golfer cam. No button pressed needed at all and that very much adds to the feeling of immersion, as it offers a flowing procedure to the whole affair.
Putting is perfect with the green roll displayed with a white grid and moving nodes that change speed based on the angle. Very the norm but done with aplomb here.
Ball physics are very good, the ball can catch green lips and spins off in a realistic fashion and just gives it an alive feel to the game.
Conclusion
Its exactly what you'd expect, no surprises unfortunately but a solidly modeled golf game wrapped up in a cute front end. Does it match up to the original Everybody's Golf? No it doesn't, the lacking golf swing and course design just dont match up.
All in all a fair game of golf. The Wii has been crying out for a truly awesome golf game but this isnt it yet, it gives Pangya and Tiger a run for their money but doesnt stand out from the crowd enough as being superior.
6.9
Thanks for reading
We Love Golf Full Review (JPN)
BIGTAM
) zen garden (really nice) and standard country club courses.
Linear Mode
