Super Swing Golf

Rating ESRB: Everyone Genre sports Publisher Tecmo External Links Official Super Swing Golf Website

Tired of Wii Sports Golf? Looking for something with a smaller head and more detailed characters? The good people at Nintendo realize that you and yours demand a more in-depth golf simulation. They know that Wii Sports, while a great title in itself, just doesn't fulfill the needs of the avid simulated golfing community. Super Swing Golf puts a definitive mark on the milestone that is Wii Sporting history with its multitude of characters, caddies, courses, and gear.

Super Swing whisks the player off to Pangya Island to celebrate the Super Swing Golf tradition. The player competing in the Pangya Island Competition can choose between the young and fiery Scout, and the adorable, golf-loving Hana. Along the way characters will meet opponents like Max and Uncle Bob, and even the petite pirate princess Kooh. Characters do not venture onto the golf course alone though. Each character travels with a unique and customizable Caddie. From a decently long line of caddies you can choose from characters such as the flying cat bag Papel, the forest giant TitanBoo, and magic girl in training Tiki.

In some ways, the game feels a lot like Mario Golf: Pick a character, step up to the ball, and let her rip using the easy to read wind direction and power gauge. The basic swinging comes in two control styles, which have been lovingly renamed by yours truly as Active Swing mode, and Lazy Bum mode. In Active Swing mode the player steps up to the ball, hefts the club up to the shoulder, and swings down and around striking the ball and following through. This allows for the system to calculate club speed, hitting angle, and follow through, all of which have a distinct effect of the quality of your shot. In Lazy Bum mode, you point where you want the ball to land, and press the B button once to initiate the power bar's movement. Hitting the B button again will determine exactly how much stank you put on the ball. As the power bar returns the player attempts to stop it once more on the special spot, which determines drift or slice, and whether or not the shot is considered a Pangya, the legendarily accurate and powerful shot of Pangya Island.

The golfing itself is pretty much divided up into two major parts: simple distance driving shots and ridiculously lengthy putting shots. The difficulty level of the game gets easier as you keep playing, since you get better equipment and power-ups to increase your accuracy and driving distance. Each shot can be made to fly higher, lower, or curve any direction before returning to the fairway. Special shots, such as the Tomahawk and Cobra, can be performed a set number of times per round dependant on your combo and Pang gauge. Each shot gets you Pang, the mythical equivalent of that all mighty dollar. With Pang the character can return to the Proshop and pick up a few new goodies that might help their overall game. At first the Proshop stock is little more than hats and shirts, but the more you play the more clothes and gear you unlock. For example, the starting set of clubs issued to you, the Air Lance Set, can be replaced by the Medieval Set and eventually upgraded to the incredibly powerful Afterburner Set.

Super Swing features fun and colorful level design, that gives the game a unique Wii feel. The graphics reach more for distinction, rather than video game photorealism. With a huge variety of characters to outfit however you like, you could spend an endless amount of time determining if you want to beat your opponent in a black tech-vest, or beat your opponent in a flower print hoodie. Each Course has its own musical theme, which will play endlessly until hole 18. The putting features its own music due to the dramatic nature of the game. These tracks show a good bit of contrast from the driving game, as the music becomes more tense. The only voices that you will hear in the game are the cheer of the crowd during the near chip-ins and inch away misses.

Super Swing Golf fulfills the role of a first generation Wii game, in that it shows off the accuracy and versatility of the Wiimote, as well as the graphic and sound quality that have come to be expected by today's gamer. This is the perfect title for those of you who just can't live with out a more complete golf experience. Mario, Daisy and the rest of the funky bunch could have debuted in this one, but then the fun of customization and the original and unique courses would have been replaced by kitschy Fireflowers and Bullet Bills that could be viewed from space. If you're looking for another excuse to wildly swing the controller as hard and as fast as you can, then Super Swing Golf is right up your alley.