We Love Golf is a Golf game for the Wii, being developed by Camelot Software Planning, who you may know from the Mario Tennis and Golf Games, and the Golden Sun series on GBA. These guys know how to make golf games fun (Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour was one of our favourite games on the GCN), so we were quite excited when we were asked to go hands on with the title. If you have played Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on the GameCube then this game will feel very familiar to you. The look and sound of the game is very similar, which is no surprise really as it is made by the creators of Mario Golf. More inside
There is a variety of game modes, including single player or up to four player head-to-head competitions. Other modes range from character matches, stroke play, special mini games and more. There is even an online mode being developed especially for the games Western release. Unfortunately all we were able to go hands-on with was the single player mode.
The controls are probably the best weve seen in a Wii golf game to date. They are very fun and intuitive and we were pleasantly surprised at how accurately the game captures your swing.
To swing you hold down the A button and swing the Wii remote just like a golf club. You can add swing to the ball by holding down either the 1 button (for front swing) or the 2 button (for back spin). You can also draw or fade shots by angling the Wii remote either left or right.
Along the bottom of the screen is the power meter. A cursor representing your club head will move along the meter as you swing the remote. When you reach the desired point on the power cursor, you hold your position. The cursor will then automatically descend down the meter, and you must time your swing to coincide with the cursor returning to its original position.
It sounds quite confusing but is actually very easy to learn. We found ourselves sinking birdies regularly after playing just a couple of holes. A tutorial will help guide new players through their swing but you will find yourself turning this off almost immediately, as it likes to abuse the use of the Wii-mote speaker and gets very annoying.
All the other usual options are there as well you can see a top-town view of the hole by holding the Wii remote vertically up, you can change the direction of your shot by moving the D-pad left or right, and you can change your clubs by pressing the + or buttons. Much like Wii Sports Golf, you can also practise your swing by holding the B trigger down instead of the A button when swinging the remote.
The characters in the game are quite generic and we found them to be pretty boring. You do unlock different costumes for them as you progress though, and there is apparently plenty to choose from, including character costumes from many of Capcoms favourite games. Some of the games mentioned were Zack and Wiki, Street Fighter and Resident Evil.
As far as Mii integration goes, we noticed that when you complete a course and win a trophy, your custom Miis are in the background celebrating with you. But we also were told that Miis will be playable characters, though we didnt experience it for ourselves, as the console we played on did not have any custom Miis.
All of this runs quite smoothly, with no loading times visible at all, and slick menus with easy access to the plethora of game modes. From what we saw, We Love Golf is very polished and running smoothly. There was basically no loading times at all, and if there was you couldnt even notice. Selecting a mode jumps you straight into the game and you can start golfing immediately.
Because we did only play the one mode, it is a bit early to proclaim this title as a must-buy. But we definitely love what weve seen so far. There is a bunch of Golf games on the Wii already, but if Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is any indication of how this one will turn out; we think itll be able to stand at the top of the pile.
About the Author
