GENRE
	Sports
	DEVELOPER
	Ntreev Soft
	PUBLISHER
	Tecmo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	No
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Super Swing Golf is reminiscent of the Super Nintendo's Looney Toons Basketball. Both are covered with funny options and goofy abilities, but underneath is a solid sports game that may be better without the fantasy.

visuals

The Pangya world is one of fantasy, and courses take a bright and colorful appearance. Most of the settings are full of personality and do well to place the player in this fanciful world. Super Swing Golf has some nice floating leaves and a few sweet effects, but it's not too much more impressive than a GameCube title. The visuals are more impressive by the creative designs. Everything is crisp, but lines do look a little jagged on high definition sets without the proper cables.

Fans of real life golf, however, are probably a bit more of a straight shooter. They want to see real courses and real choices to make for a realistic game. Thus golf fans may prefer a realistic visual style over Super Swing Golf's cartoon like fantasy setting. It doesn't make it less appealing in principle, but in terms of attracting a wide audience, the mainstream may be more inclined to wait for EA's Tiger Woods franchise.

audio

Soothing and gentle, much of the music sounds like it was taken form a 70s TV drama. Others have a more upbeat island theme. Like most sports games, it's both forgettable and unobtrusive.

gameplay

Of the Wii Remote's various abilities, mimicking a golf club had to be one of the first ideas. But Super Swing Golf takes a different approach compared to our other Wii golfing experience of Wii Sports. While the pack-in uses swing speed to calculate swing strength, Super Swing Golf uses the size of the backswing. It's measured at the bottom of the screen, locked in, and then allows a downswing of any speed. In that aspect, it is slightly less accurate, as golfers can take a small back swing and still hit a powerful shot, or take a large backswing and take a weak shot. It takes away some of Wii Sports' speed sensing realism.

But it adds real golf's motion detecting downswings. While it was impossible to hook or slice a shot in Wii Sports (aside from over swings) Super Swing Golf detects twists of the wrist and angles of the Remote. Imagine an actual golf ball and golf club. If you swing too close to your body, you'll create spin. The same goes for keeping your club face square. The Remote acts as the club face and any bad angles will be recreated in game. It forces players to concentrate on the downswing. It is thankfully more forgiving than most of our real golf abilities; who wants to shoot a 110 in a video game?

It does allow intentional draws and slices for those capable of such precise swing control -- or those willing to forgo realism and just hold the remote twisted from the beginning -- and there are plenty of holes throughout the game where such a maneuver would come in handy. For the rest of us, players can choose to put spin on their shot before swinging, while different items boost abilities.

Aside from the swing (which can be altered to a very un-Wii-like button system) Super Swing Golf plays like a standard if oddball game of golf. Players earn money to buy new outfits and clubs, and over time players can use special shots that add length or accuracy. The courses are well designed and fully realized, unlike in Wii Sports, and many have multiple paths to take in a risk-reward style. A few have cool elements like shooting through moving windmills or around clubhouses. With 12 courses, there's plenty of variety and longevity.

It's often overlooked, but give some credit to Tecmo and company for writing an outstanding instruction booklet. I really enjoy a sports game that tells you how to play.

multiplayer

Like any good game of golf, things are more fun as a group. Regular golf along with a balloon popping minigame are available. Oddly, some games can be played with just one remote, while others require each player to have a separate remote, even though none of the games is simultaneous.

overall

It may be caught in a weird time for Super Swing Golf -- too soon after Wii Sports and too close to Tiger Woods. Taken in that context, I'm not sure who this game will appeal to the most. Anime characters and special shots may not be for everyone, but it's a fun diversion that features enough style, varied courses and a solid enough control scheme to be another strong step for sports on Wii.

7.9/10