Super Swing Golf

"The best golf game around"

Let me start off by saying this. I got a Wii for Christmas, and as of 1/13, I had played it for nearly 54 hours. Surprisingly, the game with the most play time is not Zelda, but Super swing Golf. Zelda is by no means a bad game, it's far from it, but Zelda is not the kind of game that you can pick up and play for 30 minutes, especially if you're in a dungeon. Super Swing Golf is. With the average match taking about 20 minutes, Super Swing Golf is great for that sort of thing. At the very least, this game is Mario Golf. And I liked Mario golf.

Not only is it Mario Golf, it's Mario Golf with more customization and more courses. The games' main mode is story mode, something rarely seen a sports game, let alone a golf game. Each of the game's 8 characters has their own story, with 5 matches, and alternate paths after beating it. The story mode adds some back story to the games' outrageous characters, like Max, the tennis star who dreams of becoming a fighter pilot, and Cecilia, the Navy lieutenant whom he needs to beat to achieve his goal. During the matches, you are rewarded with pang, which in addition to serving as tiebreaker, can be used as money for buying the extra clothing, items, stats and characters unlocked from beating the stages. The clothing you can buy often has better stats than the clothing you're wearing now, and on top of each character's starting stats, diversifies the character's play style. For example, while Scout, one of the 1st 2 characters, has well rounded stats, Kooh has far more power, which comes at the expense of control and accuracy. Just as outrageous as the characters are the courses themselves, which range from a frozen over naval base, (I'm a sucker for snow levels, something absent from Mario golf) to a monument riddled desert.

However, the game is not without flaws. For example, before a story mode match, you go through a 15 second loading screen while reading some back-story, then dialogue before another loading screen, this time with only the words “now loading” to entertain you. And then you get to the controls. Upon looking at the game's cover, one might assume that this game is one for casual golf fans, or people who bought Mario Golf. However, the game's controls are by no means simple, and are more something you would expect from a Tiger Woods golf game. Those who haven't gotten the hang of it will find their shots mainly going off to the side. Luckily, the game offers button mode, which controls more like Mario Golf. And when you do get the Swing controls down, they can be easier than the button controls.

Super Swing Golf is a solid golf game. It's not as realistic as a golf sim, but it is actually more realistic as a golf game than Mario Golf, if a bit fantastical in it's style. It'll keep you playing for quite a while, and that's really all you can ask out of a game.

Gameplay 8/10
Graphics 8/10
Sound 7/10
Extras 9/10
Overall 8.4/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/07