Games for Lunch: King of Clubs
In a nutshell: Mini-golf, maxi-annoyance.
8/27/2008 8:41 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3
0:19 I get around the sliding barriers without much problem and get another three. "I am good!" says my guy. I like the shot power interface, which tells me how far I am from the pin and roughly how far each level of the power bar represents. I'm not as impressed with the physics, which causes the ball to stop abruptly rather than rolling gently into place.
0:20 I'm pretty sure the next hole, "Crator Crazy," is misspelled. That's a bad sign. Anyway, I have to use the lip of the "crator" to hop the ball onto a little island in the middle of some lava. I score another three. My second putts keep coming close to the hole, but not quite getting in there.
0:23 On "Little Foot Adventure," I get two money bags in one shot. "WONGA!" says the screen, in big letter, as my character jumps for joy. Wonga? I score another three, mainly because I have trouble reading the slope of the small hills. You'd think that would be an important part of a mini-golf game, something they'd address with some arrows or shading gradations. Nope, nothing!
0:25 "Longest Yard," shows off some interesting hole design. I can take my time on a crooked, narrow path OR go risky and try to hop between islands on the ramps. I do the daring thing and get $50 in money. ("CASH!" reads the screen). I can't seem to break the three-shot barrier! Grrr.
0:27 "Pterodon Trails" features a wide variety of spinning and shifting obstacles. I have to time my shot just right to get by. And I do, setting up an easy two-fer. That's right, A TWO! Take that, three-shot barrier! My "Great play" earns me $650. If only my real job were so lucrative!
0:29 I wish my nerdy guy would move out of the way-- he makes it hard to see the aim of my shot. Meanwhile, the latest hole has another lava pit, more moving blockers, blah blah blah.
0:33 My first truly awful hole starts off with my rubber ball bouncing over a small lava pit (good) but then right out of bounds (bad!). What's worse, it seems the ball is now lost for good! A couple more out-of-bounds shots and I end up with an awful 10. And that's WITH two mulligans! Ouch! I do like the giant, snapping piranha in the background, though.
0:35 The next hole is more my speed, an icy course with three quick moving blocks that require pinpoint timing to slide on by. Another two and $650 more! Booyah!
0:36 Seems I just missed the gold medal on the course because of the weak hole eight. Boo!
0:37 I buy a few new "speed balls" and a bunch of mulligans before moving on to "Tyrannosaurus Rocks." Groan.
0:39 On the first hole, "around the rim," I quickly waste two mulligans trying to be fancy with the speed ball (and falling in the lava each time). After that I play it conservative, get some more money bags ("MOOLAH!" says the screen) and make a huge putt from 30 feet away! I barely make par, despite the two mulligans. This is getting tough!
0:42 On the next hole, I try for a fancy shot ramping over some moving cardboard lava. I hit the lava instead, and what's worse, the game doesn't let me use a mulligan for some reason! What a gyp! I end up with a five, but a lot of on-course moolah for my trouble.
