Developer: Camelot

Publisher: Capcom

Release Date: July 15, 2008

System: Wii

ESRB Rating: E10+

Official Web site

0:00 I don't really love golf in real life, but I did love Camelot's Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64, so I'm looking forward to this one quite a bit.

0:01 The chorus of chipper voices screaming "WE LOVE GOLF!" on the preview screen is almost worth the price of admission all on its own. What a way to start the morning.

0:02 No cut scene intro, just a title screen with the logo and the same chipper voices screaming at me about their love for golf. They need to up their meds. Seriously.

0:03 The brightly colored menu buttons make tones when I pass over them. Everyone is smiling and determined. Man, this is a happy game!

0:04 I can choose my player from Meg, Leo, Annie and Jack. Each looks no older than 14, and has a vibrant animated pose to go with their something. I go with Meg, who's very cute in her white skirt, orange shirt and white visor. Her stats? Who cares!

0:05 I think I'd better start with training before diving into a tournament. There are three courses, including the excellently named Sweet Candy Putting Forest. Let's start at the Highland Leaf Country Club, though.

0:08 Swinging is an exercise in frustration. Aiming is easy enough: Just point at the screen and hold A, and the target moves where you want. "Point me down!" the Remote screams. I do, and all hell breaks loose. The backswing doesn't go far enough unless I let go with my front hand and reach all the way back. Then I try to "time your follow-through," but it always ends up "early." I feel like I'm swinging perfectly along with the on-screen club head ... What am I doing wrong?

0:12 OK, I think I got it now. On the backswing problem, I have to twist my wrists to send the Remote past vertical. On the front swing, I need to swing only when the club head reaches the bottom instead of while the club head is moving down the gauge. I'm still a little early but I get a nice 213.86-yard drive out of it. Whoo!

0:13 "Start your backswing. Stop! Swing!" the Remote says in time, helping my timing immensely. On the green now, I line up my putt, get the right power, perfect timing, and it's IN the hole! Wow ... I made a birdie? On my first try? Awesome! Let's move on to the tournament.

0:17 Another birdie this time, doing the exact same thing on the exact same hole as the practice. "Ya ha! No problem!" Meg cheers in her chipper voice. I really like how the power meter shows how your shot will fly and bounce before you swing. It takes some of the guesswork out of the targeting system ... makes it easy to visualize what's about to happen.

0:18 I'm lucky the fairways are nice and wide, because I keep being slightly late or early on my drives, which curves the shots quite a bit.

0:20 Drive, approach, putt, and another birdie. My closest competitor is at one over par, while I'm at two under. What can I say ... I'm a natural...

0:21 On a par 3, it's just approach and putt. The putts have been very straight and easy so far. I try putting some backspin on the approach, but it's very awkward holding the 2 and A buttons during the swing. Oh, well.

0:23 Top spin and lots of practice swings get me a 237.67-yard drive on the next hole! It's all about the smooth backswing and good timing on front swing. Nice that form seems to matter.

0:26 My approach shot goes sailing past the hole ... these greens are pretty fast. I get 1.18 feet from an eagle on the gently sloping back and forth curves of the green. Leads to an easy tap in for ANOTHER birdie. I'm now ahead by five strokes.

0:27 I just noticed the names of the people competing against me in this tournament. Zack and Wiki? Barbaros? Johnny Style? Captain Rose? CHRIS REDFIELD! JILL VALENTINE! Hooray for Capcom name-dropping!

0:28 237.17 yards ... a new long drive! I try curving my shot deliberately this time with a twist of the Remote before starting my swing. Luckily don't have to keep it twisted the whole way through. I have to say that, now that I understand it, this is one of the nicest golf interfaces I've ever seen on the Wii. A good mix of ease-of-use and realism.

0:30 Some easy backspin approach and a four-foot putt for my fifth. This is almost too easy ... I'm hoping there are tougher courses down the way. I'm now ahead by seven strokes...

0:33 I'm not going to bore you with details of the next two holes. Both birdies. I now have a 12-stroke lead over Wiki. As Meg says, "That's the way it's done!"

0:34 A 247-yard drive on hole eight. At least this hole has a slight curve to it ... SOMETHING interesting in the design.

0:38 A long par 5 has an interesting design, with a split down the fairway and a tree-lined shortcut over the rough on the right. I take advantage with a few PERFECT shots and make it to the green edge in two, green in three, easy birdie in four. My closest competitor is +9; I'm -9. This is getting embarrassing.

0:40 The tourney is already getting boring. Let's try one of many other modes, such as ... Ring Shot, where I have to get the ball through some rainbow-colored rings hovering over the course.

0:43 The first hole has a HUGE ring right in front of the tee ... it's impossible to miss. Then I par the hole. "Complete!" says the announcer. "All right ... looks like I'm No. 1!" says Meg, cute as ever.

0:44 After I point the Wii Remote down to start the swing, I swear it's saying "OK, work me!" Dirty! And I haven't even mentioned the anthropomorphic Remote on-screen that's constantly pointing at its buttons excitedly...

0:45 "Sink it ... sink it ... all right! I've got it!" Meg says, breathlessly. Is it wrong that I'm a little turned on? Probably...

0:48 The ring placement is getting slightly harder as the game continues, but not insanely so. So far, the rings don't really add too much to the difficulty.

0:49 The Seaside Resort course has been unlocked. Let's see if it's any harder. I do like the steel drum music...

0:52 OK, this is definitely harder ... "Rainbow Under the Waterfall" is a complex set of three rings that requires some curving to make the ball stay on the course. I pull it off with a par, of course. "Yeah! I'm doing awesome!" And I am. I owe it all to the intuitive controls.

0:57 Still have yet to get worse than a par on any hole, even with the somewhat ridiculous sets of rings I have to hit now. The controls are very forgiving ... even if I'm a tad late or early (which I rarely am by now), it still ends up a decent shot. It's all kind of relaxing, actually.

1:00 Hoo, boy ... the just unlocked Flower Lake course really brings the difficulty. A series of six interlocking rings are set at right angles in a very specific line to the right of the hole. I have to position my approach shot juuuuuust right before shooting through them in one fell swoop. By that time I'm already over par, and it's "Game Over!" Finally ... it's really getting tough!

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Excellent, forgiving controls, a relaxing atmosphere, cute characters and the promise of more difficulty to come ... Camelot has done it again!

This column is based on a retail copy of the game rented from GameFly.

Want to know more about Games for Lunch? Check out the FAQ here.

For more Games for Lunch, visit the official GfL blog.