DESCRIPTION

At the opening title the game shows its immediate similarities to both Hot Shots Golf and Mario Golf. The music is similar to both titles as is the character look and design.

At the start of the game there are several playable options. In the World Tour your player will golf on all five of the available courses. Doing well in this circuit allows you to unlock new clubs, balls and characters. The world tour is strictly a one-player mode. There is no realistic tournament available which forces players to make a cut and enter a four day tournament.

Free round enables you to pit from one to four golfers against each other in either match or stroke play. Another multi-player mode called Gate Ball allows up to four players to play as well. Gate Ball is very much like croquette and requires golfers to smash balls through gates before their opponent.

The actual play is once again very similar to Hot Shots Golf. After selecting a club, rather than using a flat bar to determine power, a circular meter appears that resembles your swing pattern. When completing the swing, you can hold the joystick in a certain direction to determine slice, hook, draw or fade, as well as adjusting your timing to compensate for a slice or a draw.

When teeing off or taking a shot it is possible to view the course in order to see exactly where your aimed shot will end up. Various camera angles will show the flight of the ball once it has been struck. In the options menu it is possible to select random camera views as well as several fixed views.

The statistical tracking records best scores and averages for many categories. There is, however, no name entry. Therefore, data is a conglomeration of all players' scores. ~ Jonathan Licata, All Game Guide