Subscribe to the Family Gamer column:
RSS or
Newsletter.
Format:
Nintendo Wii
Genre:
Sporting
Further reading:
Sports games
Buy/Support:
Support Andy, click to buy via us...
The success of Wii-Sports golf has brought a range of golfing games to the table. These very in success from the excellent Tiger Woods 09 Wii to the not so good King of Clubs Wii. Crazy Mini Golf brings some seaside town fun into Wii golfing by bringing across this PC game and including some new controls.
Sports games recreate a wide variety of real life competitive activities. Depending on the sport, these will either have an action or strategy focus. Popular sports games are often released on an annual basis, each year the game receives new player rosters and game improvements.
Crazy Mini Golf provides a mini-golf game as found in many seaside towns. But it is the NuYu character generation feature that is perhaps most unique. Rather than sticking with the slightly limiting built in Mii creator tool on the Wii, Popcorn Arcade have developed a new system. Similar to the Mii's but more fully featured both in terms of options and accessories. As the characters you create can also be used in other games with the NuYu (read New You) feature this is certainly an interesting addition.
The golfing itself may be a little on the simple side, although we admit that Crazy Golf is by nature not a complex activity.The courses provide a nicely varied set of challenges, with the usual mini gold ramps, tunnels, and water features.
The swing can be either Simulation or Arcade. Simulation makes use of a back stroke and follow through pacing to calculate the hit strength. This is fiddley at best and at times may frustrate players. The arcade swing-style was a little more consistent, although the simple button press and swing nature made the use of gesture rather arbitrary.
Players will be attracted to Crazy Mini Golf for some quick mini-golfing fun. Certainly the NuYu character creator adds a lot to the experience. Seeing your newly crafted character out on the course is a lot of fun. The best experiences here are had with young kids, as they are happy to forgo the rigour of more competitive play.
You can play a single hole or a tournament or nine or 18 holes. This means that you can fit in a quick go before tea, or let your kids loose for a longer session to keep them entertained in the morning.
Young players are best suited to the game - provided they have someone on hand to help with the character creation.
Intermediate and Experts alike will find the simplistic swing and limited options soon lead to frustration. Although there is not a better mini golf game on the Wii, they would be better suited to the likes of We Love Golf Wii or Tiger Woods 09.
Andy Robertson writes the Family Gamer column.
"Videogame reviews for the whole family, not just the kids. I dig out videogame experiences to intrigue and interest grownups and children. This is post-hardcore gaming where accessibility, emotion and storytelling are as important as realism, explosions and bravado."
Here are the games I've been playing recently:
© GamePeople 2006-13 | Contact | Huh?
Family Video Game Age Ratings | Home | About | Radio shows | Columnists | Competitions | Contact RSS | Email | Twitter | Facebook With so many different perspectives it can be hard to know where to start - a little like walking into a crowded pub. Sorry about that. But so far we've not found a way to streamline our review output - there's basically too much of it. So, rather than dilute things for newcomers we have decided to live with the hubbub while helping new readers find the columnists they will enjoy. |
Our columnists each focus on a particular perspective and fall into one of the following types of gamers:
|