Game Reviews

Let's Golf

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| Let's Golf
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Let's Golf
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| Let's Golf

Most golfers take their game too seriously. Dredge any water hazard and the scores of clubs you would find having been tossed in frustration signals the need for a lighter attitude.

Let's Golf aims to loosen up serious swingers with a whimsical take on the sport. It does so to great effect, combining ease of control with vibrant visuals. While a tune up is necessary to address a couple of minor bogeys, it still tees up the best golf game on the platform.

Four customisable characters hit as many courses in three distinct modes of play: Tournament, Quick Play, and Multiplayer. As implied, Quick Play allows you to jump right into a round with any unlocked character and course.

This one-off option is complemented by hot seat and local wireless multiplayer modes. No support for online play, sadly, which does limit the game's longterm appeal.

Let's Golf emphasises Tournament mode by tying new characters, courses, and accessories to your progress. Easy, normal, and hard brackets have you working through competitive tournaments that rank you against computer-controlled golfers.

Two courses - Fiji and England - are available from the start, while accessing the venues in the United States and Scotland, as well as normal and hard brackets, requires completing four rounds of play. Achieving bronze, silver, or gold standing in each of these rounds is sufficient to proceed.

Placing in the top three is appropriately challenging, although the computer excels unreasonably at times. Even when posting a solid game under par, you may find yourself beaten by a couple of strokes by a competitor than managed to score -5 during a 9-hole round. On Hard this is palatable, but when competing on Easy it seems unfair.

Underestimated shots kill your chances of beating these computer competitors until you adjust to the game's mechanics. Let's Golf wisely sticks to convention with a basic swing gauge that ties power and accuracy together.

A tap starts your swing, a second sets the power, and a third tap finishes the swing. Shot accuracy is determined by the timing of the final tap: nailing the green zone translates to an ideal swing, while a slice results from missing the mark.

The game automatically advises you on the best club for each swing, as well as the distance, angle, and power for the shot. Club recommendations are always spot on, but occasionally it's necessary to tweak the distance and direction of your shot to improve your position on the fairway or green.

Of greater note is the underestimation of shot power. Hitting the recommended power for a given swing almost always results in the ball travelling farther than advised. Needless to say, this has the potential to add extra swings to your score if you don't take this into account.

Once you adjust to this quirk, Let's Golf becomes much more enjoyable. The courses are well-designed and vary in difficulty, ranging from the breezy seaside holes of Fiji to the hazardous mountainside games to be had in the United States.

Access to new characters and accessories provides incentive for play, but what really drives the game is fun. Let's Golf is enjoyable, easy-going, and the best pick-up golf game on the device yet.

Let's Golf

A bright, cheerful golf game that comes out a few strokes under the competition thanks to intuitive controls and great graphics
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.