Super Swing Golf Season 2

Tecmo and developer NTREEV brought Wii owners a port of the PC golf title Albatross 18 one year ago, renaming it Super Swing Golf in North America and adding some specialized content.

To its credit, the game provided the first full golfing experience based around swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club (for the purpose of this review, Wii Sports Golf doesn't count). Tiger Woods made the second big attempt, but even he has had trouble competing with the cute art style, crazy cast, horde of dress-up options and longevity of Tecmo's golf outing.

A new year means new Pangya.

Fast forward one year and a few hours later to Super Swing Golf Season 2. Initial impression: haven't I played this already?

Catchy jazz music - check. Lots of color - check. Start out with Scout and Hana in Blue Lagoon - check. Play through the story mode to unlock characters and items - check. Swing the Wii Remote or use buttons, both of which have advantages and disadvantages - check. Buy outfits, clubs and trinkets with the Pang earned from matches - check. Can't skip the computer player's turn - check. Needlessly tricky putting system - check. No online play - check.

To describe the game's core mechanics here would simply be a retread of my review of the original Super Swing Golf, as no changes outside of some interface tweaks has been made. To describe the game's visuals here would also simply be a retread, as they, too, are unchanged. Audio is largely the same, as well, although still great at setting an upbeat mood. While we're still looking at GameCube-level graphics, the warm art style retains as much charm as before, which might appeal to the casual audience Tecmo is targeting. The menus are a bit easier to navigate, although the load times haven't come down nearly as much as they should have.

The story mode, hereby referred to as "Tour Mode", has received a more intuitive face-lift. Players move their character around a Mario Party-esque map, making it much easier to gauge progress, switch between characters, and access the Clubhouse for changing costumes and clubs. The scantily-clad witch Brie provides information about each space, which will either be a versus match against another character or a mini-game like the new Driving Contest or Darts. Players don't need to best every space, but are encouraged to do so in order to earn coins that can unlock special challenges and hidden paths. Not to mention acquire more Pang for buying goodies.

The interface is cleaner and cuter!

The other single-player modes include Match Play and Stroke Play - same as last time. Both consist of sets of challenges for players to complete that rise in difficulty. These are also the only modes in which one can earn raffle tickets for the Spinning Dolfini mini-game. As in the original game, Spinning Dolfini gives players a chance to win items, some of which are exclusive to the raffle.

Characters have voices now, and by voices I mean repetitive and often cheesy voice clips that are only spoken on the tour map and the golf course. The cut-scenes with actual dialogue - the one place voice acting would have been meaningful - received zero change, and I'm personally baffled. The voices fit each personality well enough, but are far too lacking in variety and unfortunately cannot be turned off.

AI characters seem to be a bit more balanced in Season 2, although players still can't entirely skip the computer player's turn. Pressing the A button after a character hits the ball will 'fast forward' to the ball's landing, however, which can speed matches up slightly.

On the greens, the AI seems to have just as much trouble with the putting system as I do, as it is still difficult to gauge how the ball will travel when hit (at least without the appropriately named Miracle Sign item, which shows the ball's path). Players can adapt alright with enough practice, but the putting system certainly could stand to be more intuitive, especially for a casually-oriented golf game like this.

Yes, putting is supposed to be hard - not confusing.

While swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club is a great way to ease casual players into the experience, players looking for greater accuracy will switch immediately to button mode. After spending over half an hour in practice mode and attempting shots from every position, I'm convinced that the best way to hit straight is not as the manual or game advertises. The ball would almost always curve left or right when holding the Wii Remote with buttons face-up, but as soon as I turned the Wii Remote with buttons facing right (standing parallel with the screen), virtually every shot went where I intended.

A few other more uncomfortable positions yielded a similar result, leading me to think the swing controls are not as precise as they should be - or that the developers programmed one way and told players to stand another. The only apparent issue with button play is that hitting special shots using the control pad seems a bit more complex that necessary.

Will Season 2 introduce the new elements necessary to justify a full price tag? Be sure to come back for Stage 2 where I'll cover more of the Tour Mode and customization, along with multiplayer.