The interface is a tad clunky too. In order to change your shot from a chip to a flop, for instance, you need to wade through two menus on the touch screen. Information like this should be readily available. There are times when you don't even have a choice, a critical mistake that should have been remedied. When on the fringe of the green, if the AI thinks you should putt, you putt. You do not have the option of trying something different. Toss that in with caddy tip issue and you have a set-up for extreme aggravation.
Saving this one is the overall package. It's quite simple really: when this game is on, it's on. When everything clicks, from the proper power to the simplistic putting, this game is a blast. Leveling up your character is an addictive experience, one that keeps you playing round after round. It's just as much fun as its console counterpart in this regard.
The graphics engine tries to mimic those massive systems, too. All of the courses are modeled in the same manner, shaving off a polygon here and there to save on system resources. Player models are fair, and since you never get a real good look at them, they seem just fine. Swinging animations are just about perfect, though the cinematics are extremely choppy. Background objects are better off not being mentioned. The two screens provide separate viewpoints of the action to help line up a shot, the bottom one mimicking the first Game Boy Advance version.
Audio is a sour point, one that truly shows this game was under a far too short development cycle. Notably, there is no commentary to speak of, something that really breathes life into the home versions. Sound effects, especially the infuriating sound of waves crashing on Pebble Beach, annoy more than add to the experience. Only the sound of the club connecting with the ball sounds about right. Menus are accompanied by generic music that hardly takes advantage of the hardware.
If you need a golf game for a road trip, "Mario Golf" on the GBA is a better option. However, if the game's characters and locations don't appeal to you, this is the best golf game currently available on a portable system. If you haven't played a console "Woods" game yet, you'll go through some frustrations early on. It's nothing a little time won't cure. Oddly, that's really what this game needed more of.
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