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Wii | Sports | Super Swing Golf

Boxart for Super Swing Golf
Super Swing Golf 76 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 2.50
  • SOUND: 4.00
  • CONTROL: 2.00
  • FUN FACTOR 3.00
  • AVG USER SCORE 2.1
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.4

Hands-On: Super Swing Golf

Hands-On by Chris Morell | 11/10/2006 | 16:37:36 PM PST

We hit the links and break a sweat with Super Swing Golf for the Wii. PGA Tour, here we come!

Tecmo swung by (no pun intended) to show off its first title for the Nintendo Wii, Super Swing Golf, a Hot Shots-like golf game that mixes realistic golf mechanics with over-the-top goofy characters. Yes, Nintendo's first-party Wii Sports does included a golf game as well, but Super Swing is a full-featured golf experience, comparable in size to most console golf experiences.

Super Swing is based on a Japanese PC golf game called Pangya (Albatross 18 in the US), and was originally a free-to-play download that offered purchasable extras for more snazzy features.

Super Swing features a nice set of more than 10 courses, but each course has 5 different levels of difficulty for a great deal of replay value. There are 12 playable characters, and Tecmo is sparing no expense in personality. With zany golfers and caddies a la Hot Shots Golf, Super Swing triumphs ultra-realistic games like Tiger Woods on the personal side.

The game itself supports four players, and is playable with four Wii remotes or just one that can be passed around, that is if you don't want to shell out for three extra wands. So for multiplayer, the game is as straightforward as can be, offering stroke play, match play, etc.

But the single-player career mode is where the vast majority of gameplay lies. It functions as a story mode, with each character having different paths leading to the end of the game. Each character starts on a different course, and you'll compete in face-off-like versus matches to advance to the next round. But the story will change depending on if you win or lose the match, meaning endings will change accordingly.

The swing mechanic works exactly how you think it would. To take a swing, simply lift the controller overhead to the peak of your swing, and when ready, press and hold the A button while taking your downswing. It really only takes a couple of strokes to get used to the mechanic, and then it'll be like second nature. The Wii sensor recognizes tilts right or left in your swing, so slices and fades will result accordingly; it's a must to keep the remote facing up or you'll end up in heaps of trouble. To aim, the 1 button on the Wii controller brings up either a ground or overhead view of the course, and shots can be aimed by either pointing the remote in the desired direction or by simply moving the directional pad.

The swing mechanic also recognizes how far up you take a club into your backswing, which then affects powers. So if your club goes 150 yards, but you only have a 120-yard chip to the pin, you'd only want to take the remote up to about the 80% range of your swing. Thankfully, this can be done slowly so as not to infuriate gamers with taking a perfectly smooth golf swing.

Putting works in the same fashion, though reading the slope of the green is the real key to nailing long putts. Super Swing uses a dot system that shows the left or right slope of the green. Positive or negative numbers are also displayed to show whether putts are up or downhill. There is a familiar grid that displays slope and direction, too, which most golf gamers will probably be familiar with.


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