Specs:
Game:  We Love Golf!
Year:  2008
Publisher:  Capcom
Developer:  Camelot Software Planning
Controls: Nintendo Wii Remote
Number of Players:  1-4
Average Cost:  $5 used - $20 new
Also Available On:  Exclusive to the Nintendo Wii





It still amazes me that golf, one of the most cumbersome, frustrating, and slow-paced sports, was even considered for production by early video game developers.  However, we can trace the roots of the modern golf home console game to several early systems, including the Atari 2600 (1978), the Magnavox Odyssey (1978), and even the Intellivision (1980).  Sure, these early versions were pretty horrific (i.e. whack a square ball and hope that it moves at least in the vicinity of the similarly square hole) and almost as frustrating as actually being on the golf course.  But somehow, programmers were able to peak enough gamers interest to keep them motivated to continue plugging away and create a more realistic product with true conditions and on-the-fly decision making.  Are golf games still frustrating, hell yeah, but at least gamers are now better able to understand what factors resulted in a bad shot and are able to adjust accordingly.

The next big step in golfs movement toward success on the home console was the title Golf (how extraordinarily clever) on the NES.  Golf allowed players to select different clubs with different lengths, judge the distance to the hole, more accurately adjust the power of shots, use fades and draws to manipulate shots, and most importantly, created the oh so popular (and still in existence after an amazing 26 years!!) 3-touch swing system: 1. start backswing, 2. break backswing to accelerate forward, and 3. impact.


However, the success of golf on the home console really took off in 1998, coinciding with the release of two important titles: Mario Golf (N64) and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 99.  Nintendos most beloved icon, Mario, drew immediate credibility to the N64 title, and the rise of the great Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour was enough to get games flying of the shelves and create undoubtedly the most successful video game golf franchise in history.  Nineteen ninety-eight was also the year an initially quiet, but fantastic golf title was created for Sonys Playstation: Hot Shots Golf.  Hot Shots was a good mixture of its contemporaries and combined the fun, cartoon appeal of Mario Golf and the realism, accuracy, and skill of Tiger Woods.  We Love Golf! for the Nintendo Wii owes a great indebtedness to these earlier titles, yet sets itself apart from other golf games and creates a solid precedent for those that follow.

We Love Golf (WLG) was published by Capcom and developed by Camelot, the same team behind the development of the Mario Golf and Hot Shots Golf franchises.  It was released in North America on July 15, 2008, and offered gamers a fine alternative to the 10 year, ongoing dominance of the Tiger Woods series.  WLG was one of the first games to integrate the motion detection software of the Wii with the classic 3-touch swing system.  Instead of whacking away and pacing shots with the Wii remote (as in the 9-hole Wii Sports version), gamers are now able to swing the controller like an actual golf club and create certain variables (fade, draw, backspin, topspin, etc.) to more accurately place shots on the course.  Youre not going to improve your golf game swinging the Wii remote, but it is a fun and clever addition to interaction with the system, which was the original focus of the Wii's advertising campaign.


In terms of gameplay, the controls and set up of WLG arent that bad.  Though not perfect by any means, swinging the club is quite fluid and natural.  You cant swing as hard as you would a normal club, but you can certainly do a nice, solid practice swing and attain good results.  Twisting the Wii remote in and out, makes the ball draw and fade, just as if you were opening or closing the face of the club head.  Backspin and topspin take no special effort and are accomplished by holding down the 1 and 2 buttons on the Wii remote.  The slender design of the controller allows for an almost flawless golf grip, if you so choose, and the placement of the buttons allows for a fairly natural feel since you dont have to manipulate your finger placement a great deal.  One concern with the earlier Japanese release was the difficulty of putting; however, adjustments were made to the game before the North American release and now some feel that putting is too easy.  I agree that putting in WLG is easier than in most golf games, but feel that its pretty accurate and not so difficult that it becomes an overly frustrating part of the game.
 
Other prominent features of WLG include the ability to use your Mii avatar and play against online opponents across the globe through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Developers were also kind enough to take southpaws into consideration by creating one of the, if not the first, left-handed modes for the home console.  And just when you thought it couldnt get any better, the wily publishers created a great cast of unlockable Capcom characters.  These unlockables include: Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Sakura, and Guile from the Street Fighter 2 series, Zack and Captain Rose (Zack and Wiki), Morrigan (Darkstalkers), Arthur (Ghosts N Goblins), Apollo Justice, Jill Valentine (Resident Evil), Pearl Fey (Phoenix Wright), as well as other secret costumes that are rumored to exist.

 
WLG for the Nintendo Wii is a good combination of the best elements of the more fantastical Hot Shots Golf and the more realistic Tiger Woods PGA Tour series.  The cast of main characters are strictly human, bland and ultimately forgettable, but the gameplay and potential unlockable characters overcompensate for this lack of creativity.  The courses are diverse and their themes range from normal to abnormal (with candy land, pirate, and Mayan/Aztec themes, etc.) and there are several fun and challenging mini-games for those who want more than standard golf out of a golf title.  Though a dichotomy between gamers exists in terms of those who are primarily sports game fans and those who prefer platformers, RPGs, and other more traditional titles, WLG is a game I think that anyone of varying age and preference would enjoy.

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