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Genre: Sports

Format: iPod Game

Developer: EA Mobile

Minimum Requirements: 5G iPod (video), iPod Software v1.2

Price: $4.99

ESRB Rating: N/A

Availability: Now

I've reviewed quite a few miniature golf sims in my day. In them, I usually point out how much I love miniature golf. How I'm the type of guy who enters (and sometimes wins) miniature golf tournaments. How I'm bored by regular golf because of the lack of windmills and loops. How I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never play another miniature golf computer sim as great as Gnarly Golf on the Apple IIGS.

I'll forgo all that this time—if it's not too late—to talk about how pleasantly surprised I am by Mini Golf for the 5G iPod. Surprised because 1.) I never thought games could be this good on the iPod, and 2.) because Mini Golf is better than most miniature golf sims I've played on my actual computer with...you know...a graphics card and processor power.

Mini Golf was developed by the EA Mobile division of Electronic Arts, which I find both encouraging and frustrating. It's encouraging in that a company as important as Electronics Arts sees the iPod as a viable, money-making game platform. It's frustrating in that they'll give us Mini Golf but still no Madden for the Macintosh. To be fair, though, Mini Golf is just an update of an earlier JAMDAT game for mobile phones, so I'm sure getting it on the iPod is easier than getting Madden on the Mac.

Anyway, Mini Golf gives you 54 holes across three separate courses: Tommy Totem's Tiki Putt Putt, Cleopatra's Mini Golf Oasis and Krazy Klown's Sideshow Golf-n-Fun. What I like about each course is that, for the most part, they feel like they could be real miniature golf courses. Yes, there are some hazards in the game that would be impossible to pull off in real life, but there's a logic to most of the holes (although that logic does get fuzzier as you progress through the courses). Each course has holes that are quite simple and some that seem to be there only to make sure you max out your strokes at least once (the stroke limit is a ridiculously high 10, but I guess that's acceptable when there's no one behind you waiting for a turn). Considering that you have to get par or lower on each course to unlock the next, these holes may prove incredibly frustrating to some. Yet, I hit par on Tommy Totem the first time I played it to unlock the next course, and although I didn't fare so well on Cleopatra's Oasis, my wife beat it on her first try to unlock Krazy Klown. In other words, none of this is that difficult.

To play, you click the center button on your click wheel to get the hole in motion. Using the wheel, you decide where you want your ball to be placed, then click the button again to bring up your golfer (male, female or random character). You use the wheel again to aim your shot, then click the center button to bring up your power gauge. A golf club slides up and down the gauge, and you determine the swing strength by clicking the center button at the appropriate time. It's a simple, intuitive process, although it will take some practice to get used to aiming, to swinging with the right strength and to dealing with the fairly decent but sometimes unpredictable ball physics.

The process can be affected, however, by the somewhat choppy graphics. There are little animations on each hole, and these can affect the fluidity of the swing gauge. It sometimes stutters, meaning you could end up whacking the ball when you meant to give it a gentle tap. I recommend letting the power gauge slide up and down a couple of times before setting your strength to make sure the animation isn't going to bounce around on you.

Frustrating as this can be, it's almost worth it because the animations are quite fun. They make the course seem quite lively, as do the bright colors and perky music (which you can turn off, of course, or substitute with your iPod music). The graphics are on par with those of the Nintendo Game Boy, and are much better than anything I've seen on a cell phone. The ambient noises are decent, too, but perhaps a bit over-stated.

Of course, the main problem with miniature golf games on any platform is that once you get good at them (and you will quite quickly), they get boring. On the computer, developers counter this with course designers that allow you to build your own holes. Here, you've only got what they give you. Once you've mastered the three courses, you're done, unless you're the type who can be entertained by attempting to beat your low score (the game does track such stats) or find the way to the hole-in-one on each hole. The multiplayer mode—which allows you to pass the iPod to another person for two player action, which I guess would get inconvenient with all the headphone swapping, except that you don't actually need to hear this game to play it—will keep things interesting for a bit, and there's a practice mode so you can take on individual holes to make sure you're ready for those multiplayer competitions.

Regardless of how quickly you master the courses, at only $4.99, you're bound to get your money's worth. I've already found the game to be quite useful when waiting to be seated at restaurants, when on road-trips and when bored at my in-laws' house. And, if you ask me, that's exactly what games on the iPod are meant to do. If you're looking to try out iPod game, Mini Golf is a great place to start.

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