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Classic Mini Golf 3D Review
Written by Louise Yang on Friday, May 18, 2007
Themed courses
3D graphics were too simplistic. Couldn't tell what some of the obstacles were. Too much loading.
You know those days where you're stuck in some work-related meeting even though you have nothing to contribute and all you can do is sit in the back and not fall asleep? Those are the days when Classic Mini Golf 3D comes in handy. The game is amusing enough to help pass the hours away, but not so engaging that you can't take your eyes off the screen and nod every minute or so and look interested at what Bob in marketing is saying.
Classic Mini Golf 3D is a typical mini golf game and if you haven't noticed from the title already, it's in 3D. The 3D models for characters don't have a whole lot of polygons and are therefore blocky, but hey, you're playing this on a cell phone, not a PS3. The models are detailed enough so that you can tell what your character is doing, but sometimes it's difficult to tell what an object is on the course unless you get close to it.
Luckily, the blocky graphics aren't much of a drawback in terms of gameplay because getting the ball into the right hole is easy. The physics engine is thankfully lenient. There's nothing more frustrating than having the golf ball roll in and then bounce out of a hole, or having the ball roll dangerously close to the hole without going in. As long as you hit it somewhat close to the hole, it has a good chance of going in. Since I suck at real life mini-golf, this is a welcome thing.
Hitting a ball consists of lining up your character left or right, rotating him around the ball for the optimum angle, pressing up or down to adjust the power of the swing, and then pressing the 'OK' button to finally swing. Timing the swing can get tricky when there are moving obstacles like jumpling platforms, but that's the fun of mini-golf.
The main attraction of mini-golf for many is the cheesy themed courses, and this game doesn't disappoint. The first course, which serves as a tutorial is even 1950s jukebox themed and it even comes with its own jukebox tune. Unfortunately, the tune got a little old by the 7th hole.
I wish courses didn't take so long to go through because I was eager to unlock the next course. It wasn't that there were 9 holes to go through, 10 if you unlock the bonus hole after collecting a bunch of tokens scattered throughout the other holes, but that the loading time between holes were pretty long. For a mobile game, such a long loading time may turn some people off because they could be playing another game during that time.
When I play videogame with pool or golf, I tend to obsess over finding the optimum angle and power at which to hit the ball. There's nothing more satisfying than lining up a ball so it bounces off four different walls and rolls into a perfect hole in one. The game rewards the type of people who take the time out to plan the exact angle to hit the ball since a lot of holes have a low par.
Classic Mini Golf 3D doesn't break any barriers when it comes to mini-golf simulation, but for a mini-golf fan or even just someone who likes playing with angles, it's a good time waster.
I was a bit peeved that the female character had to be unlocked in the beginning of the game, which meant I had to play as the male character, but other than physical differences, it doesn't really matter. The only thing that matters is finding that sweet spot on the wall that'll bounce the ball directly into the hole.
