We Love Golf!

Developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Capcom, We Love Golf is a cartoony golf game for the Wii that should look familiar to fans of Hot Shots Golf, Super Swing Golf, and Mario Golf. Camelot is, in fact, the company responsible for the original Hot Shots Golf on Playstation, as well as the Mario Golf and Tennis series, not to mention Golden Sun and Shining Force. Did they draw on their past experience to produce a ground-breaking golf game for the Wii, or is it (painful pun incoming) par for the course?

What I liked...
-Excellent online gameplay. One of the main selling points to me was the online element. For whatever reason, I'm not interested in golf games with realistic graphics, and this is the only cartoonish golf game on Wii with an online component... and it does its job quite well! Unlike Nintendo's online efforts, there is no "connecting to Nintendo WFC" phase in the process. The online selection is available on the main menu, and you set up a room seamlessly. Actual online play performs very well, but with the game simply being golf, what else would you expect? Of course, there are friend codes. And there is no way to chat, unfortunately, so keep Skype or instant messaging on hand. For online on a Nintendo console, however, this is good stuff.
-Unlockable Capcom costumes. Every character in the game (and there are quite a few) have alternate costumes that allow them to dress up as familiar Capcom characters. These include cameos from Resident Evil, Ace Attorney, Street Fighter, Zack & Wiki, and more. These characters are so much fun to play as, I doubt I'll ever play as the admittedly generic cast in their regular costumes.

What's alright...
-Controls. At first, the camera controls threw me off, but they are actually quite intuitive. Pointing the Wiimote horizontally draws the camera to a shot of the area where the ball will land, pointing to the ceiling gives an overhead view, and pointing downward prepares your shot. You can also adjust how closely zoomed in you are, and the angle. Actual swing controls are on the iffy side. After pointing the Wiimote downward, you hold the A button and pull back, just like a real golf club. This sets the power, but you must set it quickly, because once you've started this process, it must be executed in a second or two. Sometimes it can be very difficult to place the power in just the right spot, but most of the time I found that I did fairly well. Then, a swish of the Wiimote will finalize the shot once the meter reaches the sweet spot. This can be performed with a "real" golf swing or any way you wish to do it, really. Unlike other Wii golf games, the actual angle and accuracy of your swing is irrelevant. This makes the gameplay a little less deep, but also a bit less suceptible to Wiimote confusion.
-Shot trajectory display. We Love Golf has no happy medium between spelling out almost exactly how the ball will roll and giving you no information at all. With beginner rules, you are shown where the ball will land and how it will roll, minus the effects of wind and of course your own inaccuracies while swinging. This is much more detail than other golf games I've played. On the other hand, master rules essentially tell you nothing, not even showing a grid where the ball may land. I feel like beginner rules make the game too easy and that master rules make it unfair.
-Course design. We Love Golf has fine courses, but they aren't very bold. I miss some of the really crazy stuff that I've seen in Mario Golf and Super Swing Golf, but "normal" courses are always fine too. Of course, golfing in jungles and desert ruins is still pretty crazy by Tiger Woods standards, I'm sure.

What I didn't like so much...
-Too easy. There are unlockable versions of tournaments and CPU players that are more challenging, but having played all normal tournaments and most CPU characters, my opponents simply can't stack up, considering I end up with birdies on most holes. This is disapointing, but online play was the main appeal for me.
-You'll never find anyone online. If I want to play with a friend, we can choose to play a friends match or a worldwide match... it doesn't matter, it's not like anyone else will be searching.

I gave We Love Golf 2/4 stars for "decent" on my Backloggery. I've certainly played better-made golf games, and unfortunately this one is just not quite up to Camelot's own standards. The swinging mechanics work most of the time, but aren't particuarly praise-worthy. An excessively detailed shot trajectory makes the game too easy, or almost no information makes it less fun. Aside from the appeal of the Capcom costumes, the game is visually too generic for its own good, losing the appeal of Mario Golf and even the Hot Shots and Super Swing franchaises, which offer similar designs. On the other hand, if you know someone else with the game, or agree to buy it together, I think Wii owners will have a good time with We Love Golf online. I got it for $10 and it is certainly worth at least that much. It's worth a look for fans of cartoony golf games, Capcom, or Camelot's earlier work, but don't expect anything to be top-notch.