3-D Ultra Minigolf

One of the biggest problems with computer golf sims is that developers have yet to come up with a truly playable putting system. It's quite daft really - you'd think that a game that relies so heavily on being able to putt the ball might prompt someone to devise something a little more original than a click-dick powerbar. In an effort to make their golf game more challenging, Sierra have developed a mouse-swing-controlled interface that the player can use as well as the more common powerbar interface. It's been adopted in other golf games over the last couple of months with limited success, but it seems to work here because you're not actually hitting the ball that far, so there's less room for error. It might seem a little tricky at first, but the truth is it works pretty damn well and makes what might have been a very dull game indeed far more entertaining.

The trouble is that deep down, in its heart of hearts, Minigolf (or crazy golf as it's called over here) is little more than a novelty pursuit at the best of times. At the end of the day, it's really quite limited, and that's the problem with this game. You putt a ball through an obstacle course, and move onto the next hole. There's no driving into the wind, carefully selecting your dub, negotiating sand traps and winning trophies. Two-player games are fun, but only on a very basic level. Having said that, considering the price, Minigolf is fun, colourful and mildly entertaining - albeit only for a certain timespan.