December 11, 2008 - The first game on the Wii, Wii Sports, had a golf game that had you standing up and swinging your arms to knock the ball as far as you could. It was far from perfect. Since then, there’ve been a few attempts to bring good golf games to the system, and We Love Golf is Capcom’s first try, and it takes an arcade-style approach in doing so.

We Love Golf is not what you’d call a ‘realistic’ golf game. Sure, it’s got the standard tournament mode where you try to get the lowest score possible, as well as a few non-standard game types like a one-shot mode where you try to make it as close to the hole as possible in one shot, a ring mode where you have to shoot through rings and still make par, and more (all amongst a roster of Capcom-themed opponents). However, I’d like to see you, try doing this in any other game while cartoony pirate ships float in the distance and a giant skull mountain looms over you. It is a mountain in the shape of a skull. You know that’s asking for something terrible to lurk inside.

The shooting mechanics of the game, at first, stand out. First you can choose your club and where you want to hit your ball, the path of which is represented by an arc. You begin by pointing your Wiimote down. This cues the character to do the same. Then you draw back to indicate your power (trying to match your shot arc means drawing back to match a little power indicator) then you swing forward at the right time for some good accuracy.

It’s hard to describe, but it’s really not that different than systems implemented in previous golf games. The only difference here is that you’re replacing button presses with Wiimote gestures. On one hand, that feels pretty pointless and not new at all. On the other, it works for the type of game We Love Golf is. This is not a realistic golf sim; this is a game where you can shoot golf balls through hoops as Chun Li or Claire Redfield or a host of other Capcom characters.

What this roster of characters emphasizes, however, is the startling blandness of your initial group of template characters. Play a guy/girls wearing shorts and a top, or the exact same guy/girl but with a different face and haircut! Not terribly impressive, and the outfits you can unlock for them don’t really add anything to the mix. The graphics are cartoony and the sound is decent (though if you don’t turn off the in-game control prompt then you’re likely to go crazy), and this lack of any interesting characters beyond the Capcom-provided ones is a little questionable.

I am not a big golfer. Heck, until I was 15 I thought a Double Bogey was twice as good as a Bogey. This is probably why arcade golfers appeal more to me than the more realistic type. It’s also really easy, in so much that you’ll be disappointed if you don’t manage to go below par or even get a birdie. That said, We Love Golf is pretty decent, but not much more. There’re other arcade golf games to be enjoyed if that is what you desire and while this game does make par, it’s certainly no eagle.

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