Everybody's Golf Mobile

I've always found Everybody's Golf's name rather presumptuous. Like almost all sports, golf is an activity that appeal to a specific bunch of men and women. It's definitely not for 'everybody'.

That said, there's a sure fire way that the Japanese use to make each and every sport or hobby appealing to all: latch on some cute and cuddly characters. It's a tactic Sony's Everybody's Golf franchise has employed ever since its inception over ten years ago.

Quite surprisingly, though it's presented like a cartoon Everybody's Golf Mobile has a depth that makes some elements of the more simulation based golf titles out there look positively arcadey. However, in other areas it falls short.

To put it plainly, the actual courses (of which there are four, with three having to be unlocked) are fairly simple. One hole looks much like the other and, despite the odd exception, play involves you thwacking the ball as many times as it takes to get to the green in a fairly straight line, all before what is a relatively simple putt on the green.

At all times, Everybody's Golf Mobile lets you know just how far from the hole you are, meaning you can almost perfectly judge just how hard you need to hit the ball on each and every shot, taking into account the wind speed and direction.

The only problem is, Everybody's Golf Mobile essentially plays out on a series of 2D screens, set backdrops showing the ball flying through the air and landing with little dynamism.

Over hit and land in the rough, for instance, and you'll be treated to the same screen, time and again, the ball appearing to land in the midst of the wilderness whether it was a massive or slight misjudgement.

While this makes taking the game seriously rather difficult, hitting the ball itself is far more intricate than in the likes of the Tiger Woods series, giving Everybody's Golf a yin-yang relationship with its casual clothing.

The game splits up each shot into three elements. You first use the '1' key to give your shot a bit of extra power (limited to six shots per course), followed by tapping the '5' key to control the strength of the swing, before finally pressing '5' again to determine your shot’s accuracy.

It's a system that becomes second nature after a couple of holes, with the power gauge letting you know just how far your ball should fly in metres. This makes it especially hard to seriously misplace a shot or end up too far from the hole whatever difficulty setting you play on, leaving your success or failure down to your putting.

Putting is almost identical to standard shots, minus the '1' key stage. Disappointingly, the terrain of the green seemingly has little effect on the roll of the ball. Indeed, the only difference when you play in the top Master mode seems to be the skill of your opponents, a series of under par shots needed to stay ahead of the pack.

This all results in a title that falls between two stools. It offers a brightly coloured and, on the whole, simple golf party pack, complete with points, upgrades and unlockable characters aplenty; but there are one or two more complicated elements helping give it some added depth.

Just whether this will appeal to Tiger Woods aficionados remains to be seen, but it offers a more universal package than rivals such as Gamevil's Golf Superstars.

Even though it's unlikely to keep 'everybody' feeling sweet, Living Mobile's swing at Sony's Everybody's Golf is a solid putt nonetheless.

Everybody's Golf Mobile

Though not quite as universally appealing as the name suggests, Everybody's Golf Mobile does a good job balancing its sporting acumen with its mainstream appeal, resulting in a game that sits nicely between simulation and pure titillation
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.