The very best games will change the way you look at the world, whether it's searching out sniper holes on the walk to work or taking the racing line when you're pushing a trolley around the super market.
Super Stickman Golf 2 almost manages to pull off that feat, and you'll find yourself scowling at hills and stairs for a little while after you've finished playing. But it's marred by occasional difficulty spikes and courses that reduce you to babbling fits of frustration.
An odd walk ruined
That's not to say there isn't fun to be had in Super Stickman Golf 2's simple golfing gameplay - far from it. This is as entertaining a game as its predecessor, Super Stickman Golf, with a solid if not astounding single-player mode paired up with a riotous multiplayer experience.
IAPs explained
The currency in Super Stickman Golf 2 is called Golf Bux, and you can buy bundles of them from the in-game pro store. 69p gets you 50, while £13.99 bags you 2000.
You can also buy different boosts and game-changing devices for real money. There's a meter that shows you how powerful your last shot was for £1.49, for example.
An XP doubler lets you level your golfer up quicker and costs £1.49, while the final purchase costs £1.99 and lets you play up to 25 turn-based multiplayer games simultaneously.
The controls are all but perfect. Two arrows let you change the direction in which you're going to be hitting your golf ball, and a large button marked 'go!' starts a power bar swinging when you tap it. Tap it again when the meter is in the right place and your stickman golfer will take the shot.
Earlier levels stray to the saner edge of the golf spectrum, and can feel a little underwhelming, but once you've completed a couple of courses you'll find Super Stickman Golf 2 spreading its crazy wings.
Pink goo acts as glue that your ball can stick to, moving platforms attempt to block your shots, and cavernous pits wait to gobble up misplaced shots. There are courses based entirely on portal technology as well, which are a particular highlight.
Mildly crazy golf
There are plenty of cosmetic changes to buy, letting you kit out your golfer with different outfits and new hats. It adds to the zany theme that runs through the bones of the game.
For some, that whackiness is going to be too much. Others might find some of the drearier levels too off-putting to keep going, which is a shame because there are some real gems here.
Still, throw in a frantic race based four-player mode that you can play through Game Center or local wi-fi, as well as a turn-based multiplayer game, and 20 single-player courses, and you're left with a fantastic package.
Super Stickman Golf 2 might not quite make it into the big leagues, but it's still an enjoyable and engaging puzzling sports title, so long as you don't mind the odd bout of frustration.
@Eriatarka totally agree.
There is also a multi player! and yet it is rated less than that single player fishing game with the game-play mechanics of a doodle jump.
Joined:
Dec 2012
Post count:
30
Eriatarka |16:45 - 15 March 2013
I don't really understand why this is only a 7, it's an awesome game full of content. At least an 8 in my opinion, perhaps even a 9.
The IAP is completely unintrusive to the point where its almost non-existent. The problems mentioned in the article regarding spiky difficulty dont really exist since you get 7 powerups per course, meaning that having one bad hole doesnt ruin your performance for the whole course. The difficulty is very well balanced imo.
About the only thing I can find to fault SSG2 is the fact it doesnt keep track of win/loss stats for multiplayer (it would be awesome if it tracked your ELO ranking like Carcassone does), and the lack of local pass-and-play multiplayer. Apart from that its close to perfect.
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