Mini-Golf Theme Park: 99 Holes (Smart Phone)

Spread across four themed courses, Mini-Golf 99 Holes: Theme Park gives you just that and one more: 100 holes of miniature golf. That hundredth hole is a bonus for your skills on the green, the core 99 laid out in increasing difficulty from the relatively straightforward course hosted by Mexican wrestler-turned-mini-golfer Macho Mustacho to the magical master course of Dr Von Putt.

There are five mini-golfers, four of whom you unlock by completing their respective courses. As wannabe mini-golf star Minny Golfer, you start off your career with a run through Macho Mustacho's course. The next course demands a silver rating or higher on each hole. Once everything's unlocked, you're free to switch among characters at will as you tackle the harder holes.

Instead of going purely by the number of strokes you take, your score on each hole is a factor of strokes taken, golden tickets and stars collected, and the number of times the ball hits the edge of the course.

Points are awarded or subtracted from the skill gauge running along the top of the screen. You begin each hole with a maximum gold rating, each stroke decreasing the gauge. Skilful strokes can bump your rating back up, but the objective is to keep it from dipping into bronze.

Fabulously designed holes ensure a fun challenge. Ramps and oddly-placed walls make estimating of your ball's trajectory tricky, water traps and tight corners hinder easy shots, and crazy obstacles like warp pads and unlockable doors add creativity. Special powers available to each character, such as the ability to halt the ball mid-shot or make it jump, throw an extra element into the mix.

You may get hung up on a hole or two, but it's rarely do to with a lack of skill. Superb coursework is utterly ruined by the inability to adjust the camera.

The touch-enabled stroke meter regularly covers up the location of the hole, making it extraordinarily difficult to aim for it. This practically kills the game. Either allow manual movement of the camera or automatically configure it so that hole is always in clear view. It's as though nobody bothered to actually test these holes before release.

The controls contribute a bit to the problem as well, failing to provide a precise means of directing the ball and the power of your shots. Arrow keys enable you to set the direction of your shot - alternatively, you can simply tap anywhere on the screen to adjust the angle.

It doesn't feel tight enough, much like the power meter that fills just slightly too fast when touched. This combination yields a control scheme that functions adequately, but not ideally.

Loading times are long, highlighting the problems with porting from mobile. Mini-Golf 99 Holes: Theme Park isn't flexing any complex 3D muscle here and shouldn't be taxing time for its mediocre display.

While there's room to forgive loading times and passable controls, issues with the camera effectively kill the game. Great hole designs and killer value are meaningless when you can't even complete holes because you're unable to see them.