Mini Golf
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| Mini Golf

There's quite possibly more mini-golf games available for mobile phones nowadays than there's real-world golf courses to play on in the UK. That's progress for you. The dynamics of the game suit mobile devices, so it's no surprise to find a mini golf title in the initial batch of nine iPod downloadable games.

The game is an expanded version of Jamdat Mini Golf, which came out last year for mobile phones. It's a slick, accessible game that shows off the iPod's capabilities as a gaming device. Part of this is down to its simplicity. You aim your shot using the scroll wheel, which works well, and then press your iPod's Select button to bring up a power bar, before pressing it again to hit your shot.

It's the ideal game to while away a few minutes on the bus or train, although equally it's challenging enough that we've found ourselves firing it up at home too. And it looks great. The viewpoint is top-down rather than 3D, but you can see plenty of thought has gone into the graphical detail.

The sound is also atmospheric without being intrusive, with the distinctive clonk of putter-on-ball that you'd expect, and other effects (birdsong, circus music and so forth) filtering in the background, depending on the course theme. Of course, you can choose instead to play while listening to the songs on your iPod.

There are three courses to hack through: Tommy Totem's Tiki Putt-Putt, Cleopatra's Mini Golf Oasis, and Krazy Klown's Sideshow Golf-n-Fun. Each has its own distinct style, with scenery, beasties and other obstacles in keeping with the theme.

At the start of the game you can only play Tommy Totem's course, but you unlock the next one by shooting a par or below round, and the same again to get the last course. You shouldn't have problems unlocking all three courses: the depth comes from trying to beat your best score.

The courses are challenging without reaching the eye-popping annoyance of some mobile mini-golf games we've seen. This is a good thing. You never feel completely stuck on a hole, and every obstacle can be manoeuvred around using a bit of thought.

Little touches help, like the way the image of your golfer becomes a bit see-through if he's in the way of the hole, so you can still see where you're aiming. Occasionally, the sensitive iPod scroll-wheel can make you mis-aim, but it's easily corrected before taking your shot.

There's a neat Statistics screen keeping track of your best scores, and how many holes in one you've shot, while competitive types will love the Pass'n'Play mode, where two players take it in turns to play each hole, with a scorecard tracking who's best. That might seem strange on such a personal device, but we spent a happy train journey playing against a friend, with one earphone each for the sound.

Apple has clearly been picking its launch iPod games with care, and Mini Golf is quite possibly the pick of the bunch. It's simple, fun, and works really well with the iPod's controls. If you're curious about this iPod gaming lark, Mini Golf makes an excellent first purchase.

Mini Golf

This colourful crazy golf game proves the iPod can be a very capable gaming device
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Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)