True Swing Golf Review

I have always made fun of golf for being incredibly slow-paced and boring. But then I actually tried it. The real thing. Not the frustratingly silly holes on a mini-golf course. And I realized golf is actually kind of fun and rewarding. However, buying a set of clubs and a season pass to the golf course can be a detrimental investment. For someone like me, a video game alternative always takes precedence. In the case of True Swing Golf, the switch-off isn’t as drastic thanks to the novelty of the DS.

You won’t mistake True Swing Golf as real life, though, unless your hometown features paper-thin trees and textures that look like a microscopic view of a knitted sweater. I don’t go into a DS game expecting quality graphics anyway, but there’s no getting around the fact that True Swing is ugly. This looks like a first-generation N64 game, and that’s no compliment when you consider Mario Golf on the N64 looked fairly decent. The characters have a few good animations when they make or miss a great shot, but the models themselves are quite generic and plain. There’s no personality at all to this game. As for the dual screen aspect of the DS, True Swing generally features a back view of your character on one screen and a top-down view of where the ball is going to land on the other. Having these available at the same time makes a lot of sense.

As soon as you click on the “Swing,” button, however, the bottom screen switches to an up-close view of the ball and your golf club. This is where the uniqueness and innovation of True Swing finally come into play. Unlike other golf games, where you likely stop a power meter, you use the stylus to pull back and swing the club. The more you pull back–or the faster you swing forward–the more power that backs your shot. You can also hook your shot or add top/back spin to the ball. The point is, you’re using the stylus to swing. It’s a simple mechanic that’s really easy to pick up and feels very refreshing. Granted, playing a lot of True Swing Golf puts scratch marks down the middle of your touch screen, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like this more than the usual fare.

But compared to the competition, True Swing Golf lacks substance. You can barely customize your character with anything. A couple colored shirts and maybe a cowboy hat are about it. When you first initiate your character, you are asked if you want to make him/her shy or outgoing, which affects how he/she reacts to good/bad shots. But there aren’t any shades of gray to adjust to give your character any real personality. Boring…

So character customization is a missed opportunity. But locked away in the golf gear shop are a whole bunch of new clubs, balls, shoes, and gloves to help boost your stats. Such novelties cost money, obviously, and the only way to get money is to enter a tournament. The game cites there are 40 players in each tournament, but you never actually see them. You just play the holes by yourself, then compare your score to everyone else at the end of each. It really keeps the game moving quickly, though. You can even tap the touch screen once you’ve taken your shot to make the play speed up even more. It isn’t uncommon to beat a hole in just a few minutes, and I like that a lot. Nobody wants to spend a lot of time waiting around on one course.

Having the game move quickly, though, also means it maxes out rather soon. While there are over 20 different tournament rounds to work through, you don’t really feel any particular need to “rise to the top.” You don’t open up anything special except for more golf courses (15 in all). While that’s certainly a decent reward, it just doesn’t keep me as entertained as, oh… Mario Golf where I kept playing matches to win new characters. True Swing Golf, too, features one-on-one matches against the computer that promise a special item if you win. Strangely, I’ve never seen what this item is. I don’t think it even exists.

Now if you can find two or three people who are serious about playing a video golf game, there’s a lot of fun to be had in True Swing’s single-card multiplayer. What’s particularly effective about this mode is the built-in Pictochat-like feature. You can write or doodle something and have it pop up on other players’ screens. It’s kind of fun to make your own range of emotions for every outcome while waiting on other players to take their turns. Unfortunately, each game card can only hold one saved character profile, so don’t expect any kind of robust high score list. I suppose this is to encourage people to buy their own copy of the game, but it’s an annoying restriction when I want to share with family and friends.

Final Comments

With the unveiling of the Wii and the many golf games therein, it’s a little hard to remain excited about “stylus golf” when the real deal is so close. But whether you just want a game of golf for the road or refuse to buy a Wii for whatever reason, True Swing Golf is the best of its genre on the DS. Spot-on stylus control really changes the way I think about video golf games now. However, I’m surprised Nintendo is asking $35 for what they are deeming a “touch generation” title. I’ll tell you right now: True Swing Golf is not worth $35. Paltry rewards and a bland presentation are very hard for me to recommend at such a high price. Let’s just hope the inevitable iteration of Mario Golf brings it up a notch.