Tue, 23 Jun 2009 by Mark Chibi
The 'Family' series is back with this golf-related offering - but does it buck the unfortunate trend?
Although the “Family” line of games hasn’t been met with the most positive reviews or sales numbers, Aksys Games still has the urge to keep the train chugging. As long as the franchise is making a profit for the publisher, the “Family” series is going to be around, even if most gamers are offended by the poor quality of the titles; Table Tennis proved to be a rather mediocre offering when it was released in 2008, and Glide Hockey and Pirate Party both lowered the quality of the series - if that was even possible. Does Family Mini Golf break the trend that its predecessors established or does it mark a complete turnaround?
As usual, Daddy, Mommy, Sarah and Billy are all ready to have even more fun this time around as they head to three exotic locations to play mini golf. There isn’t any particular theme present this time around, as in Pirate Party, but each locale has similar properties, such as color and land structure. Borrowed from its predecessor is the ability to download new content to the game, such as new courses to play on. It may end up being a little expensive in the end, but for those who like the premise of the game, it’ll end up being quite a bargain.
Also returning from past games are the simple and easy to navigate menus, all of which have a very modern feel to them. It’s nice to see the developers use the same ideas in each installment, but it would’ve been nice for each game to have its own unique color scheme. Say, for instance, blue for Table Tennis, red for Glide Hockey, etc. While nothing major, it certainly would’ve given each game a bit more personality.
Regardless, the core gameplay is pretty simple and easy to grasp. As usual, there’s both a single-player mode for gamers who have no family to play with, as well as a multi-player mode in which players of varying ages can go head-to-head in some mini golf action. Family Mini Golf supports up to eight players, which is a neat addition seeing as most party games only allow four players to join in on all the fun.
The whole premise of the game is pretty self-explanatory - a family of anime-style characters wants to play mini golf, so they head to a handful of exotic locations to do so. The goal of each course is to try to get the golf ball into the hole in as few moves as possible, but doing so is easier said than done. With obstacles polluting each course, getting a hole-in-one is going to take quite a bit of mastering.
As mentioned before, Family Mini Golf has three different settings to play mini golf on, and each of those contains nine different holes. One location has sort of a tropical feel to it as each course is played on an island, another is set in a park, and the final one takes place in a castle. Each golf course contains obstacles ranging from bumpers to speed ramps to fans to try and oppose your progress.
Regardless though, each of the courses is very well designed, with different elevations adding to the difficulty. In order to get a hole-on-one, you may need to send your ball up the side of a short slope so that it will hit a fan at a certain angle to propel itself to the hole at the end of the course. It requires quite a bit of strategy to get the perfect score, but the controls are so accessible that anyone can pick up and play.
Speaking of the controls, they couldn’t be any simpler to grasp. The D-pad allows players to move their aim when preparing to hit the ball, and a little meter flashes on-screen that shows how hard you’ll hit the ball. After finding a comfortable medium, you hit A to lock it and then just give a little swing. It’s simple, it’s accessible, and it works.
The single-player mode is as basic as things get as you’re just playing through the twenty-seven holes in the game, but the multi-player mode has players going head-to-head to see who can sink their ball the fastest. Player one starts things off, and once they sink the ball, the next player steps up to the bat, and the cycle thus continues.
From a visual standpoint, Family Mini Golf retains the simplicity of its predecessors, which isn’t quite a bad thing. Due to the target audience, the visual style really works. A little more color would’ve been much appreciated, especially on the island courses, but regardless, what’s there works.
1. sirgrim
23 Jun 2009, 14:31 BST
A lot more generous than IGN. Thanks for the review.
2. Hardy83
23 Jun 2009, 14:42 BST
I doubt the IGN review played multiplayer, and I mean, the game is 5 bucks... What do you expect? A $70 Tiger Woods on discount? lol
3. KnucklesSonic8
23 Jun 2009, 14:42 BST
Nice review. I still say Family Pirate Party is the best in the series (haven't touched Glide Hockey) but who knows, maybe Mini Golf will take its place now. How encouraging it is to see that the reviewer didn't stamp a poor score on it just because of the series track record and because of the simplistic nature of the title. If only such an attitude was shown in the Family Pirate Party review, especially since that game did so much better than Table Tennis in many ways (and that's not reflected in the review or the score).
What I wanted to ask, though, is that does it have a similar feature from Pirate Party which was absent in other titles in that you can change the names of the characters? And I bet now, more than one player can choose the same character? It's also worth mentioning that I've been told that the DLC is really challenging and it's been compared to a golf puzzle game in a way so I'm glad to see that the reviewer touched on it a bit and he worded it in a way that I would've worded it if I were reviewing it, too. All in all, it's because of this review and the thoughts of another individual that have motivated me to make the decision to actually get this after I had been on the fence beforehand. Thank you for having such an open-minded attitude towards this game. It's always appreciated.
@Hardy83: You sound surprised. IGN never takes the time to actually review WiiWare games properly. Always rushed. If they don't like the looks of the game, they'll bash it and make you think it's not worth your time at all and they don't care if it has redeeming qualities or not. Which is why I was surprised to see the approach that was taken in the Let's Catch review. Anyway, IGN shouldn't be trusted when it comes to WiiWare Reviews anyways unless they rate a game an average or higher.
4. Gizmo
23 Jun 2009, 14:54 BST
So it is better than "Fun! Fun! Minigolf"?
@ sirgrim: Maybe a little bit too generous
.
@ KnucklesSonic8: "IGN shouldn't be trusted when it comes to WiiWare Reviews anyways unless they rate a game an average or higher.":
This is ridiculous.
For example if you look a Metacritics or Gamerankings you could also see that Nintendolife give WiiWare games sometimes the highest score of all. Is that a reason not to trust them? If IGN shouldn't be trusted for lower scores, then yes...
One of the reason for the differences in the scores is probably that this here is a Nintendo website, so they don't compare the games with the ones from XBLA and PSN and have accordingly other expectations than IGN.
5. Dazza
23 Jun 2009, 15:45 BST
@Gizmo - It's worth remembering that this is almost half the price of Fun! Fun!
6. flatspikes
23 Jun 2009, 15:45 BST
It's these types of games that have me thinking... maybe I should spend a little more on PSN that WiiWare games this month...
7. jhuhn
23 Jun 2009, 15:47 BST
At least this Family game got good impressions, but the bad news is that you need to spend more Wii points on additional mini golf courses.
8. calculon
23 Jun 2009, 15:58 BST
I wish this has arrived before Fun! Fun! which happens to be the least enjoyable mini golf game I've ever played (train-wreck springs to mind and an expensive one at that)
9. Wiiloveit
23 Jun 2009, 16:03 BST
@calculon: do you ever post about being happy?
@Gizmo: remember that different websites have different meanings for different ratings, so metacritic's metascore isn't the most accurate thing ever.
10. KnucklesSonic8
23 Jun 2009, 16:13 BST
@Gizmo: It has little to do with the score. You should actually look at the CONTENT within their reviews especially those in recent times -- they're poorly-written, unprofessional, and totally rushed! This isn't just for WiiWare. Look at their Wii game reviews, too. There are some exceptions here and there though. For that reason -- that is, the inaccuracy of their reviews -- that they shouldn't always be trusted, and not because of the score judgments.
11. bboy2970
23 Jun 2009, 16:18 BST
Im not sure how much i agree with the score. Im equally unsure how much i agree with the “better than fun fun” verdict. The real thing that urks me about it is that it's control scheme completely defeats the purpose of the wii. If you have to stop a power meter which controls speed reguardless of your “swing”, isn't that totally against wii? why do we have to swing in the first place? Pressing a swing button would have the same effect on the game as the current set up. Mabey i'm picky but when i buy a wii game i expect just that, A WII GAME!
12. Mickeymac
23 Jun 2009, 16:21 BST
I have to agree with Gizmo - IGN's rating system is a different from NL's system, mainly due to the fact that it's a broader spanning site. Granted, I still say arguing over an arbitrary number is absolutely pointless, but I'm just state the facts here(the IGN-NL thing).
As for this game...shoot, I don't even like Mini-Golf, and the cutesy aesthetic isn't making it any more appealing. Yuhck!
13. Kknight
23 Jun 2009, 17:41 BST
So any comments yet from people that have played both this and Fun Fun? We bought Fun Fun looking for a "fun" mini-golf game to play as a family, but came away largely disappointed. The stupid out of bounds thing was absolutely ridiculous on some/most of the medium and hard holes. We played it a couple of times together, but haven't touched it since. This looks potentially more promising.
14. KnucklesSonic8
23 Jun 2009, 18:22 BST
@Kknight: I'd be happy to post impressions for you. I just downloaded it but I haven't touched it yet due to the Wii being hogged over thanks to NEVES Plus.
But I do have Fun Fun Minigolf (was gifted to me) so I'd be happy to compare the two for you. Would you prefer I post it here or on the forum?
15. Kknight
23 Jun 2009, 18:33 BST
@KS8: Either place is fine. Looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks
16. Objection_Blaster
23 Jun 2009, 18:34 BST
A 7/10 and the single-player "falls flat on its face"?
17. boomface123
23 Jun 2009, 18:54 BST
i figured it would be good
18. Tony
23 Jun 2009, 19:04 BST
This game looks like LOZ Windwaker Mini Golf. On a side note, I I thought Family Table Tennis was decent. It was just too short and easy.
19. Bulbasaurus Rex
23 Jun 2009, 19:31 BST
Okay, I'm confused. IGN gave it a 3.5, because it said the presentation is too bland, the courses were poorly designed, the extra courses are too expensive, the motion swinging and ability to stop your swing if you don't like your power level don't work (it swings as soon as you press A), and there's no way to gauge how far the power level will send the ball. Now I don't know if I should get this or not. Anyone have any problems with these complaints by IGN, especially the last two?
@KnucklesSonic8 - Post it here, because I'm also very interested in a comparison between them, and I don't want to go to the forums.
20. LEGEND MARIOID
23 Jun 2009, 20:42 BST
It reads more like a 6/10 to me, but its good to read the Family series isn't a complete disaster anymore. I downloaded table tennis which was spot on a 5/10.
I still don't think I'll download it even though I think "mommy" is cute (lol)
21. chunky_droid
23 Jun 2009, 21:01 BST
The reason I personally don't pay attention to IGN is the simple fact that they do seem to think it's supposed to be a 5 dollar Tiger Woods game. As opposed to what I can tell from youtube videos and people's impressions to be a fairly decent attempt at a full mini-golf experience for 5 dollars and less than 40 megs.
I know IGN is a broader site in general but come on, that's why they have different teams working on the different sites. You'd think the reviewers for the Nintendo team would have understood the point of WiiWare by now.
EDIT: I know it's a VC game but look at their review for Pokemon Snap. They gave it a lower score because it didn't have the new Pokemon in it, WTF?
22. Gizmo
23 Jun 2009, 21:13 BST
@ Dazza: Of course, but you also have to remember the costs for extra courses in "Family Mini Golf", although I know that both games have the same number of courses. But the whole presentation in Fun! Fun! Minigolf is a lot better than here, so this could be a reason for the higher price.
23. KnucklesSonic8
23 Jun 2009, 21:19 BST
@Gizmo: True but you're not obliged to get them. As a whole, there's more courses than FFM too.
@Bulb Rex: Will do. I can't say for sure when you can expect impressions as I'm quite busy. Maybe tomorrow or Thursday depending on when I can get an opportunity to sneak it in.
24. Gizmo
23 Jun 2009, 21:21 BST
Do they not have the same number of courses? 3 courses with 9 holes? The reviews say so.
25. Adam
23 Jun 2009, 22:59 BST
I'm sure it's good, but Wii Sports Resort is around the corner, and anyone with an interest in golf will have that or Tiger soon.
Pass.
26. Super Smash Bros. Fan1999
23 Jun 2009, 23:04 BST
At long last, a Family game for WiiWare is actually good. Despite this, pass.
27. Pablo17
24 Jun 2009, 00:31 BST
I don't think the reviewer at IGN understood the controls.
The review here is much more in line with my experience with this game. As for FUN FUN MINI GOLF, I liked it and the graphics were fantastic but family mini golf is the better value.
28. Twilight Crow
24 Jun 2009, 20:07 BST
Good to hear the Family series is improving, but I don't have a rush to play golf, so I'll wait for Wii Sports Resort, I was going to buy it for the other sports anyway, so the golf is an extra to me.
29. KnucklesSonic8
26 Jun 2009, 05:56 BST
@Bulb/Kknight: I'm almost ready to make a full comparison. What do you guys wanna know especially?
30. Bulbasaurus Rex
26 Jun 2009, 07:32 BST
How do the controls and course designs compare? IGN had negative things to say about those in their review of Family Mini Golf. Do you have any problems with there being no indication provided on how power translates into distance?
31. KnucklesSonic8
29 Jun 2009, 03:43 BST
No problems at all, actually. You get used to it and it works fairly well. Wouldn't say 100% accurate but well. Nothing wrong. Course designs are better in Family Mini Golf I find. More challenging for sure! Plus, I tried one of the DLC stages and boy is it tough. Controls in FMG are very pick-up-and-play and there's little difference between the gauges in FFM and FMG. There's like nothing wrong with the controls in this I dunno what IGN is talking about. And the "extra courses" aren't that expensive. If you like the game, then go for the extras. I've only gotten one pack so far though.
I'm finding I'm enjoying FMG when playing by myself than I do in FFM. It's still too bad there's no Course Records. That seems like a bit of an oversight but I am willing to overlook it. Next Mini Golf game better have it though.
Fun Fun Minigolf is 900, Family Mini Golf is 500. Get two DLC packs and that'll be the same price as FFM.
I can go into more detail in comparing them if you like.
32. Bulbasaurus Rex
30 Jun 2009, 22:50 BST
IGN complained that the A button automatically makes the shot at the set power level without needing to make the swing and without being able to release A and try again if you don't like the power level like the manual says you can. Is this true?
Sure, go into more detail.
33. KnucklesSonic8
06 Jul 2009, 04:51 BST
If you don't like the power level, you can release A and try again. What kind of info is IGN publishing?
34. Thomas Joseph
19 Aug 2009, 04:17 BST
For 500 points, this was a great buy. The one disappointment is that if you have 8 players, you're doubling up on characters. I guess having two mommies or daddies (or both) isn't so bad but it does get pretty confusing in this game.
Have only purchased one of the extra courses (EX #3) and it's nothing like the three which come with the game. Basically EX #3 is like playing mini-golf in the middle of the ocean on a metal platform. Are EX #1 and EX #2 the same way/style? If so, there is probably no point in buying them IMO.
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