We Love Golf: SPC's Top Five Golf Games Of This Gen

The brand new Tiger Woods game for 2009, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, is setting up its approach to hit the green of all three major platforms next week. I, and probably a golf bag full of others, are most intrigued with the Wii version that comes with or without Wii MotionPlus. This is a perfect opportunity to take a look at the golf games that were this past generation whether you prefer to play against PGA pros or bubbly anime characters.

5. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3)


The fifth console installment of the fantastic Hot Shots Golf series, Out of Bounds brought with it a new control scheme along with the traditional three input swing meter, even giving a player more distance just for using the new scheme. The online play is well-designed and very detailed as well. The main problem I had with this game is that it was essentially a reboot of the Hot Shots Golf franchise on home consoles. This wouldn't have been a bad thing had we hadn't gone from 14 courses in HSG4 to a pultry six in Out of Bounds. Combining the fact that there's more room on on a Blu-ray than a DVD, Out of Bounds is sixty dollars compared to Fore's original fifty dollar price tag, and there's far less modes and options, Out of Bounds, while still fun, is a huge disappointment.

4) Super Swing Golf: Season Two (Wii)


Although you could use the Wii's motion controls, Super Swing Golf Season Two didn't really utilize them well 100% of the time. Thankfully button controls were available. I definitely loved how much content was packed in the game, the handful of customizable characters that you could outfit with tons of costumes, shirts, jackets, pants, belts, shoes, and accessories to purchase as well as the amount of courses available from volcanic isles to a valley full of colorful cherry blossoms.

3) We Love Golf! (Wii)


A cheery and colorful golf game made by the makers of Mario Golf and Golden Sun, We Love Golf! is an incredibly entertaining golfing romp from Camelot with eight traditional courses, three short courses, twelve characters, one Capcom-inspired costume for each character, and one soundtrack composed by Motoi Sakuraba. While you aren't doing a real golf swing with the Wii remote, the motion controls used are highly responsive and are more akin to your traditional three-click golf mechanic used in the aforementioned Mario Golf. Couple online play and a new price of only twenty dollars, and you have an albatross in the making.

2) Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 (PSP)


Open Tee 2 took all of the content from the original Open Tee, the characters and six courses, and added a whole new set of characters and courses on top of them. Add in a meaty challenge mode where players competed in tournament or match play, and you had a lot of golf to play on-the-go. Why, you could golf on your PSP while you're golfing in real life! My mind is blown! Additionally, this edition marks the first time for online play on the handheld Hot Shots Golf series, and it's a blast with friends or total strangers! Strange how a handheld game has more content than a console installment!

1) Tiger Woods PGA Tour All-Play 09 (Wii)


Playing a motion controlled golf game with swings that actually work? Sign me up! And that's exactly what I did. Tiger Woods PGA Tour All-Play 09 (shorten the title, will you?) has an exhaustive amount of content. There's three different single-player modes from the traditional PGA Tour season mode to the Fedex Cup to a mode where you complete challenges like closest to the pin and skins matches in order to earn enough points to face off against a pro. There's about two dozen famous courses to play on, a myriad of crazy arcade-style golf mini-games from driving the ball through targets to putting the ball into holes of various point values, and one of the most impressive online networks on the Wii (that might not be saying much for most of us, but it's still very much impressive regardless of the console).


As for the time being, stay tuned for the review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for Wii later this month!