1st Impressions: 3-D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures is a solid and quite enjoyable take on the classic sport.
The Bad: The two tours can be completed in a couple of hours, can get old after a while.
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Mini Golf has always been a child's introduction to the sport of golfing. Now, mini golf has expanded to being a popular social activity and now has it's own Xbox Live Arcade Game, thanks to Sierra Online and Assault Heroes developer Wanako Games. 3-D Mini Ultra Mini Golf Adventures is mini golf at it's best, in virtual form that is. In the single player portion, you can enter tours and complete a series of courses to move on, or you can make your own course to use online or off. There are two tours for you to complete, featuring 4 areas each and several holes in each area. Unfortunately, you can complete both tours pretty easily in a couple hours, but the game is enjoyable enough for that not to be that big of a problem. The gameplay is wrather basic, you aim where you want your ball to go, then hold down A to make it go there. There are lots of amusing shortcuts to getting a hole in one such as a saloon brawl and a cannon, and finding these during the single player mode will help when playing online. You are able to create a character, but you only have four models to chose from and four outfits for them, so it's not that big of a feature. Once you get use to the game, it's very easy to get into and to enjoy. Bringing the game online can allow up to four players to putter around, which should be a blast. The visual style of 3-D Mini Golf is very cartoony, but it's suppose to be. The sound effects and music are also well done and add to the game's overall flavor. Overall, 3-D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures is a solid, and very enjoyable arcade game that is the best game since Castlevania to be released.
Gameplay: It's a very simple game, but the wacky courses keep the game from getting stale very easily.
Graphics: It has a very cartoony style, which is fine for what it is.
Sound: The sound effects and music complement the game's style quite well.
Value: At 800 M$ points, the price is a little high, but it's worth it for the online mode.
Final Thoughts: Fore!!!