Okay, I get it now. It took me a great deal of time, but I finally get it. Tiger Woods is a great game on the Wii. That should not be a surprise to me. When I first learned about the Wii and heard all the hype behind it my first thought was - "Golf games are going to be solid on that system."

That was my thought, but it took me a long time to find that thought to be true. Golf on Wii Sports is not the answer I was looking for. It does a decent job of showing off the controls with the Wii Remote, but overall is shallow. Golf is far too complicated for this type of game.

Super Swing Golf caught my attention and I believe does everything that the designers wanted it to do. The idea is simple, but the game play is more advanced. It kept my attention and entertained me for a short period of time. Still this game didn't fill my need for a great golf game on the Wii.

I needed something real. Real courses, real challenges, basically I just wanted real golf. I was stoked when I received Tiger Woods as a birthday present about 6 months ago, but after giving it a couple of tries I found that it was collecting dust at the back of my collection. This was not to the fault of the game, and now I realize that, but it did take some time before I realized all of the possibilities that come with this title.

First came the headaches and there were quite a few (some that I have come to love) about this title. One problem which is know fault of the game is that I received this game right around the same time as a couple of others. One being Pirates of the Caribbean. That game is much easier to jump into and get going than Tiger Woods even though the actual game play is far more shallow in Pirates. Pirates was more flashy and easier to dive into.

Second problem that I found about the game was the controls pose a different problem to all players. This drove me nuts the few times I played it in the beginning because I could not figure them out and was continually driving the ball into the trees, rough, or water. Basically, I was bad at the game therefore it was no fun. Still the learning curve on the controls is a little steep, but this is actually a good thing.

Third problem I had was speed of play. It was tediously slow especially when playing with multi player. There are practice swings, lining up shots, commentary, and the actual shot. When playing with a bunch of people who have not played this can be unbearable. I was asking myself why not just go out to the course - it would be just as quick.

After about 5 months of sitting amongst the cob webs I decided to give it another try. After all it gets good reviews almost everywhere I have looked and I love golf, so something has got to give.

I get home from work on a Friday and already have partaken in some Friday funday happy hour festivities. The plans had been to basically continue with these activities into the night with my girlfriend and a few other couples down the road at a dirty old karaoke bar. When those plans fell through and my girlfriend fell asleep on the coach at about 9 o'clock I weaseled my way from her grasp on the couch, grabbed a beer from the fridge and prepared to hit the links.

I put the game in with an open mind and a buzz. My character was created but other than that I was pretty much starting from scratch. I went into the story mode and played well into the depths of the night. It was still a struggle to get going and I had memories of what I hated about the game, but I made myself keep playing. I had a couple more beers and about an hour into it everything clicked.

It is as real of a golf simulation as there is for the Wii or any system really. My swing is still not perfect but I play the shots taking into account what flaws I have... Just like on a real course.

The challenges are challenging. You have to execute tasks and nearly everything you do is practice that makes you better. You gain skill in the game, but also in using the controls. There are plenty of tips along the way and even though challenges seem difficult, they are not overly complicated. Even if you fail a challenge playing it again is still enjoyable.

The graphics are also much more enjoyable than other Wii golf games. You are playing on real courses and against real opponents - you know the kinds with arms and legs.

Overall it took me about 6 months to finally figure this game out. Now, I get it. I know I like it. It is exactly what I was hoping for in a Wii golf game. I would still feel uncomfortable reviewing the game in whole, but on the surface I now understand how powerful and addictive this game could be to sports fans and more particular golf fans.

The only problem I have now is that I recently received Super Mario Galaxy for Christmas and I am pretty sure that once I get into that Tiger may find his way to the back of the collection. *Sigh* Life is hard...