ZEN studios welcome us in to a great new game with the release of Planet Minigolf on the Playstation Network. ZEN studios noted for their fun loving ZEN pinball game, has introduce us in to a great new world of minigolf that allows you to have fun, listen to your music, and even create your own levels to share. Planet minigolf takes you to some wonderful worlds with some of the most wicked courses and holes you may ever see.
Single Player
Single player take you though a few courses from around the world, the courses are based off the location. For example Buccaneer’s hideout is based on an island and is surrounded by pirate boats and other things based on the location and name of the course. When you first start the game you get to pick your character and do very light customization to him or her as you need to unlock more clothes, and accessories though playing the game and earning badges. Badges are awarded to the player for doing certain activities like getting a hole in one or using a trick putt to sink a ball in the hole. The game does allow you to customize the way you play for instance the way you putt you have three options from Direct where you pull back on the left analog stick until you feel you have the perfect power and then let it follow though, Easy for easy you press and hold the X button until you reach the perfect power you want then let go, and three click in this one you use the X button three times here one is for the shot setup then the power level you want and then finally at the right time to release it for a perfect putt. The style you wish to putt at is in the options menu and is accessed by pressing START on your controller note you can’t change your putt style while in mid-game you have to do it before you start a game up. Well the courses are broken down into five ranges Warm-up, Pro, Extreme, Wacky and Custom. Warm-up is the first one in the line and has to be completed before moving on to the next one and so on, custom is holes and courses the community has made and published for all to play. Along with all that is option to YouTube upload your footage of your game, you had a great run on a hole and want to show others well now you can with the inclusion of the YouTube upload feature in Planet Minigolf. The game is quite rewarding to most and does have a difficultly level that most will find both easy and at times beyond hard to throwing the control in a fit of rage. As it takes a while just like with most ZEN games to get use to and feel out the controls and difficultness of the game, some of your putts you will power whack the ball and it feels like you barely tapped it at all and other times you light putt and it feels like your character just smashed it with a baseball bat. Well what is a good game without power ups, in Planet Minigolf you have a wide range of power ups that you can use to help you sink that putt or add more style to your stroke. The power ups for example the Guided controller one allows the player to use there sixaxis controller to control the ball’s direction and help you make that birdie. In addition to just the single player you can if you’re tired of playing the holes and courses in the game make your own as the game allows you to access all the options and choices that are in the game to make the sickest, coolest, badest hole or course you want. The options for making your own creation are limitless and are only limited by your creative juices.
Multiplayer
Well from a great single player game it has an amazing multiplayer mode for users to either go online or local with others in your room. In Local you can play with up to six players in certain game modes, allowing you to team up or just see who the best in your group is. Game modes for local are one on one, singles, doubles, and teams. All of these modes offer you the ability to adjust the level as you want and set up your own rules for the game. Allowing you to make the most fun for all involved and have a truly unique time with the game. If you don’t have anyone around then take it online, you have two choices online from ranked games and casual games, the difference being that in ranked you can’t change or mod the rules of the course as it are set to make things fair for all. After you choose which one you want you again have the same four options for match types as in local multiplayer.
Visual and Audio
The visuals in the game are very well done and make each location have its own feel and texture to it. Like when you play buccaneer’s hideout the graphics are really nice and rich and make you feel like this is so great of an idea for a course. The game does suffer from some glitch graphics at times pending on where your ball is and your putting other than a few times does it happen and other times your camera will somewhat lose focus but beyond that the graphics are dead on for this game. The character customization is simple but does the job for your character as you progress you can unlock new items for them that can show off some wild ranges and deck them out with custom putter and balls. Soundtrack in the game is not the best in the world and at times gets on your nerves a lot, but never fear as you can use your own music. Yes customizable soundtracks this game has, I would suggest make yourself a nice playlist and then load up the game and let your music take over. Another kind of annoying aspect is the announcer’s commentary at times is just either annoying or not even needed, no fear you again can turn off the commentary though the options menu at anytime.
Final Decision and Score
Score is 7 out of 10
My final thoughts on this game is that it is a great game to play and have others play with you, in fact more and more you will have more fun playing the custom levels others create then the ones in single player aspect of the game. The difficulty is on par for a ZEN game but at times will make so people just so angry that your character can’t put it right that you will throw the controller or just quit the game midway through a hole or course. The ability to make and publish custom levels and have your own soundtrack is right on awesome for this game, but the difficulty and at times glitching graphics do mark the game down a bit. The price is not bad at ten dollars but I fear some players that are not use to ZEN studios games will have buyer’s remorse. It is a great game for those seeking a difficult and fun loving game and are tired of the easy ones.
*BTW: I created a hole entitled F1rst Course, please take a look at it and have some fun with it and let me know what you think of the hole. If you can’t find it under that name just search my PSN ID in the search area for hole and you should find it then.
PLAYSTATION Network Card
