This game is a pretty neat hidden gem on the Wii. It's literally like Gamecube's Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (being my favorite Mario sports game) with the same developer Camelot and music composer Motoi Sakuraba, except you have generic human characters (with unlockable Capcom franchise costumes) and motion controls. Sadly, I don't feel it stands up as well as the Mario Golf titles.

The course variety is huge with eight 18 hole normal courses, 2 18 hole short courses, and even a minigolf course. Design-wise, they don't really have any distinct visual variations between holes except for the final two Luxor Desert and Camelot Links courses (which is TOUGH), and even so, it's not memorable compared to MGTT's Blooper Bay or Peach Castle Grounds which are the best-designed courses in the entire franchise to me.

Since this is an early Wii title, you bet there will be forced motion controls. They actually work well, with a backswing to set power and a front swing to time the sweet spot. The problem is you're only swinging to emulate button presses on Mario Golf's bar system. It's not like Wii Sports Golf where how far the ball travels depends on how hard you ACTUALLY swing the Wiimote. You also don't have to option as for where you strike the ball, whereas Mario Golf games have this feature.

There are a couple more nitpicks I have with this game to Mario Golf titles. First of all, the same three songs loop for ALL tournament modes and character matchups, which is what you'll be playing mostly in single player. Each course has its own Stroke play music you'll likely never hear! The music sounds repetitive as a result, compared to Mario Golf games where each course had separate music for both tournament mode and stroke play mode. Also, the "pro tournament" mode only changes are that you start in the back tee, whereas in Mario Golf games they also have tournament greens (which are MUCH harder to putt), and I'm fairly certain an increased chance for crazy winds and rain conditions. It gave me no desire to continue with the game after I cleared all tournaments once. Also, it's strange Mii's are the last character you unlock, especially since this is during a time everyone would want to play as one (though they are instantly unlocked for multiplayer modes). At least Ring Shot is back, which is a great mode for testing your shot placement skills.

You'll probably have a good time casually playing this game, and it's easy to pick up with friends. I just wouldn't expect this game to exactly be memorable in the end.