Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! (Hands-On) (Nintendo 3DS) Preview

The answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! is packed with all sorts of wonder and glory, from the gorgeous Wii-level graphics to the upbeat soundtrack, showing the presentational qualities that has come to be expected from Shin’en, through to the wide range of minigolf courses and taxing trick shot challenges that can be unlocked as more point coins are accrued from the initial stages open to play through. Players are able to either use the face buttons to set the power of the club’s swing and the spin placed on the golf ball, or use the intuitive touch-screen sliding technique to gain more control over each shot, with the aim being to sink the spherical object into the hole on the other side of the course, just as in regular golf, except only using a putter and having a limited number of attempts to bounce the ball around the course successfully.

Steep slopes, obstacles, sharp inclines and drops, tight corners -- there is plenty of variety spread across the 81 holes found in the three cup locations of America, Asia, and Europe. Although there are only three places to visit on the chunky Shin’en aeroplane featured in Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH!, the number of courses included for a download title is impressive to start with, yet not nearly the icing on the cake.

Not all courses and locations are open to start with, and it is only through the acquisition of in-game coins that more can be revealed. New stage layouts, special retro sound effects for when the ball hits objects, as well as extra difficulty levels to tackle are available, either for use with one of the preset characters, or even a personalised Mii -- the latter of which comes only after completing the first set of stages, though, and after that the privilege can actually only be purchased from Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH!’s in-game store. There are nine environments to work through, with a further nine ‘Trickshot’ courses where coins in the field must be collected after bouncing off walls and obstacles as much as possible in order to garner more of a multiplier for greater point totals.

Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH! becomes highly addictive as players experiment with numerous angles of attack on each course (checking the on-screen arrows for accuracy), what sort of spin to add, as well as tinkering with the power gauge to cater for slopes and ricocheting from wall to wall in many cases, all the while changing camera angles to get the best view of the land’s layout. Two elements that are sadly missing are local wireless multiplayer and online leader-boards, and sadly this has the potential to stunt the overall longevity, yet it is still head and shoulders above the WiiWare version of Fun! Fun! Minigolf.