It’s probably not surprising then that Pro Golf borrows
much of Tiger’s key features. The career mode is amazingly robust, far
beyond typical standards for cell phones. While you cannot create a character, adding stat
boosts via new equipment and training is the titles addictive hook. Three separate courses provide their own set of unlockable challenges. Many are short, perfect for those quick sessions while the final championship is an 18-hole tournament. Each has a sizeable prize waiting for the winner to claim, while other unlockables such as new golfers can be earned for use in quick play.
Admittedly, the courses are the beginnings of the limitations. While the graphics are superb, many holes are reused, flipped usually to hide that fact. Multi-player cannot be done over your network and remains local by passing the phone around.
Those minor gripes are overshadowed by a nicely conceived gameplay system. Using a traditional three-click swing to determine accuracy and power, Pro Golf steals a few more concepts from Tiger. An extra power can be added by timing a button press during the backswing. Also, spin is handled once the ball has taken off. Both are familiar for Tiger Woods fans.
The game is overly forgiving, and the difficulty ramp only makes the swing meter move faster. You’re still given the exact distance of your shot in an overhead view with lie and height already factored in. This makes the title accessible for a wide audience, though the number of non-golf fans downloading this has to be minute at best.
Putting follows that simple angle. With an occasionally tough to read grid due to the screens low resolution makes a few green plays impossible, there’s nothing to do other than aim and putt. Accuracy on the meter matters significantly more here as even a slight miscalculation can send the ball careening past the hole.
Training can open up more “caddy tips,” in addition to more power and lenient accuracy. The tips display the path of the ball. By adjusting it and matching the line to the hole you can almost guarantee a perfect shot. Early in the career, there’s a nice sense of tension when you only have one chance to use the tips. Gaining more drops the already weak difficulty even lower.
That’s the only mark against this Singh licensed effort however. For quick bursts of on-the-go golf, they simply do not get better than this. If you’re even a remotely a fan of EA’s Tiger Woods series, this is a nearly perfect mobile effort that makes up for the surprising absence of Tiger 07 Mobile.
