Fun! Fun! Minigolf Wants To Be In Your Christmas Stocking!

Does look pretty good and i think it will do well but tiger woods is more than enough for me so i doubt i will purchase. Good to see some nice 3d graphics used in a wiware game!

Yay we will have fun fun for Christmas.

I'd rather have Animales in my Christmas stocking, but this is nice too.

Thanks Danik. We tried to deliver retail game quality for Wii Ware. And hopefully beyond..

So then December 22 will be Fun Fun Mini-Golf and Tiki Towers.
See to it The Prophecy comes true.

I've been excited about this one since we first revealed it. The Nanostray games were amazing, so I expect good things from this one.

Meh, no Fun Fun to Christmas for us

Shin'en is known to deliver in the graphics and audio department and judging from the trailer, it looks like they did just that. Hopefully the gameplay will be intact as well.

But yes the graphics do look great. It almost looked like as if it were a "Hot Shots Golf" retail game.

I'll be buying this game on day one! It looks very promising. And on an unrelated note: I was bored so i decided to read Gamespot's world of goo review. I was shocked to discover that they called the graphics "bland and "blah". That made me sad

@bboy2970: Gamespot reviewers are morons at best.

Like I said when I first saw it, this game looks fun. I'm a bit worried about the frame rate though - almost as choppy as trying to get out of deep rough with a wood.

Hmmm... I couldn't care less about the graphics. What will make or break this game for me (assuming the controls and physics are solid) are the courses and, frankly, I'm not convinced quite yet. Most of what I've seen so far is comparable to the types of courses I designed myself in Thrillville: Off the Rails (by Frontier of Lostwinds fame). So much can be done with virtual mini golf that I'd hate to see a simple replication of standard, realistic courses. Anyway, here's hoping for something special because this game could be a license to print money...

@Corbie: The Nanostray games? Amazing...? They were decent portable shooters, but I found them to be rather mundane myself. Fun, sure, but certainly nothing extraordinary. I beat both of them within a couple days and never really looked back... Not my idea of an amazing shooter, to say the least.

I'll wait for Family mini-golf. This looks good,but the controls have to be really good to be download worthy.

Any new shooter that's fun is amazing in my book. We hardly see any new ones anymore so I always get excited when a new one comes out. And I thought they were quite well done considering they were presented on the small Nintendo DS screens.

Plus they're a heck of a lot better than those boring Gradius titles some shooter fans hold in such high regard for some reason.

Ah, I get where you're coming from now. Likewise, I have been having a lot of fun with Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, which isn't exactly a great game or anything... But since there are so few original 3D platformers it's really sunk it's teeth into me.

In this case, my lust for a fresh experience in a nearly forgotten genre (barring the flood of licensed platformers or another iteration of a stale series, like Spyro or Crash Bandicoot) has overwhelmed any disappointment left by an obviously rushed development cycle.

EDIT: And obviously we have similar sentiments towards the Gradius series...

Whether this game is any good will hinge on how well the controls are implemented.

Speaking of amazing shooters Geometry Wars Galaxy is an awsome arcade shooter. Its for the DS and Wii.

Looks good. Sounds good. Theme's good.

Only gameplay and amount of content could let it down now.

Looks alright. But I have wii sports and that has a fairly good golf, so I'm not sure I wanna spend 900 points on this.

Also, I'm planning on buying a points card sometime soon (if not I'll get one for X-Mas) and I'm positive I want World of Goo, but that'll leave me with 500 points, and I'm not sure what I should get with that. Any suggestions? I'll take VC games as well.

@Gameking23: Geometry Wars Galaxies is awesome - and can be picked up for less than a tenner in most cases (on either console). The Wii version is probably the better one of the two, but the DS version has some better multiplayer modes and is overall easier.

RE: Fun! Fun! Minigolf
I've been quite excited for this for a while now, and so it's good to know that we'll be getting it very soon - even though it's a shame I don't have a Wii Sports Golf alternative for Christmas day...

Wow, the graphics are very, VERY nice, but I try not to buy games that are available as a free flash game, because there are many golf games found all around the web. This game is most likely NOT coming to my Wii this Christmas.

@Shadx:
I am also getting a Wii Points card very soon, and I am also definitely getting World of Goo, which will also leave me with 500 Wii Points left. I have been on vc-reviews.com many times and have searched for many good 500 point games. You should look these up:
-Castlevania III
-Excitebike
-Kirby’s Adventure
-Mega Man*
-Mega Man 2*
-Mega Man 3*
-Super Mario Bros/2/3
-The Legend of Zelda*
-Galaga
-Nebulus
-Gradius
-Kid Icarus
-Adventures of Lolo
-Paper Mario*
-Bubble Bobble*
I am not sure which one I am going to buy, but I am leaning toward the ones with *
So I hope that I have helped you out!

Looks very nice. I do wonder why they chose the odd 900 point but I guess its nicer than 1000. Hope it turns out. PS, I also want Animales for Christmas, because thats how I roll.

Finally a good sports game coming to Wiiware. I'll wait for the review of this one first though.

@Objection_Blaster: yeah, cos that's gonna happen

@Wiiloveit that is cool that you have played Geometry Wars. I was beginning to think I was the only one who knew about this game. I found out about this game last week at my local GameStop. A used one cost me $17.99. Have been having fun ever since. I hope to get the DS version soon.

@mojo25
-Kirby's Adventure
-Super Mario Bros. 3
-Kid Icarus
-Paper Mario
Those are all a lot of fun. Esp. Kirby's Adventure and Paper Mario. Also:
-Sin & Punishment
-Lords of Thunder
-Gate of Thunder
-Axelay
-Secret of Mana
Those are other very good titles if you don't have them. Just my opinion though, so go for whatever you want.

@gameking23
Geometry Wars is an outstanding game for the Wii and DS! Very addicting too!

Sorry for Posting it here! Next week Europe gets Niki Rock ´n Ball for 500 Wii Points and Art Style Orbient. But I hope a few games more instead of these two games. It says in the German Nintendo Channel, that Niki is coming

actually looks good

I may just get this, especially if the multiplayer is decent. This looks much better than the Wii Sports golf game and I hope it has just as simple controls.

I'm a huge fan of minigolf and this looks pretty good! I'm hoping the game delivers on a realistic minigolf experience. Even better would be if new courses were available as DLC.

@EJD
idk bout that but i do that it`d be the best golf game on the wiiwsre service

Not interested, golf games are not my cup of tea; I may get Mario Golf for N64 due to some nostalgia, but nothing else; still, I hope this gets to be a really nice game, for everyone whose waiting for it.

This game has some snazzzy graphics! It'll sell at least 1 Million copies X-D

It'll sell at least 1 Million copies
Not even close but it's nice to see those with high hopes.

As for me, I've loved this game since I first heard the name!
Nothing beats playing whatcouldbethe best WiiWare game to date RIGHT before Christmas.
I need something to play while waiting for people to give me stuff!

Woah this actually looks awesome! As long as the putting controls aren't as twitchy as the putting in Wii sports then we're good.

@ACK!
Is Mushroom men any good? What I'm interested in is the music since it was done by Les Claypool.

@Hilanderous: Mushroom Men is a fun, creative platformer with a brilliant art style. There are definitely some flaws, mostly due to an obviously rushed development or inadequate budget (most likely due to a change in publishers), but none of that stops it from being one of the most compelling platformers this generation.

As for the soundtrack, it's absolutely excellent. And although Les Claypool gets most of the credit, most of the glory goes to game audio studio Gl33k, who were responsible for the vast majority of music. Les Claypool lays down some choice bass lines like you'd expect, but in the end produced only 4 of the songs (out of many). Gl33k, on the other hand, crafted some truly incredible, atmospheric tunes with a ton of variety and creative instrumentation (kazoos, anyone?). As a big fan of Les Claypool, I appreciate his contribution, but Gl33k really deserves more credit for what they accomplished here.

Anyway, if you're looking for a great soundtrack, fantastic artwork, or interesting level designs, look no further than Mushroom Men: Spore Wars. Unfortunately, it's not as great as it could have been, nonetheless it's destined for it's own kind of cult status.

@RGVEDA: REALLY?! Already you guys get Niki Rock n Ball?

Ah I haven't listened to Primus in ages. Maybe I should dig out my "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" CD and give it another go. Oh and I also ordered Mushroom Men: Spore Wars after you mentioned it. I too am a sucker for a 3D platformer, of which there are far too few nowadays.

BTW: I read that the Klonoa: Door to Phantomile remake on the Wii is indeed coming to North America next year. Good news for platformer fans as it's the most underrated platformer ever made IMHO.

Looks fantastic but something just doesn't feel right....

Thank god I don't celebrate Christmas because this game looks unappealing to me. What do we get for Chanukah?

@ACK!
Thanks! That sounds like a ringing endorsement and I too love a good (or even decent) platformer. In my opinion, the kazoo is an underused instrument. I'll definitely pick it up sometime in the future once I have gotten through my stack of games that need to be played.

@Corbie
Definitely dust of Sailing the Seas of Cheese! That's a great album and very weird (but which Primus album isn't?)
"When the going gets tough and the stomach acids flow..."

@KnucklesSonic8

Yes, it seems so The German Nintendo Channel says it will be released at the 19th of December Translated in different languages.

@gameking23: I ordered it online last year as soon as I knew it was coming, and it arrived three days late (bloody Royal Mail), only for me to end up getting half the day off that day due to heavy rain, meaning I could catch up on what I missed over the weekend. Not that you wanted to know all that.

@RGVEDA: It says the same thing here as well. I am a little optimistic of the date, since Bernd at Bplus told me it'd be out next month, but either way, it still looks like a pretty good game.
Nintendo Channel info

Controllers: Wii remote
Age rating (PEGI): 7+ - Fear; Violence
Fight against monsters as rock or ball!
Platform: WiiWare
Publisher: Bplus
Wii Points: 500
Release date: 19/12/08
Genre: Platform
Players: 1-2 Cooperative mode
Languages: Eng, Fra, Spa, Ger, Ita, Dut
Related titles PLATTCHEN - twist 'n' paint

I enjoyed PLATTCHEN, so this should hopefully be pretty good - especially at 500 points.

UPDATE: Bplus have just confirmed with me that the game will be selling for 500 points, but the game is still going through testing and should instead be out in the new year.

Wow, Fun! Fun! Minigolf looks better than the most Wii-Retail-Games. But like many people said, the gameplay counts, so hopefully the graphics will not be the best of the game^^.

Thanks for the heads up on Niki Rock 'n Ball RGVEDA, at least now I know I'll need to purchase 1000(ish) less Wii points over Christmas

@Corbie: Yeah, I'm psyched about Klonoa... Even if it is a remake, it's about ten years old and, as you said, was underrated even at the time. I haven't played the game since it came out for the PSX, but I still remember the first level like it was yesterday. Great game, for sure.

One thing unfortunate thing I didn't mention earlier about Mushroom Men is that the last few levels feel somewhat unpolished and even a little unfinished relative to the rest of the game... It's like Red Fly needed more time or funds and after Gamecock (who banked heavily on the MM games) sold out to Southpeak they were given a edict--wrap it up in the next month so we can put it out this holiday, regardless.

Given the obvious amount of care and ambition put into this game, it's a shame that Red Fly wasn't quite able to realize their vision. That said, it's still a strong, compelling experience and one that I would recommend to anyone looking for an interesting, original 3D platformer, but it's hard to ignore the unrealized potential...

Cool! Aside from pool and pinball, mini-golf is one of my favorite simulators Not to mention the blonde girl in those screenshots is cuuute

@StarDust: Meh - she's not for me.

It looks really good, but where are the windmills, the clown's open mouth . . . i.e. moving hazards/challenges that require timing as well as aim?

The best minigolf courses I've played on have had a theme . . . wild west, carnival, etc.

It looks gorgeous (for WiiWare), but the holes themselves look rather boring. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm still probably going to get it if it clocks at least a 7 here, but when creating a videogame golf, it seems like they could've gotten way more crazy/outrageous, or even just imaginative with the hole design.

Ok, I just watched the trailer again, and the holes don't look too boring. At least they put in the loop-de-loop.

(impatiently taps calendar, waiting for January 2nd)

j