King Of Clubs – Wii
King of Clubs
King of Clubs is a British title by Oxygen Studios which was released for the Wii, DS, PSP and PC in which you have to tackle… a golf course!
Its story involves a rich Elvis-like man named “Big Bubba” who opens a themed crazy golf course. The game features 96 holes set in 5 different environment themes. Each environment theme has its own resident “Course Pro” resplendent in suitably themed fancy dress costume.
Throughout the game you have to score under Par to unlock new clubs, balls, Ball Tints (change the colour of your ball), Ball Trails (the colour of your ball trail), Sound Effects for your Putters (stop the boring “clang” and have the comic book sounds of “kapow”), Mulligan’s (retake your last go) and just to top it off, get your collectable action figure of each of the Course-Pros which give you 10% discount on items in the shop.
Big Bubba needs a new profile picture for facebook
When you first start playing the game you can select whether to do Single Player or Multiplayer. I’d recommend you have a go at the single player so you can unlock all the maps, if you don’t then you and your friends only get to play the first 9 courses which can get a bit boring the second time you play them. You can create a custom profile and name it what you wish up to 8 characters (I appropriately went with FAILBOAT). There are 10 custom skins to choose from 4 to start with ranging from your typical trucker dude in his check shirt to the pretty much naked blonde with the huge…Personalities and another 6 to unlock as the game goes on. If you’re playing single player mode then you will get to purchase an additional putter and a selection of balls to use. Select the ball you want and press the 1 button to buy it. Once you’re done with the shopping, press A and let the golf commence.
The first zone you play is the Pree-istorick zone which is one of 5 Zones in total, Pree-istorick, Eejipshun, Medi-Weevil, Tropical and Foochure. Each one has two sets of courses to complete and obviously they get harder as you go through. In each level you will have to go for all the classic rules of Crazy Golf…i.e. there are no rules! Well, ok…you have the basics, don’t fall off the track but that is pretty much about it! As you complete each course in single player mode, there are bags of money to pick up so you can buy items from the shops (mulligans if you’re as bad at the game as me!) and in Multiplayer mode there is a whole selection of what you can pick up…
– Randomiser’s that mean the other players cant choose what putter or ball they use
– All-in Which means the opponent has to sink in the next shot or incur a 2 stroke penalty
– Ball Bags which give you a selection of special balls to use
– The lock which means your opponents can use just the standard balls and standard Putter
The controls take a little bit of getting used too, for example the Nun chuck controller which you can use if you choose too is actually more of a burden than an advantage. I personally found it easier to use the up/down on the D-pad on the Wiimote when required. So, to Aim your shot use left/right on the D-pad, once you have your shot lined up, press A. Now, This bit was confusing, when selecting the power you have to aim the controller up and down to select your power…now, fair enough its only a game, but you wouldn’t aim a golf club at the sky to make sure you give the shot more powerful would you?? but once you have selected your power you hold A, swing the club back and then swing it forward still holding A to take your shot. You’ve also got the + and – buttons to scroll through putters and balls available to be used, Button 1 to Pause the game and Button 2 to change between a Birds-Eye view and normal view.
Golfing in space…its awesome!
So, what do I think of it…
The Game at first is a bit confusing but it’s a good game to play when you’ve got friends over and fancy a bit of a laugh. Unfortunately, you will need to go through the game in one player mode to unlock all the courses, even though all the clubs, balls and everything else are already unlocked in multiplayer mode. This for me is a bit annoying but it does mean that I have to play the game all the way through so I get to know all the courses… The problem with this…is I become THAT GUY! Yes, I get so much better at the game than everyone else that no-one can beat me and no-one wants to play against me. It doesn’t worry me, I have two hands so can use two controllers. And No, It’s not just me being really sad…It makes me so cool that I have the coolness of two people!
So, all in all, this game needs a rating, this game is fun to play; the courses are good fun with moving backdrops. It is the kind of game that you can pick up and play when you get bored if you’re on your own or you can play it with your mates. As far as Golfing multiplayer games go, this is one of the better ones. It’s a bit more awkward than Wii Sports Golf for example, but it’s much more entertaining, there’s far more to do, and the prizes you can pick up along the way make the game much more enjoyable. Oh, and the Cut scenes in the game are definitely worth a watch. I found them highly amusing and they give each of the course pros a bit of Character.
Final Verdict – 3 out of 5 stars.
Worth a look but if you want to play the full game make sure you play it before your mates come over.
