KMGR of "Tiger Woods PGA Golf 2009"

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Tiger Woods PGA Golf is the juggernaut that pretty much relegated everybody else's golf game to an also-ran. Does the game continue its dominance in the mobile platform? Absolutely! With feature set that puts other golf games to shame! If you enjoy a round or two of golf whereever you are, you need to get this game. It's got everybody beat, just about.

TWG comes with no less than SIX complete PGA 18-hole courses. However, only one is included with the download. The rest you have to spend more bandwidth to download separately. Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Bay Hill... And you can even download PGA players to play as or along with.

The graphics are full 3D. Thus, it can give you a "ball cam" where the camera follows the golf ball's trajectory all the way to where it lands. There are real contours in the landscape. Bunkers and sand traps actually LOOK lower than the rest of the terrain. Even the fairway can be sloped, and water hazards really DO look much lower. All the textures look right, and the scoreboards have actual PGA logos on them. What's more, the vibration effects are perfect, as are the sound effects. Hit the ball just right (at the "sweet spot") and you can feel the vibrations and the clean "snap" of the impact. Hear the "tock" of the putt, and FEEL and HEAR the ball fall into the hole. It's all there.

The controls are simple: a "power meter" is used to determine hit power. Hit OK to start the meter, and hit OK again to stop the meter, which is the power that will be used. If you go beyond 100% and was too late to get 100%, you'll get a reduced power due to suboptimal stroke. If you want to force a ball spin to either side, hold one of the "side spin" keys during the stroke. Changing clubs is a simple up/down arrow, and aimming simple lett/right. Remember to account for the wind and terrain before comiiting to strength you plan. An estimated distance to pin is availble, but that doesn't ake into account wind, terrain, difference in height, and if you are chipping.

Putting is also excellent. The grid displayed actually shows you to contour of the green, with moving dots actually showing you the slope and direction of the grade! And you can turn the golfer off if it's blocking your view. There's even a putt path predictor that shows you the probably path of the ball if you putt at the recommended strength.

TWG has no less than four game modes: practice, quick game, tournament, and challenge. Game is available in three difficulty levels: amateur, pro, and legend. As you play, you also pick up "trophy balls" for certain achievements, such as "high and dry" (play through 18 holes without landing in water or sandtrap), "eagle eye" (got an "eagle" on any hole), "the bomber" (achieve over 325 yards in a single hit), and more for each course. Challenge gives you 10 strokes to finish up 3 holes where you don't start from the tee. However, alternative scoring modes, such as "skins", "match play", and so on, are not available.

In final thought, TWG is a complete package that is superior is almost every aspect than any other mobile golf game out there. And that's across the board. The overall package is simply one of the best golf games available on the market. If you like golf, you should not miss this game, period.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 (Hall of fame!)
Pros: great 3D graphics, courses, players... just about everything!
Cons: it's missing some alternative scores, like skins, and such, but that's almost nitpicking