Carnival Games: MiniGolf Although it’s possible that you’ve played mini-golf before, it’s a sure thing that you’ve never played anything like Carnival Games: MiniGolf. Hot on the heels of Carnival Games , the million-selling original for Nintendo Wii and DS, Carnival Games: Mini-Golf comes exclusively to the Wii , bringing with it larger-than-life, theme park style miniature golf courses you will love, right into your living room.
A ‘Hole’ lotta fun! |
Hole in One Fun
Set across nine whacky theme park styled environments, the courses players will explore in Carnival Games: MiniGolf have something for everyone. Whether it’s a trip back in time to the land of dinosaurs, keeping order in the Wild West or searching for a buried treasure in Pirate’s Cove, the game combines traditional mini-golf fare with action-oriented game play - utilizing the unique capabilities of the Wii Remote. Toss in its multiple game modes, including single and multiplayer campaigns supporting up to four players, extensive character customization and accessories and a golf bag full of mini-games and you have the makings for a ‘Hole’ Lotta Fun!
Key Game Features:
- 1-4 player support.
- Built from the ground up as a Wii exclusive.
- 27 larger-than-life holes spanning 9 theme-park style courses including: Prehistoric Times, Wild West, Amazon Jungle, Pirate’s Cove, Fairytale Land, Egyptian Pyramids, Haunted Mansion and more.
- Win over 100 usable in-game prizes like custom clubs, Wacky Wearables (double the amount in Carnival Games) and special golf balls.
- Shoot for par in Adventure mode, master mini-games in Challenge mode or sink a hole-in-one in Trick Shot.
- Action-Oriented Game Play - Battle pirate ships, dodge alligators, jive to jungle beats, soar through the air as a pterodactyl and shoot ghostly ghouls.
- Play in Single Player, Multiplayer (up to 4 Wii Remotes at once) or in the Barker Challenge Mode - Go head-to-head with Carnival Bob for a “hole in fun!”
Screenshots:
 Practice a few Strokes.
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Whacky customization
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No really, whacky.
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Easy to putt greens.
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Customer Review: Good Family Fun
This game lives up to the Carnival Games line. My kids age 7, 5, and 3 all love it and have lots of fun. As long as you don’t expect true minigolf you will enjoy this game.
Customer Review: Best mini golf game on the Wii so far
Just to add, I haven’t tried Kidz Sports Mini Golf, but seems no one else has yet either. I rented this from blockbstr & beat it in about 5 hours. I really enjoyed it.
Visual Presentation: great colors, good graphics, pretty good layouts. The barker only does lame intros, etc. otherwise keeps his mouth shut. There is almost no loading time at any point which is a pleasant surprise.
Sound Presentation: bare bones. The background music is well suited & nicely done, you can’t change the volume on anything. In spooky area & Amazeon (Amaze-on), it sounds like reg people just made “oohhhhhhhhh” sounds. But it still works.
Avatar - very basic choices, very limited on face shape, skin color & hair, but a lot of choices in colors in shirt & pants/skirt. You can actually save your character in your wii remote to take to a friend’s house.
Prizes - if you make par or better on each of the 3 courses of each of the 9 sections, for every section, you get a club in that theme which has a cute animation if you hit par or better for any of the courses in the game. Such a pumpkin club, saber tooth club, knight on a horse club, shaman staff club. When you roll over coins in courses, in each section you can choose prizes such as balls in each of the themes which are nice & cheap, clothes which are always hundreds of points & weird prizes such as cupcakes or a raping gnome in fairyland that doesn’t leave the pro shop area. If you play in single player, you can choose at the start of each course if you want to play against the barker (you can’t FFW through his putting.) If you win over him, you get a barker coin which seems to only buy diff articles of his clothing.
Menu - Simple, very little option choices except for left/right handed. Pro shop easy to access during the game as well as going back/forth between theme sections (Prehistoric, Fairy, Wild West, Pirate, Spooky, Amazeon, Egyptian, Barn yard, Knight’s Castle.) When you click on a course before choosing, it will have the letter & the Barker coin lit or dull depending if you won the barker coin or got par.
Controls - I at first had trouble with the meter since I was used to the swing back holding A & letting go to set the power & swing fwd barely means anything. This time you hold A & do a full swing at the amount you want like a real swing & it DOES measure it very accurately. The meter is simple, it’s more of a muscle memory & practicing how hard is too hard/soft for each hole. I was very impressed. Camera can be swung & held at any point with 1 & 2 buttons to see overhead to normal human eye angle.
Courses/Sections: The 3 medium & 3 hard are locked until you hit par on at least 2? 3 courses on an easy section for each subsequent section. Done very well, each section has an Adventure (one which is the longest & has the mini games if you look for the alt. route), Challenge (requires hand coordination skill only) & Trick (sometimes is only about luck such as Barnyard & Knight has one that’s like a pinball machine only & you have to be perfect & also FIND the hole). Mini games are short & cute & simple & work well with the theme. If you’re successful, they will spit you out at the hole. The courses are simple for adults, but challenging enough for kids. Anyone expecting a head scratcher puzzle will be disappointed. If you’re truly stuck, you can always play against the Barker & watch how he wins.
Mini games - Tilting your wii remote in barnyard you catch eggs & coins, in Knights I believe you bounce animals over a moat into a castle. There are 2-3 shoot games style in wild west & spooky, etc., a basic wooden labyrinth in Egyptian, rhythm button in Amazeon, Simon says in Fairyland, flapping a pterodactyl wings in Prehistoric & steering a crab in Pirate’s. All games have a very sensitive response to any tilting which is great but take a little practice.
The only issue I have is a little bit with the physics, it feels like the developers definitely skewed it too easy/lenient on easy courses when you have a feeling it shouldn’t have gone in & say on hard, I had a ball go in & pop out 4x in a row like there was a spring in the hole. The AI of the barker is rubber banded to your ability overall.
Nitrobike When you’re out biking, don’t you wish you could go faster? Well, you’ll feel like you are with Nitrobike. In the game, Nitro-charged rockets are strapped to your dirt bike, so you’ll speed past your opponents to the finish line. But don’t use too much, or you’ll slide right into the mud. Wii Remote rumble, blur effects, and screen shake will make this the fastest experience you’ll encounter on the Wii. Play against your friends in the six-person online multiplayer game. If you like bowling, you can play the Rack ‘em Up feature, where you smash your bike into a frame of king-sized pins in the four-player game. You can also upgrade your bike and unlock lots of characters in the game. 
