Reviews > King of Clubs
(PS2) Hands-On Preview
July 22, 2007
No, King of Clubs is not a game of Texas hold-em, nor is it a new story set in Alice's Wonderland. It's a game of minigolf, and as far as I can tell it's a fairly good re-creation of the "sport," with a few bonuses thrown in for good measure.
The game is set in a broken down amusement park in the Nevada desert, where more than 95 holes of minigolf await eager players. There are multiple themed courses available, and the intricacies of each holes design rival some of the most elaborate real-life setups you are ever bound to encounter.
The game is playable by up to four players, with a surprisingly involved solo mode. The game features what is called "career mode," where a lone putter tries to score par or better on all the holes in each area. Succeeding unlocks new courses and items for use in all of the game's modes, and also nets players money for buying new equipment to help them achieve future victories over hostile courses. Little money bags are dispersed around the green, as well, and putting through them further increases cash flow.
Just for soloists, there is also a "tournament mode," where you compete against a CPU-controlled opponent over a full course, vying for gold, silver, or bronze medals, "gopher hunt," where you try, Whack-a-Mole style, to hit a bunch of pesky gophers before sinking the ball, and a practice mode.
Multiplayer includes "party" mode, which is the basic choose-a-hole-and-play option, as well as "grand prix," where up to four players compete in a series of three, six, or nine of the unlocked holes, chosen randomly. It also has a normal "versus" mode, which is a simple run-through of a single themed course. Both the single- and multi-player sections of the game include "speed golf," which throws strokes out the window and focuses on speed, no matter how many puts it takes. It plays out much like a game of speed chess...on a minigolf course...if that makes sense.
The game is fundamentally enjoyable, and offers a lot of crazy (and hazardous) courses to play through, as well as letting players use funky clubs and balls to gain an advantage. A few examples of these are the curve-right and curve-left clubs or the speed and rubber balls. Additionally, players can purchase mulligans (redos), music, and...action figures(?).
It's reasonably enjoyable for those times you would like to, but can't, get out to the old minigolf course, but the game really seems better suited for friendly gatherings. King of Clubs is scheduled for release in Europe this August, and later this year in the U.S. It will be available for the PC, Wii and PS2, initially, with DS and PSP versions to follow.
*Eddie R Inzauto - Senior Editor, GameWad.com
