We Love Golf!
is a 2007 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Capcom for the Wii. It is the first Camelot game since Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 to be published by a studio other than Nintendo, as well as their first and only game published by Capcom. The game was initially released in Japan on December 13, 2007 before being released worldwide in 2008, which included additional characters and online connectivity.
Gameplay is similar to that of the Mario Golf series, with players adjusting their shots with the Power Gauge and performing different types of swings with button combinations. Additionally, We Love Golf! introduces motion controls with the Wii Remote, timing the Wii Remote swings for more accurate shots. It contains a roster of original characters, with unlockable outfits from Capcom franchises and support for Mii integration.
Development of an online PC golf game named I Love Golf was cancelled due to market conditions, but was later helpful for creating the online code for We Love Golf! when released in the west. Afterwards, Camelot partnered with Capcom to publish a casual sports game for Wii, and the development team focused on creating realistic and natural Wii Remote controls. The visuals were also created to strike a balance between realism and fantasy. We Love Golf! received generally positive reviews. Several publications have compared its visuals and art style favorably to Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Camelot would later return to work with Nintendo, with their next golf video game being Mario Golf: World Tour.
Gameplay
We Love Golf! is played by swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club. When holding down the Wii Remote, the player will enter "Shot Mode" where they can hit the ball. By moving the Wii Remote further back on the Power Gauge, a more powerful shot will be performed, while the downswing determines the shot's accuracy. If the player moves the Wii Remote to the peak of the Power Gauge, they can perform a power shot, launching the golf ball further with more difficult timing. By turning the Wii Remote left and right, players can execute draw and fade shots. By holding down a combination of buttons before their swing, players can perform a variety of different shot types, the effects of which will be displayed on the shot guideline. When pointing the Wii Remote upwards, the player can view the course and adjust their aim, and when putting, they can view the terrain on the green. A talking Wii Remote with limbs named Chip provides tips to players during gameplay, with another character named Birdie speaking to the player through the Wii Remote's speakers.There are multiple game modes available in We Love Golf!. The Tournaments mode has eight cups, each being unlocked after the previous cup is completed. Strokes mode differs from Tournaments by having the player compete for the lowest number of strokes. Training allows the player to practice on any hole in the game, Character Match has the player compete against a character to unlock them in other modes, Ring Shot scatters rings across the course for the player to pass through while making it to the end, Target Golf has players aim at targets with different clubs, and Near Pin Contest requires players to hit the ball as close to the target as possible.
There are twelve original playable characters to choose from. All characters have unique stats relating to them, as well as distinct personality traits. The game allows players to use Mii avatars as playable characters. In addition, a number of costumes can be unlocked based on other Capcom franchises, including Ace Attorney, Darkstalkers, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. Additionally, the Tournament mode references multiple other Capcom characters as opponent names. There are eight golf courses in the game, including a beach resort and a desert ruin, as well as courses based around pirate and candy themes. It also contains two smaller courses and an exclusive course for mini golf.
The European, North American and Australian releases of the game also feature online play via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Players can battle online with opponents around the world to receive player medals or battle with friends privately. When competing against random opponents online, players are matched based on their skill levels.
Development
It was developed by Camelot Software Planning, which had previously developed Everybody's Golf and games in the Mario Golf series, making it their seventh golf game overall. Before it began conception, a different online golf game was planned for the PC market in collaboration with Eleven-Up, but was later canceled. The project was codenamed "I Love Golf", and went through closed beta testing, but was deemed a risky release due to the small PC market in Japan. Additionally, the company collaborating with Camelot had some issues putting together the online code, so it was put on an indefinite hold. Despite the similar naming, the two games were unrelated, although the testing of I Love Golf proved useful when implementing online play in We Love Golf!. In an interview, Nique Fajors, Vice President of Marketing at Capcom, stated that Camelot’s genre expertise collaborating with Capcom’s creative expertise was a "virtual hole in one". Camelot claimed that their partnership with Nintendo remained strong, but developing a traditional sports game without Mario characters would raise questions from fans, so they treated a project as an opportunity to branch out.According to the producer Hironobu Takeshita, day-to-day development was primarily handled by Camelot, with Capcom acting in a supporting role. We Love Golf! was viewed as a challenge by Capcom to focus on a casual gaming experience, since a casual sports game was far less commonly created at the company. It was "developed in a very short time", but suffered from some of their main staff members leaving the company after the release of their previous title, Mario Tennis: Power Tour on Game Boy Advance. As a result, no games developed by Camelot were released in 2006, as the company was undergoing structural changes with their staff. The new staff hired to work at Camelot were trained to become developers for We Love Golf! as well as future titles. During its conception after partnering with Capcom, Camelot offered to create a Capcom golf game featuring many of their iconic characters, but were suggested to make a Camelot golf game as opposed to a Capcom one. The addition of Capcom character costumes was done instead, and they were designed by a passionate graphic designer on Camelot's development team. When asked by Siliconera what other Capcom costumes they would have added, one of the Takahashi brothers claimed Viewtiful Joe was among their favorites, but noted the series was less recognizable than others. Using the Wii Remote as a golf club was designed to feel as realistic and natural as possible, but the graphics were made with a lack of realism intentionally as to not intimidate new players and appeal to a wider market. Additionally, the visuals were made to strike a balance between realism and fantasy to both highlight the traditional elements of golf while creating fun, fantastical locations. Handling the controls of the Wii Remote was described to be "incredibly difficult". The producers claimed We Love Golf! played differently from other Wii golf games such as Wii Sports and Super Swing Golf, which felt almost like golf, but had "a little something missing". Instead of putting the player in the shoes of Tiger Woods, their focus was on allowing the player to learn how to build their own golfing skills by using the Wii Remote. Producer Hiroyuki Takahashi believed We Love Golf! couldn't be on any system other than the Wii, and considered it to control better than any sports game currently on the console. Additionally, both Takahashi brothers desired for We Love Golf! to be their best golf game to date, of which they considered Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour to hold that title. The music was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, who had composed all of Camelot's prior golf games.
Release
We Love Golf! was first revealed in an issue of Famitsu Weekly in Japan on August 29, 2007 with a planned winter release. It was given a booth with sixteen playable stations at Tokyo Game Show 2007. The game released in Japan on December 13, 2007. It was announced to receive a North American release on September 13, 2007. When releasing outside of Japan, a few changes were made to the game. The swing speed for golf clubs on every character was adjusted, and support for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was added due to their popularity in the west. Its inclusion of online support also makes it one of the first video games with Miis being playable in competitive online play. Prior to its release overseas, surveys were conducted asking users which legacy Capcom characters they would want included as costumes. As a result, Ken from Street Fighter and Morrigan from Darkstalkers were added as costumes to the western release. Additionally, original characters named Mark and Stephanie were added for the western release. In Europe, Capcom featured the game at London Gamer's Day on October 19, 2007. In North America, Capcom held their Captivate 08 event with a fully playable version of the game. We Love Golf! released in Europe on July 4, 2008, North America on July 15, 2008, and in Australia on August 7, 2008. This remains the only Camelot game since the release of Mario Golf published by a company other than Nintendo, to which Camelot would later release Golden Sun: Dark Dawn with Nintendo as the publisher. Trademarks for potential successors to We Love Golf! titled "We Love Baseball" and "We Love Tennis" were registered by Camelot in 2008. Takeshita labelled the game as "the first in what will hopefully be a new franchise", however, this plan did not come to fruition.Reception
We Love Golf! received generally favorable reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a total score of 32 out of 40. Finnish gaming magazine Pelit stated that although the game was fun, it provided little to no challenge during tournament matches. A writer for GamesTM considered it to be "he best-made golf game on the system". Justin Cheng of Nintendo Power similarly called it the most enjoyable golf game on Wii, citing the unlockable costumes, online play, and minigames as its strengths.Many critics believed the game had a sufficient variety of game modes. Nadia Oxford of GamePro stated that in comparison to golf in Wii Sports, "We Love Golf is equipped with plenty of features to keep even single players busy", while Stephen Woodward of GameZone commented on the excellent replay value. Matt Casamassina of IGN stated there was a good selection of game modes offered, although some were lacking in depth.
Critics lauded the playable character roster for the inclusion of Capcom-themed costumes. IGNs Matt Casamassina, VideoGamer.coms Wesley Yin-Poole, and Official Nintendo Magazine praised this component, with Nadia Oxford writing for GamePro considering unlocking the costumes "We Love Golfs best feature". In regard to the characters themselves, Sam Kennedy of 1UP.com thought each one "bubble with personality". In contrast, Casamassina considered the cast to be "generic and forgettable", and Official Nintendo Magazine thought the Mii heads on realistic bodies was "just plain scary".
The course selection was received positively by many publications. Sam Kennedy of 1UP.com and Nadia Oxford of GamePro called attention to the progression of the courses, beginning in more standard areas before golfing in more unique locations. Both Michael Gapper of GamesRadar+ and Wesley Yin-Poole of VideoGamer.com claimed the courses were well designed, with Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer adding that the courses were "vibrant and friendly places to linger".
Criticism was drawn towards the game's easy difficulty. Eurogamers Tom Bramwell, Game Informers Matthew Kato, IGNs Matt Casamassina, and VideoGamer.coms Wesley Yin-Poole all expressed negativity towards the lack of difficulty in single-player modes. Yin-Poole believed the computer players were "generally rubbish", making winning less satisfying as a result, and Kato emphasized that the lack of terrain on the putting green made for a lacking challenge. Bramwell believed the abundance of assists during gameplay was a detriment to the solid controls, and Casamassina stated "you will feel you've played poorly if you par a course".
Many publications have compared We Love Golf! to previous entries in the Mario Golf series, particularly Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Jon Cartwright writing for Nintendo Life claimed that although it is separate from the Mario Golf series, its "ourse and UI design feel straight out of Toadstool Tour". Craig Harris of IGN similarly noted how the visuals were derrived from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour "right down to the font used for the game's text". It was awarded by readers of IGN as the "Wii Game of the Month" in July 2008.