Super Swing Golf
Developer: Ntreev Soft, Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Genre: Simulation
Rating: E for Everyone
Number of Players: 1-2
Expected Release: December 12, 2007
Super Swing Golf Gallery

Korea's wildly popular PangYa (PC) golf game is making its way to the Wii, but with a new name and a few adjustments.

If you're familiar with Korea and the online gaming scene, you probably know a thing or two about Netreev Soft's PangYa. And if you don't? Well, you probably don't like golf or cute little anime-esque characters, in which case you're going to be glad we brought it up, because this game is much more than that. With nearly a dozen total courses and three different modes of play for single and multi-player, Super Swing Golf stands to be the first Wii golf game with a substantial level of depth.

In all of the six possible game play combinations, currency (known as Pang) can be earned and subsequently spent on clothing and gear - so you know right out of the gate there's more incentive to play than just getting to bang a few balls around in a mini skirt . Though, don't expect Super Swing Golf to be entirely like its PC sister. In fact, the Wii exclusive title will lose what really made PangYa so popular - its online multi-player. That's not Ntreev Soft's fault though - it's really Nintendo's. As reported by Joystiq, most third party developers will not acquire online support for the Wii until early 2007. The game wasn't always set to release on December 12th, it was actually pushed back from November, so there is always the possibility of online play being put back in. But even without it, that shouldn't stop you from picking up Super Swing Golf, because they've made a few adjustments to compensate.

While PangYa was designed from the ground up to be a "Fantasy Online Golf Game," Super Swing Golf has been developed from ground up to be a single-player Wii experience. More focus this time around has been put on single-player, with each character possessing a story arc and new surprises expected along the way. Tecmo's product specialist, Ryan Arbogast, has been quoted in an interview stating that the story mode is expected to fill in the gaps left by a lack of online multi-player. But that isn't to say that no online component is to be had in the future. Quite a few words have been thrown around about possible downloadable content, which will surely look to extend the life of the title.

When it comes to control, IGN reports in a hands-on test drive that it's about as smooth as any golf game they've played on the Wii to date (not that there's much in the room of competition). Expect to be able to pull off all your favorite shots from PangYa, such as the Tomahawk, Spike and Cobra. When it comes to moving the club, it couldn't get any simpler: raise the remote behind you to gauge the power (the further back you hold it, the more power that will be applied) and then press and hold the "A" button with your swing to launch a blistering shot reminiscent of a home run derby, or pull a Greg Norman and overshoot a putt from 3 feet out. It's really up to you. Heck, you might even end up missing a few just to check out the scenery.

From what we saw at E3, PangYa definitely managed more than a few graphical enhancements during its transition to Super Swing Golf. Everything from updated textures, to self-shadowing, dynamic lighting and realistically flowing hair (take notes, Tomonobu Itagaki), seems to have found a comfy home in the exclusive title. The original featured more than 15 characters (caddies included) and about 11 different courses, so there's definitely a lot of different ways to play the game, though it wouldn't be too far-fetched to expect a little extra in light of the exclusive label and admitted strong focus on single-play. Even with a single-player focus, SSG isn't totally neglecting its roots as a multiplayer title. While the box says 1-2 players, what it's really saying is one or two controllers. In the version checked out by IGN, they were able to play with up to 4 players by passing around the remote. And in an interview dating back to September, executive producer Kikuchi-san hinted at classic Tecmo character appearances when he remained tight lipped about the question. Long story short, we're looking at more than just a PC port for Super Swing Golf.