Parents' Guide to Carnival Games Mini Golf

What's likeable about the game? The holes are cleverly animated with, for instance, witches flying around and spiders crawling over the green on a haunted house hole. As part of the prehistoric theme, a pterodactyl will grab your ball and take you to a cavern for a mini game in which you use the Wii remote to fly high and low past obstacles. Similarly, in an old mine-themed hole in the Wild West section, you have to shoot ghosts in the mine before your ball comes out of the cavernous, spooky ruins and lands hear the flag. All of these mini games are a hoot and mildly challenging. One really ingenious hole has you putting the ball to hit dynamite, which then launches the ball into more dynamite and then into the hole. It's pretty exhilarating to watch.

While there's no denying that MiniGolf is entertaining, there are still flaws that set it back. For instance, you really have to whack the ball to get it to go with some speed, swinging fully of as you would in a real game of golf. The ball might roll into a corner, but the game then automatically places it in the middle of the course. You'll kind of wish there were more mini games in each hole, too, just so there would be more game here and more challenge. Along the way, you'll get prizes like a putter that looks like a train engine. But these add no skill to your game, just a cool-ish look to dress up your avatar. Also, the game would get more props if it had an online mode to play against folks who are hither and yon. Finally, younger, more sensitive players may become frustrated by the sometimes-mocking barker.