OVERALL RATING		4.5
Presentation		4.5
Control		4.5
Gameplay		4.5
Fun factor		4.5
User Rating		3.5

Last year’s Mini Golf mobile game from Reaxion left the door open for other publishers to walk right in and be crowned putt-putt king. Very few attempted and no one accomplished that giving Reaxion more time to fix the framus and paint the poddar. With Mini Golf 2, it looks like that open door may now have been slammed shut.

Mini Golf 2 offers tremendous amounts of putting action in three modes. Training sets you up with practicing the intricacies of the game and its courses. Career allows you to create your own player and tackle the holes. Finally, Free Play gives you five sub-modes with varying challenges and two-player contest holes. These include Up to Par (minimum number of strokes to complete a hole), Time Attack, Counter Putt (2-player), Joint Best Putt and Joint Worst Putt.

There are six uniquely rendered courses with nine holes each, plus 20 bonus and training holes for a total of 74. The types of courses include a Lost Tomb, a Treasure Ship and a Vampire’s Lair. Each is filled with sand traps, water hazards, ramps and spawn holes. The holes are designed in a myriad of layouts ranging from easy hole-in-ones to very intense arrangements, some almost excruciating, but the good thing is that you’re allowed to restart the hole if things don’t go well. (Unfortunately, there still hasn’t been a design that fully implements interactive objects like castles, windmills, etc…)

Playing the game requires you to finish each hole at or under Par. When a course is completed with this requisite, a new course will open. You can control direction of the shot, strength of the stroke and the ability to pan throughout the course and get a full view of what lies ahead. The character can also be rendered invisible if it blocks your point of view.

Courses are themed like a mini golf game should be. The colors and images are fun, designed nicely and provide a great atmosphere. The banter of the course host is also welcomed. A nice little ditty plays at game start-up and sound effects in the game are well done. As mentioned, you can also create your own customized character choosing gender, handedness, skin, hair, pants and shoes. (Creating a player will allow you to access the online boards using Reaxions Gamarama service.)

Mini Golf 2 is head and shoulders above its predecessor with added game play, better visuals and a greater challenge. The only thing missing is a full two-player game for all the marbles and sliding barriers or interactive objects. However, this shouldn’t keep you from experiencing a great game of putt-putt.