Top 10 Golf Games

03. Otona no DS Golf / True Swing Golf

It may sound odd but part of what makes TSG such fun golf game is the fact that it was created for Nintendo DS. It also does not hurt that it ended up later in 2009 being offered as DSiWare. We'll get to the why of what makes that important in a moment. First though, something completely different!

As a bonus the game also includes characters based on game designer Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda) and Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President, which is a pretty cool egg for the serious Nintendoid.

What sets it apart however, and makes it a solid lock for our list, is its game modes -- four distinct modes to be exact -- and its in-game store with its sliding scale of goods and kit based on the player's progress and success in the game which, while that is not really remarkable today, was pretty amazing in 2005 and particularly for a mobile game.

The contents of the Golf Shop are divided into golf club sets, golf shoes, and golf balls, with the inventory being restocked and modified based upon the player's progress through the Championship play, offering the player mode advanced kit all the way through the Masters.

That's actually more important than you might think, especially with respect to the golf club sets that the player can purchase, since the club sets have different power-ups and special skills, and particularly respective of the club's effect on the ball when it is in the air.

The game includes fifteen unlockable courses, with the final three being extremely windy versions of the first three courses for added challenge and difficulty. Shiver...

The unique modes include the Championship Mode, which is more or less the story mode for the game, in which player success in tournament play allows for unlocking additional courses as well as ranking up - from Rookie to Junior, then Senior and finally Master..

The game also includes Free Round Mode, allowing the player to instantly begin play on any hole, on any course that they have unlocked. Match Play Mode has the player face off against the computer opponent - using different difficulty levels - for the match. Finally there is Stroke Play Mode, which gives the player access to any unlocked courses and which is focused on best strokes count.

While the game can't exactly take credit for this aspect of its game play mechanics, there is the issue that we hinted at at the top of this entry: the dual-screen that was the strength of the DS having added a level of game play mechanics and PoV that was unusual for a golf game.

On the DS you had two views -- on top the player view, and on the bottom screen a technical God's eye view -- which conspire to offer a rather unique take on the sport. Call it a more technical view...

While using alternate views and overviews is not unheard of in the world of golf simulation gaming, doing it the way that TSG did, and integrating the touchscreen into the process was.

So while the game can't really take credit for those innovations, the game play can, and considering that the unique game play mechanics are part of what made TSG both special and fun to play, in the end that offers the players something very much worth having and secures the Number 3 slot on our countdown.