Amju Super Golf is a 3D golf game targeted at the younger crowd, with its bright and colorful course décor, floating platforms and cuddly farm animals. If you are an older gamer, or simply young at heart (says those in denial), this game will not offer you much. The same applies for the kids out there with supercharged testosterones who would not be caught dead playing a 'girlish' game. WWE.com is probably what you should be reading right now.

Moving on to the game, you play as Amju herself in single-player mode, with her sister Marin making an appearance if you decide to go head-to-head with a friend. There are 2 courses to choose from, and 36 holes in total to be unlocked. The game play is simple enough for its intended audience to master within a few shots, and there are no sand traps here, no cross-wind to mess up your shots and most certainly no choosing among a couple dozen clubs with alphanumeric names that don't make any sense. Simply click, drag and watch your shots fly!

On your way to the hole you will have to navigate through locked doors and moving platforms, at the same time picking up bonuses in the form of hearts littered around the course. Locked doors can be opened by hitting the crescent moons found nearby, and there are also farm sheds that spawn cutesy little animals when you hit them. These animals in turn spawn stars that give you a bonus life (or ball) when they get hit. They will be hobbling around though, so it might be a good idea to pick up a freeze bean which as its name suggests, freezes all the animals in place. Demented as it may sound, it does get a tad addictive trying to whack the living daylights out of these cuddlies, and is a nice little distraction from the usual business of getting the ball in the hole.

The method of scoring for this golf game bears no resemblance whatsoever to its real-life counterpart. There are no par scores and no danger of bogeys. In its place is a system where you score points based on the number of bonuses you pick up, although in a recent patch you are also rewarded for minimizing the number of shots you take. You start with 3 balls, which you stand to lose by hitting them over the edge and into the nothingness beyond. You will be returned to the start of the hole if that happens, there're no easy-mode drop balls here.

Your character stats improve with each hole you play.

My biggest gripe with this game is the camera controls which are needlessly clunky and tedious, especially for a game which is supposed to be fun and enjoyable for kids. The camera always points directly towards the final hole, which is all fine and dandy, except when the course deviates in another direction or if you need to double back to retrieve missed bonuses. Imagine playing on a roundabout course and hitting the ball forward only to have the camera pan back towards the hole instead of following the natural flow of the course. There is also a binocular function, which automatically pans the camera to allow you to view the final flag and the course leading up to it. However, the camera moves too fast for it to be of any significant use. This is a bit of a letdown considering there is no overhead map, which is par for the course for most golf games. (No pun intended, really.)

Graphics:
The game is in full 3D, with a bright and cheery color palette which will undoubtedly appeal to kids. It does however get monotonous after a while with the repeating checkered platforms and all the pink and red hues. Environmental details aside, I really liked the modeling of the 2 lead characters: Amju and Marin. Granted, it's nothing revolutionary or high-poly compared to commercial blockbusters, but they've got just the right cartoony and endearing feel to them reminiscent of Sam and Max.

Sound:
There are some basic sound effects when you hit the ball or unlock a door, and these are supplemented by a decent background score with an 80s arcade-y feel to it. The music is also free for download on the Amju website for those young fans out there.

Gameplay:
The overall game play is pretty enjoyable and easy to master, but is somewhat negated by the non-intuitive camera movements and controls. Collecting bonuses lining the course Sonic-style goes some way towards breaking the traditional mold of golf games, although it does feel a little contradictory to the essence of golf, since players are now rewarded for deviating from the most direct route to the flag.

Value:
The full version costs $19.95, and consists of two 18-hole courses. The good thing about sports games is that they provide virtually endless replayability, since no 2 matches will essentially be identical. Amju Super Golf provides this same value, and you can replay the courses many times over to best your score.

Concept:
The premise of the game is simple enough: pure, unadulterated fun without having to master 20 different key bindings or navigate through a maze of menus. This can be a double-edged sword though, as the game does at times feel over-simplistic.

Fun:
Much of the fun of this game revolves not around holing the shot, but picking up as many bonus hearts as you can and believe you me, whacking the animals that spawn when you hit a farm house. I would have liked to see more character options other than Amju and Marin though, particularly players with markedly different golfing styles which would have injected a bit more replayability into the game.

Overall:
Once you get used to the nuances of the camera controls, you will find at its core a delightful game that should keep the young ones entertained for hours on end. The more mature crowd or fans of Mario Golf however will be disappointed at its lack of golfing elements and the simplistic gameplay on offer.