Par 3 Golf II

Golf games and computers continue to go together like peanut butter and jelly, despite seemingly being an odd mixture. Still, when it’s pouring with rain outside and freezing cold, what better way to relax than cracking balls up a virtual fairway from the comfort of your iPhone? Which is where Par 3 Golf II comes, in with realistic physics and a sensibly simple interface. We’re not talking PGA Tour here, more a fun Sunday jaunt around your local pitch and putt course.

The decision by the developers to limit each hole to being a ‘Par 3′ is a little strange, but I guess it fits in with the whole ‘fun vs simulation’ feel. Rather than model each hole realistically (there are four themed courses available), each is mathematically precise, with straight line gradients. The resulting world looks a bit odd, but the concept is saved by the way your ball behaves utterly believably when encountering these gradients, rolling back down a slope or into a bunker, for example.

Shot control is via a 2-click system, i.e. you simply set the power of each shot – timing only ‘goes wrong’ if you let the power bar get to the full 100%, a system which works fairly well. Once hit, your ball’s path is shown in 2D, from on high. An optional computer player is provided to give you a little competitive edge, even if the real opponent, as usual in golf, is the course itself.

Par 3 Golf II is let down slightly by three things, all fixable for Par 3 Golf III, perhaps? Firstly, short putts are almost impossible – having to putt around 2 feet when your putter is rated at 100 feet means having to stop the power bar at only 2 or 3%, a task which is fiddly in the extreme. Most games solve this by scaling the putter’s reach according to the shot in hand – Par 3 Golf II needs to learn from this.

Secondly, I get the impression that most of the work has been done on the graphics engine and physics, since the help, menu, scoreboard and end-of-round screens are minimalist to say the least. More atmosphere is needed. Lastly, there are still some out and out bugs, such as when the computer player fires off a shot and it rolls back into a lake. He/she tries again – and again – and again, with the AI not being clever enough to adjust or try something different.

But I’m being a little picky for such a good value game. And I’ve saved the best for last – Par 3 Golf II works in landscape mode too – just rotate your iPhone or iPod Touch and the game neatly redraws itself in glorious high definition for the wide screen.

The best golf game on the iPhone platform so far. This is not saying a lot, it’s true, but Par 3 Golf currently has an early 2 shot lead heading off into the back nine and round again towards the clubhouse…