I love golf. One small problem: I sort of suck at it. I wasn’t bad when i was younger, but good golf clubs are expensive and it’s not like i can afford to join Bushwood anytime soon. So, playing real golf, outside of drunken par 3 at a pitch and putt place was put to the side. That is until Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All Play came along. This is the closest thing to real golf I have ever played and for the first time in, well, ever, my Wii is getting some much needed use.

There has to be a reason to pick this up for the Wii instead of a true next-gen consoles. Right away, you will notice some graphical consequences. Most Tiger games look fantastic. This looks good. Not bad, but not great. There are some jaggies and screen tears, but the game looks good enough for the Wii. That is the major difference outside of the controls, which I will get to in a minute. The sound is also not as sharp as the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. The play by play can get stagnant and sometimes the crowd seems like they aren’t there or paying attention to the 325 yard drive you just stuck in the fairway. Outside of the obvious concessions, the Wii version is superior and this is very evident the minute you pick up the Wii Remote.

The controls here are phenomenal. I am not speaking in hyperbole. They are that good. You start at the driving range and famed swing coach Hank Haney will tell you how good you are doing. It took me 3 swings to get it down. That’s it. You can also pick All Play controls, which is for little kids and Matt Banks who claims he is good at golf but too much of a sackless Mary to play me (Standard or Advanced controls are required online, no All Play here). Anyway, All Play is as simple as it gets. Direction or distance of the swing doesn’t matter here. Advanced is very finicky and I would strongly urge you to master the middle setting before attempting. Balls will be flying everywhere which, in golf anyway, is bad. The premise is simple. Point Wii Remote down, press B and hold, and swing back as much as you want and follow through. A full back swing is 100% power, a half 50% a so forth. There is no power button, but the faster you follow through, you get a bonus. Use the strap please. Spinning the ball only requires you to press the D Pad of the direction you want to spin and shake the Wii Remote. That’s it. Putting takes a little getting used to but follows the same principle. You do get a meter showing how much your back swing is, so if you want to hit a ball with half power because its a big downhill drop, the meter will give you a good barometer of how much you are using.

There is a ton, and I mean a shit-ton of content here. There is a Fedex Tour mode, Tiger Challenge, standard tournaments, mini-games that are Wii exclusive, and a totally revamped and working online mode (you don’t even need a game-specific friend code). There is so much to do here it isn’t funny.  Not to mention the classic offline multiplayer that makes Tiger Woods golf all that it is. This game will keep you busy as long as you want to be.

As I said, I picked this game up for 2 reasons. One, golf is fun when you don’t have to leave your house or put on pants. Two, I got tired of my Wii sitting there like a $300 paperweight. The game looks good enough, plays great, and is the ultimate party game for drunken golfing. Outside of a light saber, I can’t think of a better implementation for the Wii Remote than a golf club. Any fan of golf needs to grab this right away. You’ll be hooked. Playing as Chubbs Petersen never felt so real. Remember, it’s all in the hips.

Overall: 8.25 out of 10

Click here to see what our scores mean