Review: PMGA Minigolf
Score:
73%
There's a big potential problem with PMGA Minigolf but I'm not going to tell you about it right away. See if you can guess as you read along. From Synergenix, rightly famed for their super-slick Symbian OS games, comes this Java-based minigolf simulation, presented in 'glorious' isometric 3D.
Minigolf, as you'll see from the screenshots, is worlds away from lush fairways and bracing exercise in the fresh air. We're talking amusement parks, crazily designed brick holes with obstacles and a myriad of variations. In the UK the game is often known as 'Crazy Golf' and is usually found at seaside locations. The real thing is quite fun, though, and PMGA Minigolf is even more so, with features you wouldn't find on your average '£1 a throw' course.
PMGA Minigolf comprises three courses of 18 holes, each more difficult than the last and with the 2nd and 3rd ones locked out until you beat all the computer players on the previous one. The holes are mainly very well designed, making you think your way from tee to pin in each case. In your way are (in no particular order) ramps, sand (this slows the ball up), low and high friction surfaces, gateway holes to other parts of the hole being played, pressure switches (that lower gates) and gaps that have to be jumped. Many of the holes have surfaces which aren't bounded, meaning that you can't just blast your way round but have to judge pace perfectly to avoid shooting off the 3D playing surface and into the grass/water/sand.
The isometric view is well done, with gorgeous colours and various animated effects (water splashing, birds flying, etc.) Control over putting direction is using the standard navigator keys, with an animated sets of balls and shadows indicating roughly where your ball will go. Although you can rarely see all of a hole on-screen at once, pressing the right function key switches the game to 'pan' mode, letting you scroll around the hole, noting problems and generally planning ahead.
The difficulty level is pitched perfectly. It took me a couple of goes to 'win' the first course, but then I've been stuck on the second, Egyptian-themed one for ages, there are some really tricky holes where you're quite glad that your opponents step in after 8 shots and say 'enough'.
And so to the possible problem. Did you spot the word Java in the text above? Now Java-based programs don't have to be huge and hungry, especially when they're written with several devices in mind. But add the requirement for detailed graphics, tweaked in the form of different .jar installation files for many different devices (here including some Series 40 phones plus the UIQ-based Motorola A1000 - though not, curiously, the P900/P910), and the inefficiencies of Java start to hit home with a vengeance.
PMGA Minigolf needs over 5MB of RAM to itself in order to work at all. On the average Series 60 smartphone, this means that your first attempt to start the game may fail due to lack of free RAM, with Symbian OS doing the rounds of open applications, closing them all down. Your second attempt to run the game should work, with a 15-second wait while Java starts and while a multitude of splash screens come and go. And the game then proceeds smoothly until you decide to switch back to the Series 60 Menu and do other stuff. Perhaps you want to check your Messaging Inbox, scan through your Calendar and maybe make a phone call. Having done all this, the chances are that PMGA Minigolf will have been closed down in order to reclaim some of that 5MB of RAM.
Although the use of 5MB of RAM for what is a fairly simple game can't really be defended (only TomTom MOBILE 5 needs slightly more, and it uses the memory to accomplish route planning across networks of tens of thousands of roads), at least PMGA Minigolf redeems itself slightly by remembering exactly where you got to before the game had to close. So the only real inconvenience is having to sit through the splash screens each time you restart it.
Interestingly, PMGA Minigolf isn't being sold directly, but through the various network operators around the world, in the same manner as other, smaller Java-based games. If your operator doesn't sell it yet (prices are normally in the £5 range), put them in touch with Synergenix.
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at