Hands-on: Let’s Golf 2 for iPhone
One of the first games I downloaded when I got my iPhone 3G was Let's Golf and I couldn't believe how good it looked on the small iPhone screen. I was a big fan of Hot Shots golf on PlayStation 2, the console game that Let's Golf seems to be largely based upon, so seeing the familiar graphics and gameplay on the iPhone screen was truly a delight.
About a week ago Gameloft released Let's Golf 2 ($4.99), and it is even more beautiful graphically (optimized for the iPhone 4's Retina display) and adds to the already solid gameplay of the original. The cartoon-like graphics are more detailed in the sequel and you get more of everything that was good about the original--more golfers to unlock, new courses to play on, and extra features to keep the game interesting.
You get an aerial view of each hole before you take your first shot so plan accordingly.
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Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Let's Golf 2 comes with 108 holes to play across six uniquely designed courses, all in dramatic settings. The courses all have their own specific feel, with features like Aztec temples, forest landscapes, snow-covered vistas, and even a Safari-themed course that lets you play rounds in Kenya. But the scenery isn't the only reason you should plunk down $4.99 for this golf game.
In Let's Golf 2, you now have six golfers to choose from (once they are unlocked in career mode), each with a unique ability that becomes available once you make several successful shots in a row. The default character, Vincent, lets you add extra power to a shot once you've filled up the skill meter, for example. Depending on the setting and what hole you're playing, this means you might be able to reach the green in less shots than you would otherwise. The skill for the character named Chris lets you reduce wind speed to zero, which might make an otherwise very difficult shot in strong winds a much easier undertaking.
Customize your character with different outfits, hairstyles, and golf balls to adjust skill points.
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Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
The game mechanics are mostly the same as the original: aim your shot by tapping the left or right side of the touch screen; tap once to start your shot; tap again when you reach your desired power; then tap again to hit the ball cleanly (it's much easier than it sounds). But in Let's Golf 2, the designers have reworked the stroke interface to make it a bit easier to get a good shot off and the character-based special skill will help to make your shots even better.
In addition to the character-specific skill upgrades, there are now several more outfits to unlock, each giving you small bonus skills like shot power, accuracy, recovery (better shots from traps), and putting. This means that with the right outfit, hairstyle, sunglasses, and special ball, you can customize a character that's perfect for the challenges of a specific course.
Once the meter is full, hitting the character icon in the upper left activates his special skill (which is followed by an animation).
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Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
To round out the feature set, Let's Golf 2 gives you options to play against your friends over shared Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or an online mode through Gameloft Live. The first two modes worked fine in my testing, but I was never able to find a game in Gameloft Live so perhaps the company is still working out a few kinks. Aside from that issue, in every other way, Let's Golf 2 is a very polished arcade golf game, with plenty of replay value across the many courses and character choices. For more variation, you also can play the Challenge mode that lets you compete in situational minigames--such as longest putt competitions or "Birdie or bust" holes--for better equipment.
Beautiful courses (like Her Majesty's Course in England) offer unique challenges to tackle.
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Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)
Overall, if you liked the original Let's Golf, Let's Golf 2 adds optimized graphics, more courses, more characters with unique skills, and enough features to make it worth the $4.99 price tag. Even if you never played the original, this game will be fun for any golf fan. If the company gets the online component working, maybe I'll see you on the course!
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Hands-on: Let's Golf 2 for iPhone
Cooliris turns Wikipedia into an iPad magazine
The first thing that should come to mind when you think of Cooliris is photos. The company is well known for its imaging products, which include a very snazzy cross-platform browser add-on, an iPhone app, and embedded Web site and mobile phone technology. All of these are able to turn a collection of photos into an interactive, 3D wall, be it in on your browser, Web site, or cell phone.
But with its latest creation for Apple's iPad, called Discover, Cooliris is moving beyond the presentation and organization of photos and into something a little more pedestrian: text.
Discover, which hits the App Store on Tuesday, takes content from Wikipedia--both text and still images (but mostly just text), and splits it up into sections. These can be flipped through with your finger, instead of scrolling down a large page in Safari. The app also keeps track of where you've been so you can retrace your reading path if you've gone several pages deep.
"When the iPad came out, we took an idea we had, and said 'this is probably a perfect platform to try it on,'" Cooliris' executive VP of products Michele Turner told CNET. "This new application takes structured data--in this case Wikipedia, as the starting point. We've then created a templatized starting page and structured data from Wikipedia to let users navigate the depths of Wikipedia in a beautiful and efficient way."
The end result is a Wikipedia with larger text that can be read like an e-book, and photos that can be thumbed through and scaled up to the iPad's full resolution. The app also takes advantage of orientation to reposition, or expand or consolidate the data it's showing. Along the way, Cooliris serves up advertisements, which is where it can make some of its money given the app's free price tag.
On the left is a Wikipedia page on cricketer Douglas Jardine as viewed in Safari on the iPad. On the right is the same page in one of Discover's templates. Users can flip through this like a book, instead of scrolling down a long page.
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Screenshots by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
But why Wikipedia, and not a larger chunk of the Internet, as something like the recently popular Flipboard has done with RSS feeds? The short answer is that it's not there yet, but it will be soon. Turner and company do, in fact, envision Discover as a platform for various data feeds from around the Web. "We have over 100 content partners in the mainstream Cooliris product," Turner said. "The longer term opportunity is to work with the content partners to flow into this application, but that's kind of down the line."
Eventually the company plans to bring it to other platforms, including Android tablets. In making the iPad iteration of Discover, the company even built one for the iPhone, though Turner says it didn't feel quite right given the smaller form factor.
More pics of Discover can be seen after the break.
The first time you start Discover, it tells you how to use its four direction gesture interface.
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Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
While reading an article in landscape mode, Discover shows you related Wikipedia articles.
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Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
Discover users can search Wikipedia right from the app. It includes the top result, and related articles.
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Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
If you don't know what a word is, or want to see another linked Wikipedia article, Discover lets you hold your finger of it to look it up.
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Screenshot by Josh Lowensohn/CNET)
Originally posted at Web Crawler
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Cooliris turns Wikipedia into an iPad magazine
