Infinite Minigolf review for PS4, PSVR, Switch, Xbox One

One of my secret pleasures in gaming are fun golf games. I tend to shy away from simulator style games and go to games like the Hot Shots Golf series, or Powerstar Golf on the Xbox One. Miniature Golf games are my absolute favorite, and Zen Studios’ Infinite Minigolf is a fantastic title, even if you are not a fan of this type of game.

Infinite Minigolf is a sequel of sorts to Planet Minigolf that was released back in 2010. When you begin, you can create an avatar with a selection of clothes, hair and faces. As you progress and level up your character, you unlock more options for creation. You can also purchase new golf balls, putters, and other add-ons with the in-game credits you earn. Controlling your putt is easy with one analog stick setting your aim and the right analog stick for adjusting the strength of your putt. It’s super easy to learn and always feels responsive.

This game’s main focus is user created levels. Almost every course you play on was created by another user. Since the user base was quite small at the time of this review, many of the courses would repeat from time to time. However I was amazed by the amount of courses that were available. There are also pre-loaded courses for the Tournaments you can enter in each of the 3 available worlds. The better you do in these Tournaments, the faster you can level up and unlock more challenging courses. Some courses are littered with different power ups that can make sinking a putt easier, but some powers can really ruin your day if used incorrectly.  If you aren’t big on competition, you can simply earn credits and level up with the user created levels in Quick Play. There are online options to play against other players, but sadly at the time of this review I had difficulty getting it to work, so I couldn’t review anything that was online. This could be due to the small player base during this time so I expect this to function normally on or shortly after official release.

The other option is, of course the Editor Mode. Here, you have tons of options to create some crazy courses. I spent a lot of time here, trying out different things and playing through my creations. The 3 different worlds give you almost endless options to make something really challenging. Using the editor is a breeze. Everything is easy to figure out and put together, so you can make many courses in a short amount of time. In order to upload your creations, you have to be able to complete it yourself, similar to the way Super Mario Maker handles user uploads. If you can’t beat it, it won’t upload until it’s confirmed you can sink a putt.

The graphics are great in Infinite Minigolf, with everything taking on a cartoony look. The stages, avatars and obstacles on the courses are look like an old Saturday morning cartoon. Animations in the backgrounds look nice as well and really bring everything together. Sound is minimal, with some ambient noises from the courses and subtle music. The avatars have a small amount of voice and tend to repeat the same expression many times, surprisingly it rarely gets annoying. If you own a PlayStation VR, the entire game can be played in Virtual Reality. This mode completely surrounds you in the environment and feels like you are really on the courses. The camera stays in a 3rd person mode while putting, but you can track your shot with your head movements and also see obstacles further up the course by looking around and turning. Using the Editor in VR is not recommended as it’s set up a little awkwardly. If feels like your face is pressed against a monitor as you try to place objects and is a little hard to get used to. My suggestion, use VR for playing and not creating.

Infinite Minigolf is a great game. Either playing solo or with friends, you will have a fun time with everything here. Creating levels and beating the tougher courses always feels great. Playing normal or in VR both look fantastic and the control is perfect. Zen Studios has a winner here.