Easy Come Easy Golf review for Nintendo Switch

I have to admit that going into Easy Come Easy Golf, my expectations were fairly ? and wholly unreasonably, in retrospect ? low. I just knew the game had arrived on the Switch after previously being an Apple Arcade exclusive (where it was called Clap Hanz Golf), so I assumed (again, wrongly) that this meant we were looking at a mobile port with a massive Switch price markup.

What I completely and stupidly overlooked was that the game?s developers, Clap Hanz, are no newcomers to the golf gaming scene. In fact, for the last 20 years, they?ve been working on the Japanese series Minna no Golf ? or, as it?s known in North America, Everybody?s Golf/Hot Shots Golf. And those games, to put it mildly, have a long track record of being exceptional.

So it should come as no surprise that Easy Come Easy Golf is a pretty outstanding golf game, too. In fact, it?s quite possibly better than the Everybody?s Golf games, and that?s because Easy Come Easy Golf finds the series ditching its usual three-touch swing controls in favour of touch controls.

I mean, technically three-touch swings are still an option. But it?s clear this game was designed with touch controls in mind, and they work so well and so intuitively, it?s hard to imagine why anyone would want to play the traditional way. Obviously, your feelings towards the change may be dictated by how you feel about touch controls. But as far as I?m concerned, it?s a huge upgrade. All you need to do is swipe down pretty much anywhere on the screen, and swipe up. That?s it, and it works just about perfectly.

Of course, it also helps that Easy Come Easy Golf has so much content. The main mode is Tour, but it features so much more than than just an endless series of courses. Each course has a front nine and a back nine, and you get to mix and match different golfers for each hole as you collect them (from beating them in various competitions, obviously). On top of that, there are challenges for each hole, along with boss fights (or, I guess, one-on-one matches against each course?s pro, but ?boss fights? sounds more fun). If you go beyond the Tour mode, there are also a few online modes, which give you the option of either playing against a random group of people, or having your own private room for you and three friends. Further, there?s a Survival mode, where you have to continuously try to beat lower and lower scores in order to stay alive, as well as a Score Attack, where you aim to beat a certain score.

Obviously, all of these are within the context of golf games, so it?s not like we?re talking about a huge variety of content, but within the scope of a golf game, Easy Come Easy Golf does a great job of mixing things up without every feeling like it relies too much on gimmicks (as compared to, say, Mario Golf). Couple that with a range of golfers with distinctive personalities, skills, and styles, and you can see how there?s a lot to do here.

The main thing, though, is that Easy Come Easy Golf is a joy to play. Whether you?re a newcomer to the sport/the developer or a seasoned veteran, this game will have something for you. It shows that even if the name on the game may have changed, it?s still fully lives up to Clap Hanz?s very high standards.

Clap Hanz provided us with an Easy Come Easy Golf Switch code for review purposes.