So, Camelot. Home of King Arthur, but also the home of a certain Japanese developer. They worked with Sega on the accomplished Shining series, and for Nintendo they developed the well received Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series and also the forgotten RPG series Golden Sun.

So, considering the success of the Mario Golf games, Capcom's decision to hire them to develop We Love Golf certainly makes sense. Unlike Nintendo however, Capcom didn't decide to open the Capcom vaults for some unnecessary IP whoring. True, you can dress each character up as a famous Capcom character, but to unlock these takes time and skill.

It's fine though, even without the Capcom IP the characters are likeable enough.  Cute and colorful, and all hilariously bad losers.

The Wii-mote is also the perfect match for a Golf game. Actually swinging your controller to hit the ball is much more satisfying than simply pressing a button. Unlike the Wii Sports version , though, the swinging here is done in two steps. Two meters decide how well your shot is going to be.  The first meter, which charges when you move the Wii-mote up, decides how much strength your swing will have. The second meter decides the accuracy of the shot.  It's a system that works well. The timing will take some getting used to, but after a while it will become second nature.

Different modes

For solitary players the game, thankfully, has a lot to offer. Tournament mode pits you against 9 different unseen opponents. After each hole, you will get a screen showing  how well you're faring against your opponents. Win after the eighteenth hole and you'll unlock a new course.

Character battle pits gives you against one opponent. Defeating him or her will unlock a new character.

The other modes Ring shot , Strokes, Near Pin Contest and Target Golf  are all there to practice and improve you accuracy. Ring shot requires you to complete a course with at least a Par, while clearing all rings. Near Pin Contest requires you hitting the Green with one shot. Holes is just you against the course, and, my favorite, Target Golf places a target around the Pin, requiring you to get a certain amount of points by hitting the target.

Finally, Training mode is there for you to practice as much as you want, without any goals. The perfect place to start when you play the game for the first time.

The most fun will probably be had when playing against real people (only one wii-mote required), and for those without interested friends can play online. Despite Nintendo's indifference to online play, it works really well. The matches I had so far were lag free. Prepare yourself for a challenge though. The players I've met online so far were really good (probably Capcom and Camelot insiders THE BASTARDS!!!).

And that's pretty much all there's to say. Is this the best Golf game ever made? I don't know, I haven't played that many (only some old NES game,  and the drab Wii Sports one), but considering the pedigree Mario Golf has, I'm pretty sure this is the best one on Wii. But I shouldn't compare. Standing on it's own, it's a good game. And sometimes, that's all that matters.

A sequel to a Japanese game developed by a Western company. A potential disaster. A sequel to a Japanese game developed by an unproven western company. Disaster imminent?

Not necessarily. While Backbone's development history is filled with mostly ports for Xbox Live Arcade, they did create a couple of new games: Death Jr., Sonic Rivals, Shrek ‘n Roll. Never played any of them except a bit of Sonic  Rivals, which I didn't like very much. So, signs weren't very positive that Commando 3 would be any good.

I did like the idea, though. Capcom could have easily just hired them to make cheap ports of Commando and Mercs. They didn't. They gave us something better. A sequel. Capcom just saw the light. XBLA and PSN just weren't  created to be filled with lazy rehashes of old arcade "classics". I don't mind a port of some old arcade game I remember fondly, but some just aren't that good anymore. Scroll down the XBLA store, and you see many ports that are simply terrible by today's standards. So, what better way to fill us with nostalgia than, instead of destroying those fond memories, creating some new ones.

The first screens and trailer filled me with excitement. It just looked like the old games, the same view from high above, the old arcade gameplay intact, but now moving in glorious HD 3D graphics. And when you actually play it, it moves the way it should. While the 3D camera had the potential of ruining the flow of the gameplay, it thankfully never falters, always giving you the best view of the playing field. So when you die, it's always your own fault.

Movement alone  wasn't going to cut it, of course. Shooting the bad guys has to feel right. And, thankfully it does. And it aren't just bad guys that are waiting to be mowed down. Palm trees, tanks, boxes, walls, prisons, rocks, statues. All, just begging you to shoot them to smithereens. Also, lots of pick-ups (health packs, ammo, medals) are found inside boxes, all having that perfect arcadey feel when you pick them up.

Not everything is perfect, though. Some slowdown is present when things get a little busy, and also annoying are the occasional invisible wall, and the inability to return to a missed med kit you desperately need.

Still, Backbone can be proud. They not only made a game that stays true to the originals, but they also brought back fond memories of the best decade ever. The eighties. A simpler time, when the west was simply good, and communism  was bad. A time where Rambo and James Bond could shoot evil Russians with us cheering on.

So when I reached that final level with the Rambo-lookalike character, and discovered the enemies wear Russian clothing I couldn't help but smile.