This review is for the Nintendo DS game, True Swing Golf, developed by T&E Soft and published by Nintendo. True Swing Golf is a golf game, where you can play on fifteen different courses and different terrains.

Golf games require easy to use controls, so that you can start to learn how to play the game and control your shots without too much practice, but also you need to be able to improve so that you get better as time goes on. This game's control system is easy to use, but does sometimes lack the precision that's required.

You control a shot by using the stylus and the touch screen, so although this is simple in principle, this takes some time to get right and lots of practice. You can choose the club that you want to use, but it's very difficult to limit the shot in any other way, so this is a game based on almost arcade play, rather than any attempt at realism. Putting is a bit harder than the other shots, as the lack of precision is more apparent, and it can be frustrating to watch your shot go flying past the hole.

The game itself plays on a 3D basis, but when you select your shot, you view the game on a 2D basis. The graphics in the game are good and clean and perfectly sufficient for the game. The sound in the game are even better though, with sound effects and background music which all add to the atmosphere of the game.

You can play the game through the campaign mode, which starts you off as an amateur golfer, playing through numerous courses to a professional level. This also allows you to unlock different courses. You are also able to unlock additional content, such as clothing for your game's avatar, which is a nice little extra.

There are a very reasonable amount of courses, which are grouped into different types of terrain. The fifteen courses, some of which have to be unlocked, is more than enough to be able to amuse you as a player, and to learn the play on each of the courses.

One minor addition to the game which would have been useful is the ability to save your shot, so that you can show others your new found golfing ability. Unfortunately, although you can save your game position, you can't save any shots for posterity.

There is a good multi-player option, and much to the developer's credit, you only require one copy of the game to play across two Nintendo DSs. This works well, and gives extra interest in the game, as you can play with up to four different people, all from the same cartridge.

The game currently sells on Amazon for 39.99 pounds via an Amazon partner, a price so high as the game is currently out of print and so prices have increased. If you're happy with a second hand copy, at the time of writing, these are available for around twelve pounds. The game is rated as 3+, so is suitable for children of nearly all ages.

In summary, this is a generally good game. It's fun to play and it's also fun to come back to after a while, so there's a lot of long term playing interest in this product. The control system is easy to use, although sometimes feels a bit random, and the multi player mode is very good. With a good range of courses, this game isn't perfect, but it's certainly fun and can occupy many spare hours!