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It's a hard par 3. Amber has to hit the ball hard enough to avoid the magnet pull and skate the ice without losing too much velocity before landing on the spring. If she can trigger the spring with just the right amount of speed, the ball will instantly vault over the gap for a triumphant hole-in-one. Should she miss, she'll have to circumvent the fans and bombs just to make par. If she wants to beat that nattily dressed bunny, she needs to be as accurate as possible and not be too distracted by the psychedelic hippo.

Psychedelic hippo?

For their fourth Mini Golf entry, strangely sub-titled Magic, Digital Chocolate leaves all rhyme and reason behind for a trip through the looking glass, down the rabbit hole, and into the parking lot of a Grateful Dead tribute band concert to score a few tabs of acid. The result is a surreal, silly mini golf game that looks like a million bucks and easily scores a birdie. It's a great value, too. Mini Golf Magic is full of content, including 27 holes that must be played through with four distinctly different golfers, each with a set of attributes (the ratio of accuracy versus power) and course obstacles, such as bombs, that alter play mechanics.

Mini Golf Magic starts out with nonsensical story about a fussbudget bunny named Bugsworth that pulls four human golfers (Digital Chocolate fans will recognize the cast, including Amber and Ethan) into his bizarro realm for a putt-putt adventure. To escape, each member of the quartet must beat Bugsworth on the three courses. The first course introduces the basic mechanics of shot alignment and putting strength before running the player through almost all of the different obstacles found in the courses. Fans, magnets, whirlpools, lollipops, springs, teleporters, ice... there is no shortage of hazards in Mini Golf Magic.

Course design is top notch, which emphasizes this simple fact: Magic is equal parts mini golf and puzzle game. Each hole is constructed so that a practiced player (or a lucky putter) can somehow earn a hole-in-one. It may take using a different player at a different point in the story to figure out that perfect path, but that's part of Magic's extended replay value. By the last nine holes in one pass through the three courses, things are constructed like Rube Goldberg puzzles. Figuring out which teleporter to hit so you avoid a slippery slope right into the water but make use a fan takes a little practice, but I guarantee you -- there is a hole-in-one solution.

If you do manage to hit a hole-in-one, you play a bonus hole full of lollipops and bumpers that add extra points to your score for that course. There are nine of these and once all have been unlocked (which doesn't take very long), random chance determines which hole you play. Hitting a couple holes-in-one is important for success, but Bugsworth gets better and better as the game progresses. You need to pick up bonus points whenever possible to stay ahead of this highly competitive rabbit.

Once you complete a course, you can then play it outside the story mode. Repeat play also unlocks three minigames: Ducky Golf, Golf Invaders, and Golfanoid. You can try to earn a high score on Golfanoid by putting through a Mini Golf-ized riff on Arkanoid. Ducky Golf, the simplest of the trio (and a pleasant nod to Digital Chocolate's early hit, Bubble Ducky), asks you line up shots with a carnival line of duck targets. These are just extra, breezy little challenges that are just there because, well, they can be.

One of Magic's best features is that every time you play through a course with a different golfer, new obstacles pop up to keep things fresh. The first golfer, Amber, is a straight run through. The next fellow, David, must deal with mines. Ethan invokes magical licks of fire. But as you keep going, the previous player's special obstacle remains in play. This game gets tough -- but it fairly ramps up to it.

Mini Golf Magic is a solid step up from Digital Chocolate's previous golfer, Vegas. I think the control is tighter -- it's easier to judge shots now. The power meter feels more sensitive. Blowing an easy putt is squarely on your shoulders now.


THE VERDICT
Right now, Mini Golf Magic is the best putt-putt/puzzler hybrid game on mobile. (It's a new genre...) As much as I want to just gush about the excellent theme and exquisite use of color, more credit must be given to the amount of content. Even through there are technically 27 holes, because each new player handles them differently with different attributes and new hazards, there is no settling into a routine. Strategies and course plans must be re-thought as you go. And the improved controls rectify the one of the issues I had with Mini Golf Vegas. If you are looking for a mobile mini golf game, download Magic when your carrier pulls it out of their hat.