Golf Master seems to be following in the footsteps of Camelots’ successful Hot Shots Golf series and its beloved spin-off, Mario Golf. These were games which had gameplay that defied being appreciated exclusively by golf-fans. Gameplay that featured realistic physics but was engaging and addictive… How Konami will fare with the game is uncertain, though it looks like things are progressing in the right direction.

Hitting the ball in particular seems to be similar to the interface used in Hot Shots, where you hit the button to send an arrow up a meter and you must time your shot right for good accuracy and distance. Then, the ball is shown flying in an overhead view of the course. Golf Master looks to capitalize on the GBA’s rotation and scaling capabilities. Additionally, the game easily displays the best graphics to date in a handheld portable golf title, hands down. Still, whether or not Golf Master’s gameplay is up to par remains to be seen. Only one hole was playable at Space World, and reportedly the game was choppy and merited some work. There’s still some time before this game will come out so it’s possible that such problems will be fixed before its release.

Golf Masters will allow you to choose from 14 different cartoon-esque golfers to choose from with six pro courses to play on. The game will also feature a four player mode, allowing you to get 18 holes in with your GBA-owning pals.

Like Konami’s other GBA offerings, Castlevania and Wai Wai Racing, Golf Master is scheduled to launch day and date with the Game Boy Advance in Japan. Details on a US release have yet to surface, though there’s no reason to believe Konami won’t bring this over.