At first, I was disappointed that they did golf over other genres, but I was wrong. Boy, was I wrong. It's an absolute riot to play with friends, and you can play with them either online or local! Yes, local multi-player. Customizing clubs and golf balls yield special effects such as fire and lightning, and it's absolutely hilarious watching zombies get fried in slow motion! Wathing the ball roll slowly up and down the contours of the course toward the hole gets intense. Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini-Golf owes most of its charm to the hilarious antics that unfold during the game, and it really reminded me of the Golden age of Capcom when they made more than three genres. With Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini-Golf, Frank Rising, and Capcom Heroes, the whole experience of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package really feels something like the few variety games Capcom made during their Golden Age. Some of these variety games include Three Wonders and Capcom Sports Club.

The most important thing about Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini-Golf is how it changes Dead Rising 4 from a 4-Player brawler into a 4-Player golf game. This may seem obvious, but it doesn't just do a good job combining both of those genres. The game actually makes the entry level for Dead Rising 4 lower with this added way to play. Even though it has a bit of a learning curve, a golf game is certainly easier to get into and play, whereas the "Life and Death" core of a brawler may be daunting. Devoted fans of the genre may consider varying degrees of brawlers, and casuals won't care either way because they're in it just for fun in the short run, but there are also those casuals who are driven away by the set gameplay rules of the genre. Though it's possible to lose in golf, the loss isn't being knocked-out or completely obliterated by menacing enemies. The biggest, most menacing enemies that inhabit the golf links here are tall zombies in snowman costumes. That's it.

They're actually more menacing in Dead Rising 4 multi-player brawling, where they're so aggressive that they literally explode when you kill them. On the green, however, these tall zombies have a more humorous lean to them. They wear funny and/or cute masks that really lighten the mood. They're also not running maniacally toward you with a screaming bloodlust. Gone are the super zombie variations, soldiers, survivors, and bosses, but it really would have been cool to see them in themed courses. The suburbia course could have had the Obscuris soldiers, for example. The castle course could have had those Renaissance Festival losers from the beginning of the game. Perhaps time constraints kept them from doing so, or issues fitting specific enemy behavior from a brawling game into the rules of a golf game. Still, though, the zombies are fine fodder in an over-the-top game where their only job is to get crushed by a giant golf ball every round for bonus points.

What made these titles unique was how Capcom split them up into parts, each of which was different than the other. They were essentially several different games in one, and even though they all played differently, they shared the same themes. Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini-Golf shares the same synergy with Frank Rising, Capcom Heroes, and the original Dead Rising 4 under the umbrella of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package. They did something similar with Dead Rising 3 - Apocalypse Edition. Those older multi-game titles mentioned earlier had variety for players to play only what they wanted, or keep it fresh every time they played. In the case of Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package, you can play Mini-Golf if you don't like the modern brawling of standard Dead Rising 4, or return to more old-school brawling with Capcom Heroes. Still, if you're a fan of zombies and always wanted to see Frank as one, Frank Rising is your wish granted.