The controls are very comfortable, especially to anyone who's ever played any sort of computer golf game. The player's swing is controlled by the familiar circular swing gauge. The meter is challenging enough to keep game play interesting, but is still user-friendly enough to keep things enjoyable. The ball arc can also be adjusted by tapping on the map in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Once you've hit your tee shot, you'd better hope you hit the fairway because ZIOGolf does a good job of emulating the difficulty of hitting out of the tall stuff or out of sand.
Distances are also limited according to the lie of the ball.
This is a welcome change compared to some of the original 3D golf games that allowed a player to smack a 300-yard drive out of the deep grass. The game is programmed with realistic surroundings, including gusting winds that seem to always be changing, which creates a unique challenge above and beyond the game itself. In addition, the scenery is impressive, especially considering the game is running on a handheld. The in-game sounds are clever and well placed. Multiple views are another great feature of this game.