If an award was to be given to a development studio for supporting their products with a long-term program of quality downloadable content, Zen Studios would at least be in the running. Every two months or so, they crank out a new Zen Pinball table, each better than the last. It seems as though they have the same plans for their new putt-putt title. Planet MiniGolf: Stronghold Island is the first downloadable course to hit the PlayStation Network. Already, things are starting to look better for the fledgling arcade game. The developers have made some changes -- some subtle, others not so much. Thankfully, these changes are smart, and in some cases, absolutely necessary.

I'll start by getting the biggest addition out of the way. Planet MiniGolf now features PlayStation Move support. Having been tentatively hopeful about this (and having borrowed a buddy's Move controller for the past two days), I can say with no hesitation that this addition is a huge improvement over the original release's iffy control schemes. Truth time: my blood comes close to boiling point when gimmicks are implemented into my favorite medium. For me, the worst offenders are motion controls and 3D. I'm very difficult to please when it comes to both, but I'm always the first one to give a standing ovation when they end up offering something meaningful. That's exactly what this release does. This game feels like it was built for motion controls, and the Move controller ably demonstrates its capabilities with panache. It's not perfect, however, and I'll explain why in a bit. However, it's certainly a step up.

I'm not going to say that all of Planet MiniGolf's shortcomings have been addressed, because they haven't. First off, the sound design is still pretty annoying, though that shouldn't surprise anyone. At least you still have the option to turn off Captain Redundant.

Outside of the condescendingly-named Warm-up Course, Stronghold Island is every bit as insanely difficult as the original courses. Though Stronghold Island is better designed than many of Planet MiniGolf's original courses, most of the holes are absolutely brutal. Every Hole-In-One feels like the result of a freak accident, which is simultaneously rewarding and frustrating. However, every now and then, you'll sink a difficult putt with minimal use of power-ups -- and it will feel awesome.

The PlayStation Move goes a long way in this game, but it can't quite offer the ideal control scheme. The blame lies mostly with the conflict between the nature of the game and the design of the actual controller. Disclaimer: I don't have gorilla hands. That being said, I don't feel completely comfortable holding the Move controller like a putter. Part of me wishes I could partially disassemble my NHL Slapshot hockey stick peripheral and jam the Move controller into the Wii-mote cradle. That, of course, would phase out the use of power-ups, which are still used. Therein lies the other minor complaint; some of the power-ups (specifically, the ones that affect the ball's trajectory) don't mix well with the motion controls.

If you downloaded Planet MiniGolf and own a PlayStation Move, I recommend downloading this course. If you own the game but not the controller, you'd better be fine with the game's original control schemes and painful difficulty level. However, if you own a PlayStation Move and don't own Planet MiniGolf, I recommend it; it's a fun game to play with others, as well as a viable way to show off what the Move controller can do. The release of Planet MiniGolf: Stronghold Island has me feeling hopeful for the future of this series; if Zen Studios continues on the path of improvement (and keeps the price for add-ons at $2.49), it may even rise to the heights of its older brother Zen Pinball.