System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Also available for: Sony PlayStations 2 and 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Windows PC

Publisher: EA Sports

Reviewer’s rating: ***

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Sports

Kind of like: Every other “Tiger”

Best feature: Simultaneous online play eliminates the long wait between shots.

Worst feature: Random lag issues — even offline (!) — can be deadly if you’re in the middle of your backswing.

The bottom line: Wouldn’t you hate to work in marketing for EA Sports, where every single product is exactly the same as last year’s version, with the exception of one or two barely significant features specifically designed to convince consumers otherwise?

It’s not like they can just be honest and tout a game as “less buggy than last year’s!”

Then again, who needs innovation when you have big-time name recognition like John Madden or Tiger Woods?

So, yeah, this year’s “Tiger” is a mild improvement over last year’s “Tiger.”

What’s new? Tiger’s real-life coach, Hank Haney, helps you fine-tune your skills with custom drills between rounds; simultaneous online play keeps matches from dragging on too long; The GamerNet feature, which lets you upload your best — or simply weirdest — shots for other players to try to match, has been “enhanced” (i.e., it actually works this year); and you can tune your clubs, which we found to be entirely useless.

But, really, the biggest change may be that the game is a lot easier. That’s because the developers overcompensated for last year’s hyper-sensitive controls, and because Haney’s drills help you max out your abilities post haste.

Still, “Tiger” is as fun and addictive as ever, and with countless hours of play, it’s a darn good value by video game standards — assuming you don’t already own last year’s.