Golf

Given that the game was first released way back in 1989 we're sure you'll be able to excuse the lack of originality concerning the title. Golf has been re-released more recently, and updated many times to result in the current generation gold titles on the Game Boy Advance and less directly the Cube. Of course back when this was first released, games were a lot simpler

 

Regardless of this, for pure nostalgia value or just plain old fun, you could do worse than looking into giving EBay a quick browse for this. You can easily pick it up for a stupidly small amount of money, meaning that even if you only play it for a few minutes you won't have broken the bank in any way. So, onto the actual game then; in case you hadn't picked up on it so far, Golf is a super-simplistic simulation game that takes the genre back to its core elements. Action is shown from a top down perspective, where the ball is just a small white dot that appears to fly across the various courses like something possessed.

Those of you who are unfamiliar with original Game Boy graphics may well feel quite under whelmed at the visual appeal of the game. However, for a launch title on a 16 year old handheld system they are actually fairly decent. The different areas on the map are clearly distinguishable from one another, for example you won't have to worry about accidentally putting your ball into a lake thinking you're on the final green. Animations are pretty scarce and lack-lustre, water is shown by green lines that appear and disappear in different positions to give the impression that of movement. However as we mentioned earlier for a title designed for such an old console the game looks good enough to play comfortably without having to resort to shielding your eyes at any time.

 

Gameplay is 100% simple as you may have already come to expect. Up and down on the D-pad switches between the various clubs that are on offer. The only problem with this is the lack of in-game explanation as to when you should use each of them, the only way around this really is to have a little practise session and experiment for yourself. Now for the actual golfing, a flashing cursor is always on screen and shows the direction you are currently aiming, left and right on the D-Pad adjust this and then a quick tap of the A button brings up the shooting bar. Another tap starts a little pointer moving across the screen and a final two taps will determine the power and accuracy of your shot.

The system should be familiar to anybody that has played nearly any other golf game in existence, and for those of you that haven't, a few minutes practise is all that is required in getting the hang of things. Pressing the B button brings up a map of the whole course in case you loose your way, which chances are you won't as the cursor automatically points towards the flag pole after each shot anyway. When you reach the final putting green the view changes or rather zooms in on the current location of the ball and your default club becomes the putter, from here it far easier to see the hole and thusly 'score' as it were.

 

Sound wise the game has some pretty funky tunes and suitably 'golf-like' effects. These are all well and good for a while, but chances are you will want to turn the sound dial down after continuous play. The sound the ball makes as it flies through the 'air' is a prime example of this, fine for a while but will eventually aggravate. Having said that we could gladly listen to the main menu theme tune for hours on end, but we suppose that's probably down to personal preference and you probably shouldn't buy the game for the sole purpose of listening to one midi-file.

In terms of modes, story and the way the game is set out