Let's talk about Golf games. An unsung hero of video games

[Anpanman]

XSN was so forward thinking and so amazing Used to love the use of that in Rallisport 2. MS killed it to get EA on LIVE.

Aah, thanks for that TA, I think Charles used to be a fan of the snowboarding XSN game as well, the series had a lot of fans.

[hudson]

I'm going to post some quick reviews in here of some old golf games I've not really played before. I'm starting with Naxat Open on PC Engine

Feel free to join in, guys.

[jamesy]

When we first got a pc (for work purposes of course) my brothers immediately started getting games for it. PGA Tour 486 was one of them and it was great for multiplayer. I always enjoyed the leaderboard music but I'm not sure if the game is any good nowadays. I still prefer the method the 3-button click method for golf games. The tiger woods games on xbox used the stick for taking shots and I never really enjoyed them as much.

[Leon Retro]

When we first got a pc (for work purposes of course) my brothers immediately started getting games for it. PGA Tour 486 was one of them and it was great for multiplayer.

Do you remember the golf game called 'Links' that they used to use in shops like Dixons to show off PCs? It was funny, because some of the PCs couldn't run the game well, so the screen took ages to draw.

[JazzFunk]

As we're now including 3D golf games, here are my 'all time golf quintuplets':

1. Leaderboard (C64)
2. PGA Tour Golf 2 (MD)
3. Everybody's Golf (PS1)
4. Ace Golf (GC)
5. Links 2003 (OGXB)

The latter, especially, I find has a very relaxing feel. That's what I like about golf games. Relaxed. Designed for numerous tea and wee breaks and just the same with booze n spliff.

[JazzFunk]

As much as I enjoyed all the above in 2P mode, I also enjoyed them all in 1P.

That's the thing with golf games, I find they separate themselves from most other sports game by nature of the course system. Each new hole is essentially a new 'level' and each course is essentially a stage made of 18 levels.

I know I'm making it sound awkward, but know what I mean? Say, if you're playing a different team in a different stadium on FIFA, then every game is pretty much identical as an experience.

Whereas, the difference between a Par 2 and Par 6 is immensely game-changing.

(I'm not saying golf games are better than footy games, btw. I'm just saying the experience they offer as a single player campaign is MUCH more varied and interesting).

[jamesy]

Do you remember the golf game called 'Links' that they used to use in shops like Dixons to show off PCs? It was funny, because some of the PCs couldn't run the game well, so the screen took ages to draw.

Haha I don't know that one but looking at it on youtube I can see what you mean. Wouldn't be a good demo for the platform taking that long to draw in the separate elements of the course one at a time.

[Leon Retro]

Wouldn't be a good demo for the platform taking that long to draw in the separate elements of the course one at a time.

I think it was sometimes running on 286 machines, but it really needed a top-end 386, or maybe a 486. It could be quite amusing to see how badly games could run on low-end machines that still cost loads of money.

[Anpanman]

Do you remember the golf game called 'Links' that they used to use in shops like Dixons to show off PCs? It was funny, because some of the PCs couldn't run the game well, so the screen took ages to draw.

For the circles I moved in at the time this game was the poster boy for the VGA PC's in the same way Juggler was for the Amiga, when most of my mates had left the Amiga for PC Links was the game they all swooned over due to the 256 colours on screen at the same time from a palette of 262,144, the Amiga was still using 32 (half-brite wasn't used so much) from 4096 until the 1200 came along which was too late.

From what I remember though you had to have a 486 to run it effectively.

[Team Andromeda]

Do you remember the golf game called 'Links' that they used to use in shops like Dixons to show off PCs? It was funny, because some of the PCs couldn't run the game well, so the screen took ages to draw.

Yeah, I have the Mega CD version. Not a bad game. Have to say PGA Golf on Intellivision was pretty good at the time. Me My Uncle and brother played it for hours on Christmas Day 83

[Mayhem]

Links was also Access, who created Leaderboard.

[hudson]

Super Video Golf Currently on sale on Steam at £5.01 (until a few hours from now), Super Golf Video blends simple 3 tap to swing mechanics with low poly, retro dithering graphics and sound (that low bitrate sampled speech). Features online too. I'm currently playing it on Stream Deck (Verified).

[samanosuke]

Super Video Golf Currently on sale on Steam at £5.01 (until a few hours from now), Super Golf Video blends simple 3 tap to swing mechanics with low poly, retro dithering graphics and sound (that low bitrate sampled speech). Features online too. I'm currently playing it on Stream Deck (Verified).

That looks pretty dope! Reminds me of Microprose Golf for the Amiga. That blew me away when you held down the mouse button after taking a shot and the camera would follow the ball flying across the 3D landscape.

I’ve been playing a couple of retro golf games lately… Power Golf on the PC Engine and Dynamic Country Club on the Mega CD.

Been playing Power Golf a lot with a mate during our PCE Mini sessions and it’s great in that simple NES/Gameboy golf kinda way. Unfortunately the power bar flies back and forth way too quickly resulting in almost every shot being a hook or slice. Shame really as it relegates it to only being worth it as a quick mess around two player game rather than anything you’d want to invest time into to get good.

Dynamic Country Club is an odd one though. I thought it’d be absolute turd being a Japanese Mega CD exclusive (was expecting F1 Circus quality) but it’s actually surprisingly good. The music can grate as instead of playing constantly, it restarts after each shot so you only ever hear the first few bars over and over and over again, but the shot meter is unique and works really well. The first click to start the swing, the second to set the power, and then for the third a reticule starts at the top-left corner of the ball display and works its way right, then down a line, back left etc much like the invaders in space invaders do. So the third click is basically where you want the club to hit the ball, and can control top spin, back spin etc as well as draw and fade. If I could level any criticism it’s that the putting isn’tu quite up to EA’s PGA standards where it tells you the elevation of the cup in respect to the ball so you can accurately gauge the power. There ends up being quite a bit of guesswork going into putting. But other than that it’s a fairly solid title and worth a go if you’re into obscure golf titles on obscure-ish platforms.

[Lebowski]

We used to have golf tournaments on Actua Golf on the PS1, it was a terrible golf game but the commentary was amazing Peter Alliss telling you to bring a bucket and spade when you hit the bunker never got old.

I'm surprised how bad the sim side of golf games have got, the most recent golf game I played was PGA tour 2K23 as it came with PS+, flat trees, static crowds, and low resolution textures everywhere. The graphic side of things on show was shocking, like it had no budget whatsoever for the construction of the courses.

I tend to stick to the more retro fare if i want a game of golf these days, Everybody golf on the Vita, or Neo turf masters on the neo geo pocket.