Pix’s Golfing Grand Tour
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Against my better judgement, I’m going to attempt to play every single one of these games this month and post about them in one very long thread. Don’t expect in depth reviews. It will likely be a couple of holes on most of these games.
So to get started:-
1. Golf (1982) – International PC Owners
This one is essentially Golf – the text adventure. Pick a club while approaching the hole and it tells you how far you hit it. Enter a number between 1 and 10 on the green for how hard to putt the ball. It’s surprisingly generous and I got under par on both the first 2 holes, including a chip in from 50 yards away. Written in BASIC and it shows – this wouldn’t have amused anyone for long even in 82. I do like the response if you enter an unrecognised command (e.g. forget to use upper case!) as it suggests you’ve spent too long at the 19th hole.Attachments:
2. 9-Hole Miniature Golf (1983) – Softside Magazine
Another written in basic but we get graphics of a sort this time. You move a little purple block around to one of 16 positions around the ball to aim, press 1-9 to select a power. The ball still moves at the same speed of course, just for longer at a higher power. Technically, we’re still in text mode by the looks of it but it’s better than the last effort at least. Offers up to 9 player games!Attachments:
3. PC Pro-Golf (1989) – CMA Software
This was supposed to be 1983’s Pro Golf Challenge. I didn’t find that (and suspect it never made it off the Apple II) but did find this entry from 1989 which was missing off the Mobygames list.You would hope for a big step forward skipping all those years. It looks a little nicer but is essentially a combination of the first two games. We’re still on an overhead view. Type a club, pick a direction by moving a clock hand round a circle and choose how hard to hit until you get it in the hole. Every green is identical (looking rather like an old alarm clock to me). None of these games have any randomness at all so far from what I can tell which wouldn’t exactly have offered much longevity. I’m yet to see wind or sloping greens for that matter either.
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Those IF games look a bit late to qualify as DOS games thankfully. The list is plenty long enough as is.
4. Golf’s Best (1985)
This started off recreating Pinehurst and then a year later got a second release with St. Andrews which is the version I ended up playing.It’s another one typing in all the commands and are there ever a lot of them. It’s like the inerface of an Ultima game except here even the function keys all do something. Thank god for the included instructions. I’m wondering when the first game to have the usual swing interface is going to show up.
Interface aside, this one has a bit more going for it with sloping greens and much more accurate aiming. The downside is that you literally enter a clock time in to aim, right down to the individual minute. It’s kind enough to draw a line showing where that is but if you want to change it, type a whole new time again. It has a nice little animation when you hit the ball at the bottom of the screen and a few little beepy sound effects. It also zooms in when you are nearer to the hole. It’s the first game that actually feels like something someone might have paid money for.
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5. World Tour Golf (1985) – EA
This may be the first golf game to use the mechanics we all know from later games where you have to time each aspect of the stroke. Pretty much everything I’d expect to see in a golf game is already there with one. It even has weather and wind conditions. The greens only appear to slope in one direction (unless that’s just the course I was playing). Also aiming moves way more than I’d expect so it seems like you are best off ignoring it prior to the green. The magenta trees are a bit offputting but this is a nice little game for 85.Attachments:
6. PC-Golf (1985) – Unknown Freeware
Another one missing from Mobygames but known to Tigerquoll. Text mode game where you type in your club and swing strength with no aiming required. The quirk with this is you are supposed to model the in-game player after yourself entering a handicap + your game weakness so it can model the shots after you. Not a great game but better than 1982 golf at least.Attachments:
7. Championship Golf (1986) – Interplay
These games are definitely starting to look better. This effort from Interplay has all sorts of options for aerial views of the course, properly sloping terrain shown with a grid and also supports composite so we have some better colours at last.The control system is unbelievably complex though. You have to mash any key to build power while swinging the club, but you can also press the b key three times during the up and down swing to build “body” power. On top of that you can press the c key once up and then the moment you hit the ball to cock your wrists. Instead of timing to hook you can move your feet before you take the shot. I needed a slower speed for DOSBox to have any chance with this – probably better on hardware of the time. Curious to see other ideas for how to make a golf game like this anyway – I can see why EA’s model won over.
8. Mean 18 (Accolade) – 1986
The first game on the list I’ve played before and one of the first DOS games I ever played. We get the Caddieshack gopher on the start screen. Gameplay is your typical swing mechanics but aiming is so much easier just using cursors to move the screen around – none of this guess an angle then click a key to redraw nonsense I saw in Championship Golf.
The green’s sloping is a bit less sophisticated with regions of arrows representing inclines but it all works well enough. I really like this one. Not as sophisticated as Championship Golf but way more accessible. I’m more or less expecting all the subsequent games to play essentially like this but hopefully there is some variety.Attachments:
9. Poko Memorial 18 Hole Miniature Golf (1987) – Gold Hill Software
Look back to #2 on this list and you’ll know what to expect here as it appears to be a hack of that game to add a full course of 18 holes. It’s apparently based on a real mini golf course in Rochester. Doesn’t exactly compete with the last few games – I hope this was just a freebie.Attachments:
10. World Class Leaderboard (1988) – Access
Another one I know very well from back in my days with a CGA PC. Very similar to Mean 18 but better looking, you just move a little cursor around to aim instead of having to redraw the whole screen while you turn (more accurate and quicker) and of course we have the addition of all that fancy realsound.Can’t tell you how impressed I was with the commentary on this back in the day. It gets repetitive quickly now but I still love it. Gameplay on this is quick and intuitive and it definitely feels like the genre has truly got going by this point. The slope on the greens is all in one direction on this one again (indicated by a stick with a shadow on the green) which is a slight downgrade. I’d have liked to play for longer but there’s another 40 or so to go…
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11. Jack Nicklaus’ Greatest 18 Holes of Major Champion… (1988) – Sculptured Software, Inc.
This was published by Accolade and uses the same mechanics as Mean 18 with slight tweaks. You now move a cursor to aim instead (stolen from World Class Leaderboard presumably) and when you use a lower powered club, the bar moves more slowly making it easier to be accurate.
This is a nice playing little game. Jack’s day-glow EGA features welcoming you to each hole are a bit much but the graphics look much improved (if a bit busy). I found it a little tricky to know where to aim in this one as it doesn’t feel the need to point you towards the hole. Still plays well and it’s starting to feel like these games have settled into a pattern now. The first of many games to feature a famous golfer’s name in tow.Attachments:
12. Will Harvey’s Zany Golf (1988) – Sandcastle
Another one I know well, this is definitely not your traditional golf game featuring all sorts of crazy levels with bouncing hamburgers guarding the hole, a pinball table, magic carpets letting you steer the ball, etc.. . You pull back a line from the ball to set direction and speed.This was originally a IIGS game and plays a bit better there but is still fun in EGA. Only 9 levels – I never could beat the last one which was brutal from what I recall. Pro-tip – the keyboard controls make this easier on DOS since you can learn how many keypresses to use to always get a hole-in-one on the first hole, etc.. Not something that worked with the mouse only IIGS version.
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13. Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf (1988) – SNK Corporation
I was hoping to see some combat in this one with that title but no such luck. This is based on an arcade game. It’s the usual game mechanics (with much reduced club choice) but is just awful to play. The ball movement on the screen doesn’t seem to represent where it actually ends up half the time, small putts are nearly impossible as you have to mash the space bar super quick to not overhit it. Also the player looks Godzilla sized on the course.First game where you can have a female player so I’ll give it credit for that. Otherwise, one of the worst so far. Curious how you can take the exact same gameplay as all the other games and mess it up so badly. I’m sure the arcade version played better than this.
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14 Mini-Putt (1988) – Artech Digital Entertainments, Inc.
Another mini-golf game. Same old mechanics where you’ll hit off to the left or right if you miss-time the stroke. Slopes are shown with tile graphic arrows.There are some crazily complex holes included on this – it’s almost a puzzle game as much as a golf game for the later more challenging courses. Plays quite well with a little animated cartoon golfer representing the player. Nothing that would entertain me for that long but OK for what it is.
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15 Simulgolf (1988) – Simulmondo s.r.l.
CGA only port of a C64 Minigolf game. This just requires a cursor for aiming + strength selection with a moving bar. Starts off with very basic holes but did have one where you shot your ball into a rocket which then fired off and dropped the ball in the hole so appears things may get more exciting later on. Not too bad but I’d rather be playing Zany Golf.Attachments:
16 Worthy Opponent (1988) – Future Ideas Today Inc.
This is a collection of text mode games that can be played over a modem, one of which is mini-golf. As a single player game, this is the worst in the list so far, you can only hit in 8 directions using the numpad and you select power with the space and backspace keys, except it doesn’t appear to show this anywhere on the screen. Maybe the novelty of playing over modem was enough in 88.Attachments:
17 Hole-In-One Miniature Golf (1989) – Digitek Software
My favourite mini-golf game so far. This introduces all new mechanics like bridges you can go under + tubes and teleports that transport the ball elsewhere on the course. It has multiple courses with a traditional mini-golf course but also a fantasy course where you have to putt over a dragon and the like, all with unique well-drawn pixel art. All the holes are contained to a single screen each. Controlling the ball is the opposite of Zany Golf where you pull ahead of where you want the ball to go.There was a later deluxe edition of this featuring extra courses over the 4 in this original. There is also a tutorial course which is a nice touch. First game in the list to support Adlib but it’s just for the sound of the ball going in the hole.
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18. California Pro Golf (1989) – Andromeda Software
Basically a Leaderboard clone. The only novelty here is that the putting is done by aiming a cursor to where you would hit the ball to if there wasn’t a slope. This makes putting a lot easier when you don’t have to judge the power as such. The sloping ground physics are a bit dodgy to compensate with the ball wanting to roll back in the direction it was hit from at times. It’s OK but ultimately worse than the game it’s copying.Attachments:
19 Hole-In-One Miniature Golf Deluxe! (1989) – Digitek Software
I’m unconvinced about the extra courses on this deluxe version. It does things like using slope physics to simulate straight drops so you have to shoot the ball into the sky to get over an obstacle or through a network of underground tunnels where you drop to the bottom every time you miss. The farout course has a screen with walls everywhere that teleport you around the map or a level based on pachinko. Probably one for those masochists who played the original to death and wanted a real challenge.Attachments:
20. NCR Golf (1985) – NCR
Sporting Triangles doesn’t look like it actually got a DOS release so to fill the gap at #20, a missing game off of Mobygames list. One of the first graphical DOS golf games, all played from overhead perspective. This has a line spin around the ball, you click when it’s behind the direction you want to hit, then again to set a power bar. Playable but very basic.Attachments:
Not sure I agree but I’ll be ploughing on regardless. We aren’t even halfway yet…
21 PGA Tour Golf (1990) – Sterling Silver Software
EA’s return to the golf genre and it plays nearly exactly like World Class Leaderboard again with the real differences being presentation. We get some nice MT-32 music, 3D flyby’s over the hole before you play it, and an action cam showing the ball landing after your shot.In terms of actual gameplay differences, we have fully 3D greens but you have to look at the terrain before you take your shot via another screen. One thing I do like about this is a tournament mode where you are competing against lots of other players on a big scoreboard. They even have a commentator popping up telling you how the other players are getting on. Probably the best game so far.
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22 Links: The Challenge of Golf (1990) – Access Software, Inc.
I wasn’t actually aware that there was a Links before Links 386. It plays much like the game I’m familiar with except without SVGA. The VGA graphics include the sort of digitized photos I associate with Access at this time and the realsound music (presumably stolen) title tune. The swish you get when hitting the ball is a whole lot more satisfying than the blips in everyone else’s games so far.We’re missing the tv-like presentation from PGA Golf. What we get instead are very detailed graphics (which take a bit longer to draw) and a fully 3D course even on the approach which is a first. I love the grid feature you can turn on for the greens to see more easily where all the slopes are. Fully mouse driven and technically impressive for 1990. I’m wondering if we’ll actually see any real innovation in the genre from here on out.
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23 Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (1990) – SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
SEGA actually decided to use very slightly different gameplay to everyone else for this. Instead of hooking/slicing, your timing here appears to change how well you hit that ball and you have to change your stance before playing the shot if you want to bend it.This does feel like a big step backwards after the last two games. The icon driven interface is less than clear also. Maybe better suited to consoles.
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24 Buick Dimensions (1990) – InMar Group, Inc., The
This is an odd one – it’s free advertising software for Buick cars that includes sections on things like the models of Buick’s currently available and how to look after it should you actually buy one. There is also a 9 hole golf game where you get to play the front 9 from Westchester Club. I can only assume Buick were sponsoring golf in one way or another at the time.As for the game, the ball physics is seriously questionable and we’re missing features from other games of the year but this plays OK considering it’s free.
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25 Greg Norman’s Shark Attack! The Ultimate Golf Simulator (1990) – Gremlin Graphics Software Limited
Golf would clearly be more entertaining with added shark attacks but the title unfortunately refers to the nickname of golfer Greg Norman. The presentation of this feels very outdated after Links and PGA and this game definitely isn’t a looker. The collection I got it from claims a 1989 release date though.It’s fully in 3D so may have been the first DOS game to achieve that if 1989 if to be believed. There are a plethora of swing options available when hitting the ball that I don’t have time to explore and it genuinely does seem to be attempting to be more of a sim than other games. Whether that makes it more fun to play I don’t know but this one may actually be worth looking into. It’s the only game yet where you can misshit the ball so badly, a divot of grass pops up and the ball doesn’t move.
This is the only game so far where you get to play as a pair and take turns with shots and get to watch the computer player each time. It makes things slower but you can potentially learn from their efforts.
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I seem to recall a similar Ford freebie for DOS now you mention it except with a driving sim instead of golf. Makes me wonder if this worked as an advertising system? I’m somewhat relieved to hear this one of Chrysler’s is for Windows and I don’t have to play it at any rate.
26 Jack Nicklaus’ Unlimited Golf & Course Design (1990) – Sculptured Software, Inc.
This game has some of the cheesiest MT-32 title music I’ve ever heard – note to self to record this for the podcast intro. I thought Jack looked a bit red in EGA but he’s more or less the same colour in this VGA sequel so maybe it was more accurate than I thought.
Jack Nicklaus sequel from Sculptured Software with some of the modern presentation and 3D modelling improvements we’ve been seeing in most of the 1990 games. It plays perfectly well, possibly lagging slightly behind EA and Access in presentation but there is so little to choose between these games that all play essentially the same. I’d have been happy with any of these 3 at the time.
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27 World Golf 2 (1990)
You know you’re in for a quality experience when the text with the name of the game doesn’t quite fit with the background graphics on the title screen.
This is another oddity being written in BASIC, and only running on Tandy 1000’s. It looks more like an alien planet than Earth but is certainly colourful – it attempts the usual timing based gameplay and is just about playable. I do like the disembodied club that hits the ball. This game doesn’t even attempt greens and just reduces the distance you hit when you swap to a putter.Attachments:
28 Links 386 Pro (1992) – Access Software, Inc.
This is the one I remember playing back in the days when you could fire up a golf game to show off your PC to your mates. It’s essentially the same as Links from what I can see except with a bit more commentary and a lot more pixels. Still a good looking game (if a little too green to be realistic). The last golf game I played before giving up on the genre and going back to this now, I can’t see where the genre goes from here. Unnecessary FMV I expect.Attachments:
29 David Leadbetter’s Greens (1992) – Thought Train, The
This game isn’t about Mr Leadbetter’s diet or his gardening after all but is actually Microprose’s entry into the golf genre taking their typical sim-like approach. This is also the first of these games to have a proper intro with some great chill MT-32 music. We see some clueless golfer hit his tree shot straight into a tee – a few words of advice from Mr Leadbetter and it’s a hole in one. No one he was one of the world’s top coaches.
This is actually a well put together game with a full 3D course with camera options that follow the ball after it’s hit, or put a little pop up on the screen showing how near the hole it is. There are commentators that pop up as well but none of the speech we get from Access unfortunately.
The putting is strange on this one with you essentially having to hit the same point on the putting meter no matter how far away you are. It’s much harsher on getting the ball in the hole to compensate for what sounds like it should make life easier.
I like the look of this game actually. Definitely one to spend more time with if I didn’t have another 25 or so to try out.Attachments:
30 Jack Nicklaus Golf & Course Design: Signature Edition (1992) – Sculptured Software, Inc.
3rd in the series and this is essentially the same as the last one but with spruced up graphics. It feels like it’s trying to be Links with the mouse interface but it doesn’t quite pull it off. Low power shots/putts are fairly awful with the power bar immediately reversing meaning you have to click ridiculously fast to pull off tiny putts which should be easy. Below par.Attachments:
31 Power Putt (1992) – Clubware
This is another mini-golf game except with imaginative physics meaning you can use the same hook/slice mechanics to curve the ball. This is fairly horrible to play with erratic timing on the power bars at least in an emulator. It was released as shareware with just the first 5 holes coming free – I’d already given in before I got that far…Attachments:
32 International Open Golf Championship (1993) – Really Interesting Software Company (RISC)
Ocean entered the golf game market with this one. It actually tries to do something new with smooth 3D graphics and instead of the usual hook/slice power bar, we pick in 25% chunks how much power to use, then have to move a little cursor over a golf ball while it fights back so that we hit the ball in the right place. It’s like playing one of those old darts games or cutting the maiden’s hair in Heimdall.
Novelty aside, the 3D graphics look fairly horrible now, as might be expected for any game attempting this in 93. Fighting the cursor to hit the ball is not fun either. Not one I’ll be going back to.Attachments:
33 Nick Faldo’s Championship Golf (1993) – Arc Developments Limited
This has a lower budget feel to it that some of the bigger titles in the genre but still has lots of speech for advising the player, little FMV flyovers of the holes and some built in training which is a novelty. The speech is in very clear English accents and definitely isn’t Nick Faldo even when they do put a picture of him up on the screen.
The manual talks about setting the power before hitting but the game seems to play with the usual mechanics so I don’t know what’s going on there. Not one of the best but this plays a perfectly decent game of golf.Attachments:
34 Wilson ProStaff Golf (1993) – Novotrade International, Inc.
This one is named after a make and type of golf ball I believe and is Konami’s entry into the genre. All the major publishers had to have a golf game it seems. This plays slightly differently to others with a circular dot moving semi-randomly around the back of the golf ball to decide where you strike it and whether it hooks/slices. This works much better here than International Open Golf and isn’t a bad alternative. I’d expect Konami to be more arcadey but this game wants you to take your time, allowing the power bar to bounce back and forth before you commit to a choice. A bit light on the sound effects compared to other games and the ball hitting the grass sounds like a bass drum. You do get a reverse angle replay of each shot. Another playable golf game which isn’t quite up the standards of the best in the genre.Attachments:
35 World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach (1994) – Arc Developments Limited
Just when all these games were starting to look the same we get US Gold’s effort which does it’s own thing. First off it comes on 2 CDs. I’m preparing myself for TV presenters doing terrible acting but no, this is implemented with prerendered 3D covering the entire course Myst style. This can result in situations where you are off in the distance taking your shot, but presumably less so if you are actually hitting the fairways. Prerendering means we can have things like complex tree shadows but it doesn’t honestly look much better than some of the other games. I’d have gone for photos of the real thing if I was attempting something like this back then I think.The control system is unique as well, you pre-select shot power and have to try to click in the middle of a zone on the way up and down a bar to decide how purely you hit the shot. There’s extra features for ball spin which I didn’t explore too much. You get FMV of the ball going down the fairway – I expect they just have one of these per course as it didn’t seem to relate to where I was hitting it all the time.
I can’t say I found this one easy to master but that’s probably just because it’s not what I’m used to. Not the worst playing game still and worth a look if you want something a bit different.
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36 PGA Tour Golf 486 (1994) Hitmen Productions
The inevitable EA sequel arrives, presumably with 486 in the title to outdo Links. It’s doing the typical EA things with barely changing the gameplay but we now get to play as about 50 different real life pro’s who each have a bit of commentary to share about the course. The graphics have definitely improved to compete with Links and we have a sort of circular powerbar surrounding the player which looks a bit more dramatic if nothing else. The speed of this varies with club and I found this a bit harder than the last entry.
We get a brief bit of 90’s guitar music on the intro but it’s less over the top than I expect from these sports games. I want to see someone hitting an exploding golf ball before I get through all of these games. There are crowds and an annoying whispering commentator on the greens. I think I’d still go for Links 386 over this but it’s personal preference and these two series seem to be the ones leading the golfing pack.Attachments:
37 Caddiehack (1994) – MICODE Developments
This is a shareware effort which was ambitious given the likes of WCL would have been available in the bargain bin by now. Basic vector graphics but it does actually play fine. Very basic compared to most of the competition though with completely flat fairways and we’re back to arrows to show the slope on the green.Attachments:
38 Cadillac Impressions (1994) – InMar Group, Inc., The
So we have not one put two freeware car promotional golf games in this list. Buick must have sold so many with their effort that Cadillac got in on the act.
Aside from the sections about the cars we have a basic 18 hole golf game that doesn’t play anywhere near as well as the last shareware effort but could be worse for a freebie I suppose. It actually has celebrity endorsement with Lee Trevino quotes built into the game.Attachments:
39 Ryder Cup: Johnnie Walker (1994) – Really Interesting Software Company (RISC)
The sequel to International Open Golf Championship from Ocean. We’re in full 3D again which has certainly improved from last time but still looks considerably worse than the likes of Links 386. We do get the option for TV angles of following the ball around when you hit it though. This would have impressed more back then.
The game plays well enough, with lots of extra options for different types of shot, or whether to have shading or lines on the greens.
The Ryder Cup is kind of the golf event than non golf fans watch so it’s a bit of a coup to have that and you can play the real players of the time in all the different play styles.Attachments:
40 PGA Tour 96 (1995) – Hitmen Productions
Another PGA sequel and it’s more of the same with a few visual tweaks, the most noticeable being the addition of two camera boxes when you hit the ball, one from above and another reverse angle of the ball landing. I quite like this addition, although the full screen reverse angle worked well in the last version as well.
The whispering commentator is back but a bit less annoying and actually offers advice about which way the ball will break on the putt. Another solid entry but barely distinguishable from PGA 486.Attachments:
41 Links 386 CD (1995) – Access Software, Inc.
Coming back to Links again, the graphics in this really are better than everyone else. The downside is they don’t have the action camera’s of other games, the nearest I could find being an option to have a split screen green view.
This CD version adds an FMV intro and two alternative commentary tracks featuring Bobcat Goldthwaite being an annoying caddie. You also have FMV flyby’s of the holes and a whole lot of courses. The core game really hasn’t changed one iota and they are clearly a bit desperate for new features but Links is still the best of the bunch for me.Attachments:
42 Fuzzy’s World of Miniature Space Golf (1995) – Pixel Painters Corporation
We’re back on miniature golf but this time in space. Very bright, colourful and breezy graphics and music. Exactly the same game mechanics as Zany Golf. A lot of the holes take place across multiple screens so there is a decent amount of content here across the 18 hole course. Nothing as inventive as those Zany Golf holes though. I liked this one still, it’s a pleasant enough diversion and would certainly be a challenge to finish the full course. It’s kind enough to offer practice options for all the holes for anyone attempting this.Attachments:
43 The Scottish Open: Virtual Golf (1995) – Core Design Ltd.
I never knew there was a Core Sports brand but here we are. Makes me wonder if this was their only output after Tomb Raider took off around the time this came out. This is another 3D game with 2D sprites over the top for the trees. It’s quite basic 3D and plainer than RISC’s earlier games so I doubt this would have impressed too much even back then. It plays fine though, if being very harsh if you are even slightly off with the timing. Starts each hole off with a flyby to make the most of that 3D engine and you can tilt and pan the camera wherever you like. The courses feel less flat than most, either because of the engine or the fact we’re talking about Scottish courses here.Attachments:
44 Picture Perfect Golf (1995) – Lyriq International Corp.
Almost as if someone heard my suggestion from a few games back, this is a CD game made entirely from photos of a real golf course. This works quite well in the approaches, certainly giving it a visual edge over the other games. I’m not convinced that every single green wasn’t using the same picture but maybe I’d be proved wrong if I’d played for longer.
Where it suffers is there is no player on screen, just a small white rectangle for the ball that stays the same size no matter how near or far and doesn’t feel all that convincing in how it bounces. When you get on the greens, you get something that looks more like a real ball but the movement never feels quite right there either. This could have been a hidden gem but the game side of it lets things down. Just needed a bit more refinement but still not a bad effort.Attachments:
45 Hole in One (1995) – Really Interesting Software Company (RISC)
The final game we’re going to be seeing from RISC who are only behind PGA and Links in terms of sequels on here. It’s in full 3D as with all their others, with lots of pastel colours this time around. It’s not realistic to look at but not bad looking for a 3D game of the era to be fair.
Their is a fancy swirly power meter this time around but with the same gameplay mechanics as ever. As with all their games, it plays fine but looks worse than Links and PGA. It doesn’t really take advantage of the 3D outside of aiming so we don’t see any following the ball when you hit it but we do get a reverse angle and a little overhead view of the hole. Possibly too much camera movement would have been asking a bit much for the PC’s of the time. Only appears to include one course which seems a bit stingy at this point.Attachments:
46 Links LS: Legends in Sports – 1997 Edition (1996) – Access Software, Inc.
The last Links game we’ll be seeing on DOS. This one adds super hi-res hi-colour modes including the likes of 1024×768 at 16.7 million colours. I’m struggling to come up with other DOS games that ran in that mode.
This is a 3 CD monster with plenty of courses to pick from and video tours for some of them. The videos don’t add much but most of us were still impressed with multimedia back then and you had to fill up those CD’s. It had a ton of expansions on offer also for more courses, and you can even import your Links 386 courses.
The gameplay hasn’t changed much – the swing meter feels more swingy and I was finding it harder to time as a result. This probably isn’t a bad thing at this point – you don’t want these games too easy to master. There is also network multiplayer for the first time. Another great entry in what is arguably the definitive golf series. Doesn’t exactly add anything essential though and I do miss the reverse angle shots we get in some of the other games.
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47 AM’s Mini Golf 3D (1996)
I should mention that Twisted Mini Golf looks to have been Windows 3.1 only so I’ve skipped that and we’re onto another shareware mini golf game, this time in 3D. I’ve only got 9 of the 18 holes on this demo version. The paid release had a course designer also allowing up to 99 holes in total apparently.
You move the 3D camera to aim, hold down space to set your power and release. It plays well enough for what it is but it does feel like maximum power to bounce around the bumpers is the best bet a lot of the time. Nothing I’d have been forking out money for but it’s easy to pick up and play & this could have been fun for a bit of multiplayer.Attachments:
48 PGA European Tour (1996) – Intelligent Games Ltd
The last PGA game on the list – this is apparently a remake of the original according to DOSBox. It plays much like the last PGA game with a bit less detail in the graphics than Links. It still looks good though and I do like the extra features with the map and the two little windows showing where the shot is going. Links has some of these features but it does feel slicker here.
It’s also got a real golf commentator whose name escapes me now which works far better than the cheesiness of the Links voiceovers. I think PGA might have won me over from Links at this point as much as it pains me to champion EA over Access. There isn’t a lot between them though.Attachments:
49 Sensible Golf (1996) – Sensible Software
I’ve heard bad things about this but I didn’t actually mind it too much. The mechanics are much the same as every other golf game but it’s got the usual small Sensible graphics, being played from overhead. It’s a whole lot more cartoony not worrying too much about realistic ball physics but it’s close enough to play fine. It’s essentially golf in the Cannon Fodder engine really.
There are a load of courses which have hazards all over them and definitely aren’t going for realism much like the ball physics. You can play in groups of 4 with any mix of real and computer players. The greens are back to arrows for the slopes which is a step back a decade in golf games but sort of fits with the less serious theme.
I don’t like the fact that you have to hold down fire to get the map up. You can’t see far enough to take a shot without it so it may as well be there all the time. Also, it only seems to support keyboard for playing with unless that was dodgy exodos setup. Something a bit different at least. If this was the same price as Links or PGA, you would have a hard time making a case for it but it’s fine if it was a few quid less.Attachments:
50 Golf Pro 2000 Downunder (1997) – Roadshow Interactive
The final game on the list so we have exactly 50 games unless someone can dig another up. This one came out of nowhere and competes with anything we’ve seen so far. Lovely graphics, very, very similar to Links.Set in Australia, just like the publisher and you aren’t going to miss this fact with all the koalas and kangaroos in the photos for the into. The course is quite hilly which is very well represented in the game. Some of these games can feel a bit flat (literally) but not so here. It appears to have two commentators with one in each speaker – they do repeat each other a little and aren’t quite up to PGA standards but are still more realistic than Links. The ball physics feels spot on and all in all, this is a great game to finish off with. Very impressed they came out with this as a first effort.
I’m not about to pick a favourite but it’s fair to say the games got better over the years. There is precious little real difference in gameplay going all the way back to the likes of Mean 18 or World Class Leaderboard but the courses certainly get less flat and are a better representation of the real thing by the end of this list. I’ll be going back to spend a bit of time with some of the better efforts.
I’m really curious to play a modern golf game first to see if anything has changed in the 28 years since.
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