Playing With History - Golf on the SNES

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HAL's Hole In One Golf

 

 

Instead of the usual third-person viewpoint from just behind the golfer, the action in HAL's Hole In One Golf is observed from a strictly top-down perspective. The game employs a typical hierarchical multi-step interface to select among the various options of the pre-shot routine. A three-click swing meter in a semi-circular configuration is utilized for tee and approach shots. Club lengths are provided on screen, and distance markers are indicated in the hole overview window. A topographical overhead view of each hole is also available, and this view can aid shot planning to some degree, but a lack of distance markers in this view limits its overall usefulness.

 

Aiming is somewhat difficult. A direction indicator extending a few feet in front of the ball can be rotated in the desired direction of the shot, but small incremental adjustments made in this gauge end up translating to large target shifts 250 yards down the fairway. Don't be shocked when a ball you believe you've aimed straight down the middle of the fairway travels well into the rough instead.

 

Putting couldn't be simpler. There's not much break on the greens to be read. Essentially, it's just aim the ball at the hole with the right amount of power. However, short putts require quick reflexes, so as not to over hit the ball. As the ball nears the hole, the action cuts to a nice close-up animation of the ball either falling into the hole or lipping out. Score an eagle or better and you'll receive a password that will let you view a replay of the shot.

 

The graphics are sharp and the musical selections are catchy. Multiple gameplay modes, including a serviceable tournament mode, are included. Unfortunately, only a single course is available to play.

 

HAL's Hole In One Golf doesn't possess the depth of its more simulation-oriented contemporaries, but it's simple, fast-paced, arcade-style gameplay delivers plenty of fun.

 

Score: Birdie

 

 

Irem Skins Game, The

 

 

The Irem Skins Game is an arcade-style golf simulation with excellent graphics and appealing music. The SNES game is actually a port of an original coin-op version. The game is presented in a mixed perspective. The pre-shot perspective is a standard third person view from just behind the golfer, but once the ball is hit, the view switches to a top-down perspective to track the ball in flight. Players can choose to play as one of four golfers. Each golfer possess a unique skill set that influences the player's ability to make certain shots.

 

The Irem Skins Game takes a simplified approach to hitting the ball. Instead of setting the power and controlling the shot, the only function of the vertically-oriented swing meter in The Irem Skins Game is to select the vertical angle of the shot, which, in turn, sets the amount of backspin/topspin applied to the ball. The strength of each swing is selected prior to the shot by setting a power gauge to one of 16 levels. Draw and fade can be applied to the ball by changing the players stance. It all might sound complicated, but it's fairly straightforward.

 

The putting system is simple, but challenging. Somewhat confusingly, the game specifies the maximum distance for the putter in yards, but measures distance on the greens in meters. Thankfully, the two units of distance are nearly equivalent.

 

The fact that there are no distance markers shown on the hole overview is a serious flaw. It's difficult to accurately place shots without them, especially lay-up shots. Also, the repetitive music can get a little stale after the front nine. It would be nice to be able to turn it off, but, unfortunately, beyond game and character selection, there are no user configurable options in the game.

 

The game provides the usual array of game modes--tournament, match and stroke play, and, of course, a skins game. Only one course is included.

 

The Irem Skins Game is a first-class presentation. The gameplay is highly simplified, but solid and enjoyable, nonetheless.

 

Score: Birdie

 

 

Jack Nicklaus Golf

 

 

Jack Nicklaus Golf is little more than a graphical update of the NES golf game that bears the Jack Nicklaus moniker. It's missing most of the innovative features found in state-of-the-art 16-bit golf simulations.

 

The game employs a vertically-oriented three-click swing meter. Club lengths are provided on screen. Wind is a factor. A grid can be toggled to reveal the topography of the green between the hole and the ball's current position, but putting in Jack Nicklaus Golf is so extremely forgiving that it's rarely necessary to make use of it. Simply aim the ball at the hole, with a reasonable amount of speed, and most putts will drop. Single round stroke play and some practice options are the only game modes available. There is no tournament mode. Two courses are included in the game.

 

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with Jack Nicklaus Golf. Played for its own sake, it can be a serviceable diversion. Nevertheless, its presentation and gameplay belong to an earlier, 8-bit, era. It simply lacks the features necessary for it to be able to stand with the best of its contemporaries.

 

Score: Par

 

 

PGA Tour Golf

 

 

For PGA Tour Golf's first outing on the SNES, EA dropped the polygon-based graphics that characterized the series on the Genesis and replaced them with mode 7 manipulations of bitmapped layers. This was a wise thing for EA to do as rendering polygons on the fly has never been one of the SNES' strengths (see PGA '96 review). The trade-off in switching to bitmapped graphics was one of visual crispness for acceptable rendering speed.

 

Beyond their visual differences, the SNES and Genesis versions of PGA Tour Golf are the same game. All the features of the Genesis version are in the SNES version, and they function identically, more or less. The only significant difference between the two versions is found within the putting system. In the Genesis version, the topography of the green between the hole and the ball is scaled to fit on to a single screen of the putting grid. In the SNES version, each unit of distance on the putting grid remains discrete, and the putting grid scrolls to accommodate putts that exceed a certain threshold in length. However, this system makes it difficult to read the greens accurately because the undulations of the greens seem to be relative to the position from where they are being observed. An undulation on the green observed from 20 ft. away appears markedly different when scrolled to a distance of 2 ft.

 

There are additional minor differences between the Genesis and SNES versions of the game. For example, in the SNES version, the tournament mode has been given an expanded TV-style presentation. The SNES also includes a "Ball Cam" that follows directly behind the ball in flight. However, this perspective looks lousy and I recommend turning it off and sticking with the standard view. Like the Genesis version, four courses are included and the game is battery saved.

 

While it's not as visually sharp as the Genesis version, the SNES version of PGA Tour Golf is equally as fun. All things considered, it's probably the best golf game on the SNES.

 

Score: Eagle

 

 

PGA '96

 

 

Thankfully, PGA '96 on the SNES is not the same game as PGA '96 on the Genesis. PGA '96 on the SNES is, instead, a port of PGA Tour Golf III on the Genesis. Unfortunately, everything that made PGA Tour Golf III a great game on the Genesis was lost in its translation to the SNES. For example, the hole fly-overs, the pro-player comments and the reverse angle views of the ball in flight are all missing. One notable element, however, has been added to PGA '96 on the SNES--extremely slow gameplay! Throughout the game, lengthy waits must be endured. On the green, in particular, the hold ups are agonizing as you must wait for the green to be rendered, then wait for the putting grid to be drawn, then wait again while the green is re-rendered. Spend anytime actually reading the green and the process can take half a minute. Double the interval, if you end up two-putting.

 

Apparently, the game makes use of an SA-1 coprocessor, but I can't see what it's contributing. I find it hard to believe that with two processors, one clocked at 10mHz(!), this was the best that could be done on the SNES. Maybe EA just ported the 68000 source straight over from the Genesis and didn't optimize it for the SNES's 85816. Whatever the reason for the game's slowness, PGA '96 is definitely not a game you want to mention when discussing the SNES with Genesis fanboys.

 

I suppose the game isn't a total loss. The gameplay is all there, there are eight courses, and, once rendered, the graphics look pretty good. Nevertheless, it's all but impossible to get beyond the tedious speed of the game.

 

Score: Bogey

 

 

Waialae Country Club

 

 

Produced by the same company that developed Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Genesis, Waialae Country Club employs a visually restructured, but functionally identical layout to its sibling game on the Genesis, utilizing the same multi-step interface and two-stage swing meter. The graphics are superb--the most realistic and attractive graphics of any golf game I've reviewed on either the SNES or the Genesis. Like most 16-bit golf simulations, the sound effects are minimal. In-game background music is non-existent. Although the music played on the game setup screen is one of the grooviest pieces of SNES music I've ever heard.

 

Gameplay is essentially identical to that found in Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Genesis. However, the pre-shot hole fly-overs found in Pebble Beach Golf Links have been dropped, allowing Waialae Country Club to play a bit quicker, which is a plus. Obviously, Waialae Country Club is limited to one course. Their are multiple game modes though, including a decent tournament. Although being forced to scroll through the current tournament standings at the end of each hole before moving on is a major annoyance.

 

Although Waialae Country Club isn't as effortlessly engaging as, say, PGA Tour Golf or one of the arcade-style golf games on the SNES, it's a challenging and rewarding game and definitely one of the better golf titles of its era.

 

Score: Birdie

 

Notable titles that were not included in this discussion are Pebble Beach Golf Links, Mecarobot Golf, and PGA European Tour.

 

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