classic golf games

[chrisbid]

this is an often overlooked genre, since golf games have tended to be slow through the years until Hot Shots Golf and Mario Golf came out a few years ago. But when i was growing up, they were the only video games my dad would play, so ive played more than a few in the day, and have some interest in them today.

 

Here are the games ive played the most

 

PGA Golf - Intellivision: I was a little kid in the day, and though that the higher number club, meant that you would hit it farther. Compared to Atari golf though, this game was fairly deep

 

Golf - NES: The first weekend we got our NES, my dad picked up this game. There was no music at all on this cart, and very sparse sound effects. The game was similar to PGA Golf on the INTV, since you were limited to only a few directions on the fairway. On the green though, you could aim anywhere you wanted, but the break on the green was poorly presented as arrows

 

Jack Nicklaus Golf - NES: For the time, the illustration of Jack's Face was pretty good graphically. The game was a bit more detailed, and you could play skins games, and my favorite feature was the loud ping sound when you hit the pin. In this game, you could finally aim anywhere you wanted, but if you changed the angle too much, the screen had to redraw itself, and that took several seconds. This game also had a little catchy theme song between holes.

 

Great Golf - SMS: I didnt have an SMS, but my cousin did, so we got to play this every once in awhile when we went to visit. I remember there was no music and sparse effect, (except for the title screen), but there were a couple of terrible voice samples. Whenever you hit a good drive, youd here a "NICE SHOT", but it sounded like a dixie chick with helium, and there was a stutter, so it came out NICE-AH-SHOT. To this day, when we play golf games, well use that line

 

Wailiae Country Club: SNES - When we got the SNES in early 1992, we picked up this golf game, to continue the tradition. This game had low res polygons representing the golf course. There was no animation, so this was easily pulled off on the first generation of SNES games. This game featured a tournament, and it was ok, but a tad on the slow side, and with only one course, we didnt put as much play time into this one

 

PGA Tour Golf (series): Genesis - Now were talking, this game blew everything else out of the water. It was a port of the PC series, but EA really did a spectacular job on the genesis games. The real pros, the TV style setup, the four round tournaments, and multiple golf courses, made this game a staple in my Genesis collection. Sadly, things were great for the first three games (1, 2, and European), but on PGA 3, they tried to import the 3D swing meter from the newer PC versions, but it sorely lacked on the 16 bit system.

 

Of course there were other games we rented, Lee Travino's Fighting Golf, Pebble Beach Golf on NES, Mean 18, Hole in one golf, and PGA Tour on SNES, and there were a couple of Genesis golf games we tried that i cant remember the names to now, but if i had few more video golfer around, i would like to someday put together a virtual video golf tour with all these different games

[oesii]

Great topic, I grew up playing Leaderboard Golf on the Atari 8bits. My favorite golf game for the NES was NES Open. And I spent a good year playing Mario Golf for the Gameboy Color, what a great game. Golf and baseball games can hold my attention for decades

[Scooterb23]

We need to meet at some point Chris...I am amassing a pretty good collection of golf games as well.

 

One of my favorites was Leaderboard Golf on my beloved C64. My best score ever was a 47, and I sent Ron Corcoran a score of 49, back a couple years ago when me and Ron were having a bit of a battle on that game

 

Another good Genny game was Tournament Golf (with Arnold Palmer's picture on the label) Chi Chi Rodriguez also had a game, but it isn't that good.

 

On the SNES I also like Mecarobot Golf (too slow though...), The iRem Skins Game, and Hole-In-One Golf are all good as well...

 

I really want to get Mean 18 and Ninja Golf on the 7800...

 

TO be a real stickler here...PGA Tour 3 was set up just like the others on the Genny, it was PGA Tour 96 when they tried, and failed to bring over the 3D swing style...

 

36 Holes w/ Fred Couples is pretty good on the 32X...

 

And don't forget about Computer Golf! on the Odyssey2!!!!! It's actually pretty good...

[chrisbid]

i guess youre right, i rmember PGA III sucking though, i think the swing meter wasnt smooth, or something. I just remember that 2 and Euro were my favorite two games

[Lemmi]

Atari 7800- I love both Ninja Golf and Mean 18 when i first got them i played them for weeks on and off

 

3DO - when i play the 3DO i usually play Waialae Country Club Golf, just because its different then the PGA Tour Golf 96

 

NES - ive played alot of the golf games for this system but the one i played the most was the plain old GOLF game i still remember the sounds of the ball going up in the air and landing

and Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf i used to play alot as well i havent played any others yet

 

Gamecube - i have Swingers Golf, kida hard to get used to all the cool graphics after playing the NES and sega ones so long

 

TG16 - Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf cant forget this classic, this was the first golf game i really got into because with very little practice you can become really good at this game

 

And now onto the best golf games ever made

 

Sega Genesis - Arnold Palmer: Tournament Golf - the caddie feature is neat in this one

PGA Tour Golf 1 and 2 - the stats these games keep are sweet and kept me comming back for more to try and beat my best scores/stats

i have PGA 3 but i havent played it yet and from the responces here i dont think i will try it

 

and now onto my most favorite golf game

Sega Saturn - Valora Valley Golf - this is a very challenging golf game with very hard holes and weather conditions and i still suck at this game but i keep playing it

[chrisbid]

i love arnold palmer golf for genesis, it just screamed 16 bit with its gigantic golfer, and the cool music that played throughout the game. I think this was the first game i played that had a tournament. I never have taken the time to finish the game though, i won the first three tournaments, and kindof ran out of gas to keep playing

[Room 34]

I spent a lot of time in my post-Atari early-adolescent era playing Mean 18 on my old Tandy 1000EX. Even though it only had 3 colors (green, pink, and yellow... augh!) it was loads of fun, and judging by what I've seen in the 15 years since then, it was pretty much the definitive concept for video game golf. Even the current crop of games like Links LS, etc. are basically the same game, just with better graphics.

 

Oh yeah... and Atari 2600 Golf is CRAP! But then again, sports games never were really the 2600's strong suit. (Not that I cared... other than Mean 18 I've never really enjoyed a sports video game for more than the first couple of hours out of the box.)

[PaulEMoz]

Leaderboard and World Class Leaderboard on the Commodore 64 were among my most played games ever. Absolute classics, and they are still great fun to play now.

 

I have to say though, that despite (or maybe because of) the lack of "seriousness", I'm really impressed by Tiger Woods 2003 on the PS2. Much better than the PC version, I would say, because of all the fun features. The PC version is more of a simulation (still very good), but the PS2 version is just a fun game all round.

 

I'd also like to mention Sid Meier's Sim Golf on the PC. I really enjoy playing that game.

[devils advocate]

My favorite two are Mario Golf (N64) and Tiger Woods 2003 (xbox). Not exactly vintage, but my faves.

[Tempest]

While not exactly classic, don't forget Neo Turf Masters on the Neo Geo. That game rocks!

 

Tempest

[Clock]

My favourite old golf game is the first leaderboard game on C64 also. All that water was great. I only once got a hole in one.

 

Awesome Golf on the Atari Lynx deserves a mention as this is a really good playable game.

 

Tiger Woods on the Xbox is my modern favourate.

[DeV0]

Leaderboard on the c64 is a good golf game, i have it on cart so it always works. I played it on floppies in the 80's

 

NES Open is great, if u like the NES i'd highly recomend this one

 

7800 mean 18, only got this recently and after downloading the instructions have spent ages on this one.

 

2600, My golf, HES's only original title for the 2600 and its an excellent golf game given the machines limitations.

 

Gameboy b&w, i think its just called golf? My favourite handheld golf game.

[Mayhem]

Gotta say Leaderboard on the C64 again. If there was truly a definitive golf game for an 8-bit machine, this was it. It was also probably the best during the 16 bit era too

 

Only Mario Golf and Tiger Woods I think have been better since...

[RJ]

Those I've played:

 

2600 Golf- fine for the 2600...remember, you're playing it on a 2600!!! I grew up w/ it, so that's why I HATED...

 

Intellivision Golf- don't know how poorly these games were emulated on Intellivision Classics for PSX, but this is THE WORST golf game I've ever played! Simply awful. Sorry.

 

Fox Sports Golf 99- I heard bad things about it, but I like it! Maybe b/c it was my 1st PSX golf game. Love the multiple camera angles. Very challenging.

 

Hot Shots Golf(PSX)- just 9 holes on a demo disc, but a great demo nonetheless!

 

PGA European Tour(Genny)- also very good, much better than the choppy SNES versions.

 

Hal's Hole-In-One Golf- stomps all over EA's PGA Tour for SNES. Graphics are crisp, clean, & smooth. More music would've been nice.

 

Leader Board Golf (800 XL)- only borrowed for awhile, didnt care for all the water.

 

Ninja Golf (7800)- fun, "non-golf" golf sim. If you cant get Mean 18, get this.

 

Awesome Golf (Lynx)- my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I first played this. The graphics, effects, & scaling were- AWESOME!

[+Cafeman]

i love arnold palmer golf for genesis, it just screamed 16 bit with its gigantic golfer, and the cool music that played throughout the game.  

 

I used to love playing Arnold Palmer golf. Great golf game! I need to find it again!

[landsmarra]

Somehow I got hooked on PGA Tour Golf for the SNES. Only once did I get a hole in one and no one was there to see it!

 

Steve

[joeybastard]

I never got much into the console golf games. I had MS golf (98 I think) on the PC and played the hell out of that. Recently I got Teed Off on the DC which is OK but nothing great. I also got Swingers on the GC and I like it a lot. It's the only Golf I've played that takes real skill to swing the club. Putting is hard as hell though, I can't seem to get the hang of it.

[MegaManFan]

Over time, my favorites have been (in no particular order or console) Leaderboard Golf, Golf (GB), Hot Shots Golf, Hot Shots Golf 3, Outlaw Golf, Mario Golf and Mario Golf Toadstool's Tour.

[chrisbid]

so ive been playing Arnold Palmer golf for the past two hours, holy hell the game is ruthless. I shot a very good 6 under par for one round, and yet i was in sixth freakin place. although, looking up codes, i found that there is a fantasy zone mini game hidden in this cart