Arcade Archives Golf

Genre: Sports (Golf)

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Alternating)

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Review:

Golf (referred to in-game as Stroke & Match Golf and elsewhere as Vs. Golf) is a take on the Sport released on Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades in 1985, then ported to Nintendo Entertainment System later that year as a launch title in the US. This is Nintendo’s first videogame to take on this sport, five years before NES Open Tournament Golf would see them begin their pattern of releasing Golf Games starring their star mascot, Mario.

Despite its age, Golf actually looks quite similar to NES Open Tournament Golf, with decent 2D pixel art visuals and chiptune sound design that work well enough for the game. It all has a retro style charm to it, but it’s not exceptional in any way.

Unfortunately, the gameplay here is simply terrible, with players unable to aim with any more precision than eight directions, unless you want to get tricky and try to hook or fade your shot to make up for this. Even if you do, this game gives players very little indication how powerful their shots will be or where they will land. Perhaps by the standards of the age this was acceptable, but by today’s standard this game is virtually unplayable.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to make as many points as they can in one run. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

So, is this game worth its $8 price tag? No. Absolutely not. Even forgetting all of the great modern Golf games you can get on the Nintendo Switch, even forgetting the far superior NES Open Tournament Golf that you already have access to if you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, this is still an abysmal Golf game, and I wouldn’t recommend it if it were $2. Do not buy this game, you have countless better options.

tl;dr – Golf is Nintendo’s first take on the Sport, and by far the worst. By today’s standards this game is virtually unplayable, a fact made even worse by an insulting $8 price tag. Do not buy this.

Grade: F

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