Impressive scaling effect, I thought I was playing Mario Golf on GBA for a moment!
The course is all drawn using geometric shapes (circles) with fill patterns.
Similar to the excellent 1987 game Chip Shot: Super Pro Golf (Intellivision)
That explains a lot in how seamless it looks, only area where your eyes notice it is where striped vertical lines are used
The developer could definitely have kept the diagonal fills “fixed” - like in the NES parallax video - so I guess this was an artistic choice.
Okay, the golf cart is hilarious…
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Just found this thread. I really like Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for GC. My friend and I put in hours on it. I also like Hot Shots (everbody’s) golf for PS1.
More recently, I played Golf Story. I liked that a lot, and even my son played through it.
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Yes! This man is on my wavelength.
edit: great video
I’ve been playing Clap Hanz Golf as many of you know, but I decided to finally play Minna no Golf 5 on PS3 which has been sitting on the PS3’s hard drive for years. It’s no exaggeration that the physics in that game are more nuanced than 6 (which was based on the PSP games’ engine) to the point where it’s extremely mesmirising watching the ball roll around the more granular terrain structures, especially on the greens!
Anyway, it got me thinking, I should be looking further back at more golf titles - particularly those from T&E Soft which Matt has expertly documented here.
But I’ve honestly got choice paralysis, which had me wondering which games represent each developers’ finest work.
Going from Matt’s excellent summary for T&E Soft works:
I think I’ll grab one of the Saturn games (maybe 36 holes?), one game on PlayStation, one on Super Famicom, and emulate one on Mega Drive at some point. And I’m really intrigued about going back to the Virtual Boy game which I never made time to properly get stuck in to.
I’ll probably pass on the PS2 games - despite their pretty graphics they are definitely trying to be a lot like the Camelot/Clap Hanz games which makes them less unique!
As for the N64 - what’s the best pick there? Is this video posted earlier comprehensive?
I am on an N64 kick at the moment so it would be cool to check out a game…provided it’s entertaining enough compared to what else is out there of course.
My worry is I’ll end up buying half a dozen games and not playing anything…
I would recommend for you, a selection beyond selections, guaranteed:
- Jun Classic & Rope Club (PS1) two courses
- Waialae no Kiseki: Extra 36 Holes (SAT) three courses
- Masters 3: NEW (SNES) one course
- Pebble Beach no Hatou (MD) one course
and - Little Bit of Touch Golf (DS) i think you have played this
I recommend playing the MD games, and maybe the SNES and SAT games, emulated with CPU overclock so you can defeat the slow screen redraws.
This gives a good cross-section of:
- platforms/generations
- game engines
- famous courses
- T&E style evolution
I’m interested to play the N64 SETA golf games.
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Thanks for this recommendation sheet, really appreciate it!
I’m playing a round of match play VS CPU on Everybody’s Golf 1, 2, 3, 4…
–
Everybody’s Golf (1)
This is such a lean game. Such a straight game of golf with only chibi players and a little animation juice for excitement on the near to the hole camera. I love how the ball has a brand marking on it as it rolls in close view. I like the ball trails on backspin and in rain. I’ve not encountered any silly business so far.
I’m playing in PSP and there seems to be a bit of lag on the shot meter or maybe that’s just how the game is.
Only thing I miss is not being able to fast forward shots/skip ball flight. Maybe something an emulator could do?
Feels like Mario Golf GB/GBA, which is no surprise given it was made by Camelot. Feels very T&E soft right down to the camera controls, which is more surprising.
I won the round 1UP.
Game rating: good
Would play again? No, too laborious.
Everybody’s Golf 2
Well, this is a surprise. I’ve definitely never played this game before in my life!
Very much improved: better presentation, better graphics, better shot meter. No lag! Better gameplay. But easier. Skip ball flight button! Interestingly coming straight off the previous game I can see the parts of the game they didn’t change.
Close to ball view is now 3D and they take advantage of that with some nice perspective changes. I love the view from in the hole at the grinning player reaching down to pick up the ball.
Mildly annoying voices and some questionable phrases (“Hurry up!”, “Christ!”, “It’s on the beach!”, “You’re decent!”).
I won the round 6UP.
Won 2nd round 1UP.
Lost 3rd round 5DN.
Would play again? Yes, did.
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Just finished watching all of this, really interesting stuff. It actually inspired me to put in the only HuCard I have and test it out, which is Power Golf.
It’s pretty decent, but he’s right about the swinging being really fast. It’s very difficult! I originally started off with the older guy, and holy smokes! I cannot hit a shot for the life of me!
I’m going to get a little more used to it, then try and play an entire round to see what I can score.
Everybody’s Golf got tricky three CPU characters in.
Clap Hanz Golf was still not tricky three locations/bosses in.
This is a problem.
Makes you wonder which direction Mario Golf would have taken if Camelot kept working with Sony and Clap Hanz formed the relationship with Nintendo.
Let us know how Minna no Golf Portable 1 and 2 are if you can! I wonder if they have more similarities to the PS1 games than the later PS2 games. Minna no Golf 6 is basically Portable 3 in all but name, same engine, but Vita quality graphics.
Will try them soon.
The PSP games feel like the PS3/Vita era titles.
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I should have specified to ask about the simulation specifically. A Minna no Golf enthusiast had this to write about 6 on Vita/PS3:
Game Engine… Mingol6 was originally developed as a Portable series game so the Game Engine is based off MingolP. This means a lot of attention to detail is missing and the physics is completely different. Also means bad news for those looking for multi-player pass and play the game with their friends. Being a flagship title of the series it is strange to have that feature removed just because it is a Portable Console.
Static Winds… As it uses the Portable Engine it does not have the decimal variable in the wind which means it can be easier to line up long chips and there is less to worry about. Except the wind does not reveal now until you reach the green.
(source: みんなのGOLF - Everybody's Golf)
6 seems more like Portable 3 than a true sequel to 5 on PS3, which utilised the CPU for more complex simulation (what little I’ve played of 5 blew me away coming from 6).
So I guess when you mention Portable 1 and 2 being similar to PS3/Vita you mean 6, rather than 5, right?
Interesting, I was lead to believe that 5 and 6 shared the same engine in which case I have no idea about 6. I remember 5 playing more or less the same as the PSP versions with any physics engine changes not really standing out, imho all the games feel incredibly similar beyond minor refinements that you would expect going from game to game.