Aah Golf .. Whats more fun than being outside slamming your ball with a stick ? Being inside slamming your ball with a stick! This game brings back so many memories of playing on my uncles computer, XT, Hercules Monochrome, Amber colored screen. Aah memories ..

Before we’re getting into nostalgia, lets talk about this golfing game. Its actually my first experience into the sport and golf genre on the pc. It was just fun going through the golf courses with a couple of friends, going in turns, trying to get as low as possible under par. Well usually it was just trying to get as low as possible with the points, because we never made it under par. Only with luck. Yes, this is another multiplayer game on the same computer, also known as Hot Seat. But at that time that term wasnt invented yet. So we just went in turns and hit our balls

In the game you can choose three different difficulties, ranging from kids until pro. Actually I never recognized any difference in difficulty between those three settings, but perhaps I could be wrong. Next you can choose the number of holes you like to play, 18, 36, 54 or 72. Well, when you’re playing with four people, you could be playing a single game for hours and hours if you play all the 72 holes. Its already playing for hours when you’re playing single player. So I usually just pick playing 18 holes. Its just enough for a quick game.

You usually try to get under par, or if that doesnt work, on par. If even that doesnt work, we’ll just keep on playing until you’re so embarrased that you stop playing all together. You have a number of wood and iron sticks to choose from, then just whack the ball into the right direction. Well you obviously have to counter balance for the wind speed, or your ball will fly off the screen, into the trees, the rough, the bunker or into the water. If you keep your ball onto the fairway, everything will be okay and you got your game under or on par. The lower your score, the better you do!

The graphics are limited to 16 colors EGA in a resolution of 320×200. I think it just looks reasonable for a 1988 game, although theres not too much detail. Maybe its just good, to keep a clear look onto the ball into the field. Its also possible to play the game in 4 color CGA and then it will use two palettes. The cyan/purple/white/black scheme for the menus, green/red/brown/blue scheme for in-game. Just like a Sierra AGI adventure. Its looking very retro, and I just love to play it that way. When the game is ‘rendering’ the golf course, you see it getting drawed. Layer for layer, and trees are getting added as the last layer. On an XT it takes a while to draw, although I found that fascinating. On DosBox, you still see it getting drawed, although its much faster than on a real old computer I think its nice to watch that. It does that with every ’scene’ though, so every view has to be re-rendered. For some, annoying as heck, for me, kinda nostalgic. I just love it.

The sound is pretty awesome for its time. It was one of the very first PC games actually playing digital sound effects and speech over the PC Speaker. They called the technology RealSound. When you start the game and you’re in the main screen, you hear birds singing. When you start the game and you’re actually in the game, you’ll hear crickets chirping randomly and when you’re playing on a course with water surrounding it, you will hear frogs croaking at random times. It really sets the mood. When you’re playing the game and hitting the ball just right and it lands on the fairway, you’ll hear the reporter making remarks. Although the reporters vocabulary is somewhat limited, its still nice for a game that old. Try hitting the ball into the water, I love it when the ball disappears and you’ll hear a splash The sounds are making this game definately a great game. Because most the games and applications at that time were limited at making the pc speaker just beep one voice at a time, this game sets the golfing mood so much better with the digital sounds! When you’re putting your ball, and put it right into the hole, you will hear a public applause. Even though you dont see any people surrounding you. They must be your imaginary friends

This game is just about winning and stragically choosing your sticks and checking the wind speed and slamming the ball at the right speed and angle. Do it alone or do it with friends. Its more fun with friends anyhow. Its a good laugh garantueed. Just having fun with this fairly easy golfing game. It will keep you entertained, but the longer the games get, the sooner you will go bored. Its nice for a change, but not for playing hours and hours at a time.

Related Links

• MobyGames: World Class Leader Board
  Read all about it on MobyGames.
• Wikipedia: World Class Leader Board
  Read all about it on Wikipedia.
• Abandonia.com
  Review of Leader Board at Abandonia.com.