Golf. Despite not being everyone’s cup of tea, the whole world plays it. No matter where you go or what culture you’re a part of, people play golf. And people play golf games too, or at least they did back in the day. Back when all of this were fields and Tiger Woods wasn’t disgraced. You know; the good old days.
But that period wasn’t all dreams and rainbows. As is the case with most genres, some games have slipped through the cracks of history, never to be seen or heard from again. They’re the golf game equivalent of an 80s/90s sitcom character. Let’s take a look at these 7 golf games that have been completely forgotten about.
Cyber Tiger
Let’s tee things off with one of Tiger’s first forays into the world of video games, way before all that infidelity stuff turned him into a shell of himself. Cyber Tiger was an arcade style golf game that was available on the N64 and PS1 back in 1999. Batten down the hatches, prepare for Y2K and crush some fairways on Cyber Tiger; that was the 1999 life, at least according to my dad anyway. Players could control Tiger during different stages of his life, using various power-ups to knock some strokes off your game. It’s a far cry from his widely successful PGA Tour series, but it’s enjoyable regardless.
King of Clubs
From the enjoyable to the shit-tier, King of Clubs was an abysmal mini golf game centred around dilapidated courses, Elvis impersonators and just awful gameplay. With 96 holes across 5 environments, quite a few characters, multiple club and balls etc, King of Clubs had the makings of a rewarding, content rich “pick-up-and-putt” game. At least, that was the theory. Its execution was about as ugly as the characters you played as.
ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007
Stop laughing at the back! Prostroke isn’t just the nickname for a career wanker, but a series of golf games that focused more on the realistic side of golf games. No Tiger Woods PGA Tour “spin the ball while in mid-air” shenanigans here. It was a simple enough idea, ruined by the lack of licensed golfers and courses. With only 8 real life pros and 2 actual courses (with an additional 16 fantasy courses in this so-called realistic game), ProStroke got rightfully slaughtered when it went up against the PGA Tour juggernaut. The course creator was pretty neat though.
Real World Golf
Real World Golf was an attempt at proving that the PS2 and Xbox could utilise motion controls way before the Wii was even released. Shipped with its own trackpad and child-sized iron, the game mapped out your real life swing and translated it into the game. It was mostly reliable, though not without its loopholes. At the very least, it was a damn sight more entertaining watching someone swing than fiddle about with a controller. Unfortunately, a lack of modes meant this novelty wore off pretty quickly, leaving you with a useless trackpad and “Baby’s First 5-Iron”.
Outlaw Golf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un-9SUHpl3o
The self-styled bad boy of the bunker, Outlaw Golf was part of the larger Outlaw Series, that took larger than life characters and applied them to largely pedestrian sports. Golf, Tennis, Volleyball; none were safe from the lampooning. Not even the caddies, who you could frequently beat to within an inch of their life in order to gain bonus. In every way, the Outlaw series was a product of the mid-2000 era. Imagine a game about strippers beating up defenseless caddies on a golf course coming out today. Think of the Twitter backlash.
Swingerz/Ace Golf
Ace Golf, or Swingerz Golf in America, was a Gamecube exclusive golf game that borrowed from both the Everybody’s Golf and PGA Tour games. The cutesy, anime style graphics were present, but the control system felt more like what the Tiger Woods games became. Players used the C-stick to control front and backswing, with straight swings producing accurate shots and errant swings giving spectators concussions. The tour mode gave players a substantial mix of tournaments and VS games to unlock new characters, and the escalating difficulty of the six courses meant players always felt challenged.
Eagle Eye Golf
Getting sick of the seeing the word “golf” yet? Not to worry, we’re nearly done. If Ace Golf took elements of Everybody’s Golf to create their own spin on things, Eagle Eye Golf is about as egregious as the poster for What Still Remains. Check out the Cultured Vultures Facebook page, you’ll see what we mean. Cartoonish art style? Check. Three click style swing meter? Check. Fun? Absent. It’s not the worst golf game ever made, not by a long shot, but by copying the formula of an established series, Eagle Eye Golf became instantly forgettable. Unless you like creating courses, of course. Apparently the solution for saving an average golf game is to throw creation tools at the player.
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