Nick Faldo Plays the Open

Golf games in the early 80s were very limited due to the limited technology available at the time. As the second generation moved into the third in the wake of the Video Game Crash, advancements allowed for golf games to be more detailed than previously possible. Nick Faldo Plays the Open for the ZX Spectrum was one of the first to replicate the golf experience in a digital format and come close to the real thing. While that may have been an impressive feat back in 1985, that doesn't make Nick Faldo worth taking on tour now.

Nick Faldo was a certified legend back in the 80s including three Open Championships (hence the name of the game) and three Masters. However, Nick's name means as much to this game as the PGA license did for the Intellivision's first golf game. The real star of the game is the rendition of the Royal St. George's Club which was the site of the Open Championship in 1985. While the view stays locked overhead, the display is just green and black, and elevation never factors into the game, the digital build of the course is very impressive for the time. Looking at the course map in the instructions and comparing to the in-game models, I struggled to find a significant difference. While the character models that serve as the "shoot" button look goofy, the animation is very smooth.

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All those good points are muted as the gameplay is rather tedious. While the controls are fully remappable, you're still limited to the equivalent of a d-pad and one button despite having a full keyboard available. That wouldn't be so bad if the cursor didn't move painfully slowly. The onscreen buttons used for aiming, setting power, choosing clubs, and shooting are spread out and are slow to click through. While the shots do move quickly once they're made, it takes at least three times the time to prepare the shot beforehand. While the game doesn't drag nearly as badly as Jack Nicklaus Turbo Golf or Links: The Challenge of Golf, it still takes a long time to complete the course. What's worse, the putting becomes irritating as the green doesn't zoom in when reached. The putting demands precision aiming which is nearly impossible from the default view. I averaged three putts on each hole due to that.

Nick Faldo Plays the Open was clearly impressive for the time. I just wish that I could say it's still worth playing. The mechanics drag the game down way too much. If you have the patience for the nearly 35-year-old aesthetics and the sluggish pace, it can be an interesting game to check out. It could definitely have been worse, but that, unfortunately, doesn't really make it worth putting on the pro schedule today.