Sega World Tournament Golf

Over the last few years, I had established ways in which a golf game would get on my nerves. Though there were plenty of smaller reasons that have come up in various games, the biggest ones fall into two categories:

1. Great gameplay with too few options
2. Lots of options with flawed gameplay

Sega World Tournament Golf fell sharply into category 2.

I was stoked when I saw all the options Sega crammed into this Master System cartridge. The fact that it had two courses would have been praise enough seeing as it was all too common for third gen golf games to tap out at one. Both courses are well built and single pieces. Remember how EA promoted how Rory McIlroy PGA Tour on the current systems rendered entire courses all at once eliminating the load times between holes? Sega World Tournament Golf did essentially the same thing twenty years earlier. As such, it's possible to hit a shot accidentally onto the fairway for another hole. Going out-of-bounds is almost impossible because of this. There are also tons of options for setting up a game. Four players can play with their own names, club choices, and difficulty settings. Along with the standard stroke and match modes, games of foursome, fourball, and skins are available along with tournaments up to four rounds. Seriously, this game can compete with Golf Power for having the best option set of the third generation. It even looks and sounds quite good for the system.

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Unfortunately, the trouble starts when the match does. While the controls for selecting clubs and aiming are solid enough, shooting is unbelievable frustrating. The shot mechanics are a mix of the standard three-click and the terribly flawed holding power-up method of Chip Shot. That would be bad enough, but this game also makes the gauges move way too fast, even on the easiest setting. Slicing and hooking are the norm, not the exception. Short pitches onto the green are virtually impossible. Shooting out of the bunkers well is absolutely impossible. Only the putting managed to survive unscathed. Making matters worse, when you hit a water hazard (no "if" about it), there is no option to drop near entry. They're treated like a shot out-of-bounds.

Sega World Tournament Golf pissed me off more than any game has in a long time. The options were a dream, but the gameplay mechanics were a certifiable nightmare. Any of the other Sega Master System games I'd covered would be better than tearing your hair out playing this one. Just drive it into a lake and move on.