Putter Golf

Okay, I am now fully convinced that miniature golf and the Sega Genesis mix about as well as oil and water. Last year, I suffered through the cheap aggravation of Electronic Arts' Zany Golf. Whatever hope I had left that the Genesis could at least get past the annoying windmill that shows up on almost all mini golf courses was dashed when I played Putter Golf which, somehow, managed to be WORSE!

Whereas I initially thought that Zany Golf was the Genesis sequel to Putt & Putter, Putter Golf actually is the game that came before it. The course is very similar in design to the later games on the Sega Master System and Game Gear. The angled isometric course that appears to be in the middle of the ocean is clean and elegant but has no real personality. The mechanics are the exact same as Putt & Putter. You get a short guideline to aim, you set the power of your shot with one button press, and that's all there is to it. At least this one has a full eighteen holes unlike the pathetic nine that Zany Golf had.

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The visuals are barely suitable for a 16-bit game. The slightly sharper detail on the course is the ONLY difference between it and its 8-bit follow-ups. The tunes and sound effects are basic, but at least they aren't annoying. Compared to the gameplay, the aesthetics are really nothing worth complaining about. The angled isometric viewpoint AGAIN makes shots more annoying than they need to be. The shots become even more irritating when the various obstacles come into play like the conveyor belts and the bumpers. The bumpers in particular have almost no logic to them. There is absolutely NO WAY AT ALL to predict where your ball will end up after hitting them. These issues were also in both versions of Putt & Putter, too. However, the 8-bit games are much more tolerable because they don't have something that plagues this one: THE SAME STUPID STROKE LIMIT THAT KILLED ZANY GOLF! In fact, the stroke limit issue is actually WORSE in this one! You get only five balls at the start of the game. They're basically like the dollar bills given to contestants who play "Lucky Seven" on The Price Is Right. Every stroke over par at the end of a hole costs a ball. One bad hole can easily end your game. Sure, you can get balls back by scoring birdie or better, but that's very unlikely with the game's mechanics. At least Zany Golf always gives players three strokes back with each new hole.

Putter Golf is pure garbage, period. It has all the frustration of Zany Golf with none of the personality. Between these two games, I'm left with one simple conclusion. If you're inclined to hit a few on the Genesis, just stick to traditional golf.