Jack Nicklaus' Golf

During the first round of the Golf Club, I looked at Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf on the TurboGrafx-16. That was one of the most painful D's I've had to give a game. That was because I could see the ambition and the potential there, but those things were horribly defeated by the inadequate hardware. The legendary Jack Nicklaus definitely deserved better than that disappointment. Fortunately, the Super Nintendo was a piece of hardware strong enough to realize that ambition and potential with Jack Nicklaus' Golf.

The overall style and gameplay of this one are just about the same as Sculptured Software's previous game. In fact, some of the same flaws are present and accounted for here, albeit in reduced forms. The renders after each shot here can still test one's patience, though they do take half the time they did in Turbo Golf. The use of still renders for the primary viewpoint can still make aiming difficult but no harder than aiming during an actual game of golf. The visuals even show a lot of improvement over the Turbo game with more colors and more detail on the courses. There's still the issue of re-rendering if you go into a menu or check the course map. Finally, the swing gauge can still be a bit confusing. (Seriously, what the hell is that red line in the middle of it for?) Fortunately, the speed of the gauge is consistent depending on the club and power setting with none of the random speed changes of the previous game.

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Yes, the gameplay and visuals have been enhanced over the prior iteration, but also more has been added to the package as well. Two full courses are provided, Muirfield Village and a fantasy course. There are also two more picks, one with a shuffled collection of holes from both courses and one which allows players to choose which holes to play. There are even several practice modes available, including a driving range and putting green. Stroke and match modes are available, and four players can play with one controller. The music is rather poor, but, luckily, it's only heard in menus and between holes. The game even provides and instant replay feature. In fact, it's the oldest game that I'm aware of that has it, and I definitely took advantage of it when I scored an albatross on a par 5.

I am very pleased with Jack Nicklaus' Golf. Sculptured Software made dramatic improvements to their prior game on the TurboGrafx-16 and realized the potential I saw was there. It's not perfect, but it was very enjoyable trip to the virtual course, worth grabbing for the Super Nintendo. This is one of the best comebacks I'd ever seen.