Hole In One Golf

If there's one company in which I've struggled to find something appealing to play, it would be Natsume. Natsume is known for putting out Japanese games that have a very niche appeal and tend to be very slow. They're most well-known for the amazing-looking but slow Reel Fishing games and the dead-dull Harvest Moon farming RPGs. I think the most fast-paced game they ever made was the photo safari game Afrika on the PlayStation 3. One would think that Natsume's more deliberate sensibilities would be perfect for a golf game, but they really tested my patience with Hole In One Golf on the Game Boy Color.

One thing I can praise about Natsume's work is that they certainly know how to get impressive visuals out of a portable, and Hole In One Golf is no exception. The three courses on offer are colorful with lots of detail, all while the game scrolls smoothly. It is one of the nicest-looking portable golf games I'd played; it actually makes Nintendo's first-party stuff look amateurish. While there is more text onscreen than Awesome Golf or Super Golf, it doesn't eat up too much of the screen area. The mechanics are similar to a lot of T&E Soft's work, complete with the moving crosshairs on the ball to determine spin, and they work just as well. There are even little helpers that pop up every now and then that do various things from shooting your approach shot for you to kicking your ball out of a bunker. That is a neat idea.

Click For the Full Picture Archive
The problems easily sink this game. The helpers are completely random. You have absolutely no control over when they come out. Why can't you earn tokens or something like that that are used to call for them? The three courses are absolutely terrible. While they don't go crazy with doglegs and are relatively straight, they rely too much on insanely huge bunkers, trees completely bisecting the fairway, and island hopping. They aren't challenging; they're just annoying. However, the worst part of the game is that it is PAINFULLY slow. Golf isn't the most fast-paced game in the world; I realize that, but this game goes way too far. The gauges and ball flight are so slow that it almost makes me nod off.

Hole In One Golf is one of the most boring golf games I'd ever played. It doesn't do anything technically wrong (aside from the crappy course designs), and it does look quite nice. However, it's so slow and so dull that it's as capable of putting me to sleep as the second Star Wars prequel. This game makes the Reel Fishing games look adrenaline-charged! Unless you desperately need a cure for insomnia, pitch this into a lake, and move on.