PGA European Tour Golf

It may be hard to imagine the PGA license being in the hands of anyone besides Electronic Arts. After all, the PGA Tour franchise was the de facto pro golf series for almost thirty years. True, Mattel had the PGA license in 1980 for their golf game on the Intellivision, and 2K has the PGA license now for the fantastic The Golf Club 2019. However, Infogrames did manage to get the non-exclusive PGA license for one game on the Nintendo 64. PGA European Tour Golf had the ability to outdrive EA's output on the system, but it royally screwed up on the green, resulting in a mediocre performance overall.

My first impressions of the game were very positive. The four recreated courses from Portugal, Sweden, and Ireland are the best looking courses in the entire fifth console generation. The level of detail blew away everything else I had seen from the era. Even the golfers which can be customized to a decent degree look impressive for the time. The mechanics are very easy to pick up. Multiple shot types are available, setting fades and draws are as easy as they are in VR Golf '97, and there are four different settings for the shot gauge (including the standard three-click), all of which work great. Even the aiming for putting is similar to Links 2004, which I welcome. While I do wish there were more freeplay modes than just stroke, match, and skins, there's plenty on the cartridge to keep you occupied.

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Unfortunately, the problems send this game past the green and hurtling out of bounds. While the visuals are fantastic for the Nintendo 64, the announcer Peter Alliss is one of the most boring commentators I have ever heard. His monotonous drone actually threatened to put me to sleep. The much-hyped tour mode is hardly worth the playtime. Having to work through the amateur ranks to get to the pros is tedious and unfulfilling as there is absolutely nothing to gain. There are no stat boosts, new equipment, or additional courses or characters to earn to make the time on the tour worthwhile. However, the thing that damaged the game the most were the physics. Rolls were completely unnatural, and you're liable to see bounces that are actually longer in the rough than on the fairway. It never feels like you have control over your shots which makes the gameplay endlessly aggravating.

PGA European Tour Golf isn't a terrible game, but it is a terribly disappointing game. It had everything it needed in its golf bag to beat EA but just kept blowing its shots. I have played much worse from the era, but I've also played much better. While a very patient player can get some enjoyment on this tour of Europe, I'd much rather take my clubs and go.