From: ralph@sandia.uucp (Ralph Keyser)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Review of PGA Tour Golf [SNES]
Keywords: Golf, SNES
Date: 27 Jan 93 00:33:51 GMT
Organization: Sandia Natl Labs, Div. 9224


			        PGA Tour Golf 
	
System: SNES
Developer: Electronic Arts

SUMMARY
This is an OK golf game with the strength of having four courses on the
cart and demanding tournament play. The graphics, however, are not as
good as other golf games for this system.

GRAPHICS
The graphics for this game are OK, but no great shakes. The holes seem
pretty flat and different terrain (fairway vs rough) bleeds together to
give it a generally fuzzy look. Backgrounds are fairly sparse. The player
view is a standard, over-the-shoulder point of view with control and
information at the bottom of the screen. Additional screens provide
an overhead view of the hole (with the ability to measure distances
from your current lie) and a wire-frame view of the green.

PGA Tour provides two options for watching your shots. The standard
view watches the ball from the player's point of view until it reaches
about the middle of its flight. The view then switches to a reverse
angle from down towards the green to watch the incoming ball. Short shots
do not have the view switch in the middle. The other option is "ball-cam"
where the view point follows along behind the ball in flight. Both options
provide smooth, good looking views of the shot.

This game also provides a driving range (neat!) for practicing your strokes,
and allows you to go to a green for putting practice. In addition, great
shots may result in an "instant replay" of your moment of glory.

GAME PLAY
PGA Tour allows you to play any one hole, a single round on any course, the
full four course tournament, or watch a demo. The tournament is a big
challenge since it covers a full 72 holes. Lots of chances to screw up.
The game allows each player to select the clubs for the bag (13 + putter),
and provides battery backup to remember player names, stats, save a game,
and keep tournament statistics.

Shots are made with the 3 button push "shot bar" technique. One push starts
the back swing, the next starts the swing (thereby selecting power for the
shot), and the final push determines hook/slice on the ball. This adds a
little arcade action to the game and means you can blow a shot big time.
In addition to the shot bar, you can pick the type of shot from the
following list: drive, shoot, chip, punch, blast, putt. This means that
each club can have a variety of ranges depending on the shot type selected.
There's a good combination for every situation.

Putting is my biggest complaint with this game. The wire-frame view of the
green is a separate screen and it leaves a lot to be desired in terms
of usefulness. It offers a fixed amount of landscape on the screen at once,
so you are forced to scroll around if it is a long putt and try to 
assemble a mental picture of the breaks in the green. It takes some 
practice to be able to use this view of the green.

PGA Tour Golf does offer more variety than any other golf game for the
SNES. It includes four complete courses: Sawgrass in Ponte Verde, FL;
Avenel in Potomac, MD; Stadium Course in La Quinta, CA; and Eagle Trace
in Coral Springs, FL.

OTHER
One major nit is that in two player mode, both controllers are active all
the time. So if you are into highly competitive golf, your opponent can
"help" you make that important shot...miss. Not a good thing.


---------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Keyser    Albuquerque, NM  sandia!ralph@unmvax.cs.unm.edu

Newsgroups: rec.games.video