[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Robots + Golf = Brilliant!
July 21st, 2008 by Benj Edwards
Something is crooked in the state of Denmark.
Leave it to the Japanese to create a fantasy golf game with androids, robotic caddies, and floating islands in the sky. As usual, they were quite forward-looking in 1993: they knew that some day, androids would be better at golf than humans.
I’ve actually tried my hand at this game a few times, and it’s weird. While the 3D engine is cool, it’s painfully slow; you can easily doze off while waiting for the screen to redraw.
[ Correction – 07/21/2008 ] I just played Mecarobot Golf again, and it seems that my memory was flawed. The whacked-out SNES Golf game I recalled above was actually Devil’s Course. Now that is a crazy golf game. Mecarobot Golf still contains robots, but it features a smooth Mode 7 engine.
Discussion topic of the week: What’s your favorite video or computer golf game?
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July 21st, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’ve actually been playing Tiger Woods 08 for the XBox360 lately. It isn’t that I consider it the best or my favorite, but that it’s available to me (friend sold his 360 and I inherited the game).
To me, most golf games are all fairly close in terms of how well they play. That makes the “intangibles” the big differentiator. Links comes to mind because of just how many courses were available. I don’t normally see much need for constant upgrades (I have Tiger Woods 04 or 05 for the XBox). All total, I’ve probably had 6 golf games since the early 90’s…..and the main reason for upgrading was that graphics had altered so drastically in the years since I last bought one.
Unless you count miniature golf. Zany Golf is the best golf game ever. 🙂 But that stupid electric wall gets me almost every time.
Layne
July 21st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
love the vintage posts
do you want to exchange links
my blog is well suited to yours
if you would like to write us a vintage article – we would love to hear fom you
regards
skooldays team
July 21st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
My favorite golf game would have to be Mario Golf: Advance Tour for GBA. Mixing golfing with a fun overworld, RPG elements, and a story is great enough, but the actual golfing is tons of fun as well. For my money, it’s the greatest golfing game of all time.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Meecarobot Golf isn’t as cool as it leads you to believe. Devil’s Course is AWESOME.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 am
http://www.golfquestionmark.com/
that’s my fav..
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
Microsoft Golf is one of my favorites. I lived in a village above Guatemala city for almost a year and this game kept me from going insane! My friend Richard and I, who were both getting paid the equivalent of $15.00 a week for teaching half days five days a week saved up and bought this game. We played for hours. When someone wanted to join us that didn’t know how to play we would tell them everything except how to aim, then one of us would move the mouse while they were concentrating on their shot to change the balls direction. We were the kings of that game!
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
Layne reminded me of a golf story. I’ve never been a huge fan of golf or golf games, but I bought a Mac IIci back in 2000 from a Goodwill store, and it had a number of color Mac games on it. One of them was Links, and it was a blast to play. For years, I played Links more than any other Mac game. I guess that would make it my favorite.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I hope there is a new golf game for the Wii that uses the new Motion Plus accessory. Seems like a natural fit. I liked the Golden Tee games in bars; hitting a trackball seems more natural than having a power meter.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Mario Golf. That is the only golf game I have ever play.
September 27th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I’ve played many a golf game on home consoles. My favorite would have to be Hot Shots Golf-Fore!