Game Review: Golf Master (Commodore 64, Rack-It)

Golf games on home computers have traditionally taken on two view perspectives, with the 3D perspective favoured by the Leaderboard series (the de facto standard for Commodore 64 golf) as well as Hole in One, released on the MAD label.  There is also the overhead view of the course which was seen in the likes of Nick Faldo Plays the Open and Maxi Golf.  When looking at the screen shots on the back of the inlay for Golf Master, you can see here that the programmer, Mikko Helevä, has gone for the overhead view – so at least you know what you are letting yourself in for before playing the game.

There is a nice loading screen by Stephen Robertson which replicates the cover art, and shortly after, the game has loaded and showing a nice title screen, some music, and plenty of options for gameplay.  You can choose from 1 to 4 players and three difficulty levels.  Novice has no wind at all, and less affect on your shots overall.  Amateur has wind, but this does not change mid-shot, whereas professional has that and also the wind and shot direction have more affect as well.  You can select competition or practice, and in the latter, you can head to any hole you want to play it.  The final option gives you the choice of what holes to play, either all 18, the front 9 (holes 1-9), the back 9 (holes 10-18) or even just a one-hole shootout, choosing the hole of your choice.  It is nice to have those options, and when you are done, you can select Start Game, and if in competition mode, enter the players’ names in what looks like a clone of how it is done in the arcade game Hyper Sports.

On The Tee

Once the names have been entered for competition mode, you will start the game.  The golf course is represented as a 2D overhead view in the bottom two thirds of the screen, with water, trees, rough, bunkers and the green clearly defined, so you know what you are looking at.  There is however no distance indicator, or a caddy to help with shot selection, meaning initially it is guessing work as to what club needs to be played when.  The game is all controlled by icons within the top part of the screen, and there are eight icons across the middle which control what some of the display will show.  These are as follows from top left to bottom right:

• Club selection up and down – these toggle the club being selected for the shot. You have fourteen clubs in all, a driver, 2, 3 and 4 wood, 2 to 9 irons, wedge and a putter.
• Direction clockwise and anti-clockwise – these toggle the direction aim in the left side of the screen – with the direction being as you look at the screen relative to the ball. So, a cross to the middle right means the ball will be hit straight right from where it started.
• Power up and down – these will adjust the power meter to the left of these two icons (and below the club selection) so you can see how much power you will hit the ball with
• Golf ball – this plays the shot once you have made your selections and hit the ball
• Choose hole (practice mode only) – this will skip to the hole of your choosing so you can practice another hole if you wish to do so

The control for the icons and directions are reasonably intuitive, although sometimes you need a little tap on the joystick when adjusting the direction to try and fine tune it.  For me a crosshair on screen would have been a better option, if not at least to work out the direction, but adjustments do work with some time and patience.

Straight Down the Middle

Once you have selected to hit the ball, the panel of icons changes to show your golfer hitting the ball.  The ball is shown in the bottom display and there is a shadow on the ball, showing its direction, with the ball itself elevating as the shot is hit up in the air – and with a little display in the top panel of you hitting the ball.  It works well but the ball flight is far too slow and cannot be skipped, so you have to wait for it to finish and to work out if you are on the fairway, in the rough or bunker, or on the green.  In addition, you can without realising it, overhit the ball and it ends up lost in the trees or splashes into a water hazard.  Both of those give you a one-shot penalty and you replay the ball from where you had shot originally, so you can rethink your tactics should you need to do so.  Pressing the space bar scrolls the screen to the right, so you can see what is ahead on the second and subsequent shots as needed, and comes in very handy.

When you do reach the green, playing the shot for putting the ball works out to be the same, but just make sure you have selected the putter before playing the ball on the green.  Sadly, the game does not automatically select this for you and you need to remember to choose wisely.  It would have been nice to get a close-up view of the green as you used your putter to add to the excitement, but not to be.  Although you do get the golfer putting in the upper display, and showing a trophy or a curse cartoon style depending on what happens, it can mean that you are again waiting.  It can therefore be little too repetitive in my view, with not a huge amount of variety in the gameplay style, or the option to at least view a fuller course map with all eighteen holes on so you can see where you are heading.

See You Down the Nineteenth Hole

The eighteen holes on display do offer a reasonable challenge, including some tricky water hazards placed at the right distance for a wayward drive to be hit into, and some tree layouts that mean you can go off the fairway, into the trees, not be able to find your ball, and that is that and back to playing the shot.  Without knowing the distance, the only clue you get for each hole is what the par is, and your running score in terms of number of shots taken for the hole ad the course showing on the right-hand side in the top panel.   Here is also where the wind indicator is, with an arrow showing direction and the wind speed, which affects the ball a lot in professional mode.  If you do manage to get a birdie, there is no nice sound effect or even a jingle like Hole in One had to help you along.

Half way through the 18 holes, you will really wish you had chosen the front or back nine instead.  Perseverance does reap its own rewards, and in my case a birdie on the final hole was a well-deserved and good end to the round.  You do get a final score display for up to all four players, with some nice bouncing golf balls on screen whilst those are shown.  You do have to back out of here and return to the title screen using the RESTORE key, which is also the back out option during the gameplay too.  You can, thankfully, turn off the in-game music with RUN/STOP, which you may wish to do after listening to the tune at least twice or three times per hole, depending on how quickly you are able to progress.

In the Club

The lack of the distance being shown in terms of yards to go, or even a guide in the instructions as to how far each club can hit a ball from the fairway or tee, means that often you are just attempting to choose a golf club hoping it will be the right distance for what you need it for.  Often this can either be not strong enough and hit the water, or too weak and it rests in a bunker or the rough.  This does result sometimes in the game needing more luck than judgement. It also does not help that even if you have aimed the cursor to go straight right, and with no wind, the ball can sometimes veer off course a little, with some of the diagonal directions being not quite as easy to get right – and this can often mean a visit to the trees if you are not careful.  It does feel you are in less control than some other golf games though.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Golf Master are functional and well-drawn, with the course map showing the various hazards clearly such as the water, rough and trees.  The screen smoothly scrolls as needed, whether you doing an overview or after the shot has been taken.  The shadow effect on the ball makes sense for guidance, although the ball accuracy compared to what you think you have hit the cursor can be a little frustrating.  There are a few sound effects only, but the music for the game itself is a little medley of a few song styles together and lasts around two and a half minutes.  It can get a little annoying after a while so it is nice you can turn this off and on as you need.

Final Thoughts

Golf Master does try to offer an overhead view of the golf course, so that you can attempt to plan ahead and work out the shots that you need to play.  It is also enhanced by having an array of sensible options, including a practice mode and indeed multi-player for up to four, which is nice if you wanted a little tournament.  However, underneath all the presentation, and the gameplay is just sadly a little lacking.  The lack of accuracy of shot when hitting the ball with no distance indicators in terms of yardage means that you often just hit and hope, hitting the ball hard with the hope you do not go into a hazard of some sort.  The promise is there, but the execution is just lacking something.  Needless to say, with the Famous Courses volumes of World Class Leaderboard retailing for £4.99, with four great courses and masses of playability, Golf Master loses out in look, feel and that one more go factor.  It may be good to play in four player mode, but the time it would take may bore you to tears.

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