PGA Tour Golf

Electronic Arts is the proud parent of yet another hot sports title -- PGA Tour Golf for the SNES. This baby takes you on a professional golfing tour you won't soon forget.

Enviable Greens

PGA Tour is loaded with large menus that are bursting with options. Once you get past the initial options shock, you realize the menus are straightforward, logically categorized (i.e. clubs, perspectives), and a breeze to use.

Graphically, PGA isn't fancy. The courses are easy to see, and not cluttered with excess detailing. Instead of frantic, concentration- breaking, techno-synthesizer music, you get easy listening. Chirping birds, balls hitting turf, and the occasional hushed roar of an invisible crowd is about as heavy as it gets.

PGA-T of-fers amazing perspectives. For example, before you begin to play on a hole, you're taken on a mini often, overhead tour of the fairway. Once you've toured a hole and played it as far as the putting green, you're offered a whole new perspective. It's a gridview perspective, which enables you to see, on a gridscale, the minor slope variations surrounding the hole.

Slicing, chipping, putting, whatever, it's all a pleasure. The power of your swing is measured by a bar, which ranges from 0- 100%. One or two practice shots and you've got your timing down pat.

If you're a serious green-stalker and you're looking for a great 16-bit golfing challenge, download your brain's best golfing strategy and plug in PGA Tour Golf.

Last January in Game-Pro's Annual SuperStar Sports Issue, I ranted ' and raved about the wonders of two new Genesis sports games from Electronic Arts, Lakers vs. Celtics and John Madden Football. Well guess what, sports fans? EA has done it again, this time it's golf. Electronic Arts' latest release, PGA Tour Golf, is far above the current crop of golf video games. Experts and amateurs alike will marvel over this awesome simulation featuring 60 real golf pros, including Paul Azinger, Mark McCumber, and Fuzzy Zoeller.

Tee It Up

Choose from three authentic 8-hole courses, TPC at Sawgrass, TPC at Avenel, and PGA West Stadium, and one fantasy course called Sterling Shores.

You can compete in a four-round tournament or play a practice round. Speaking of practice, if you're a beginner and you don't want to dive right in, you can learn the links by practicing on the driving range, the putting green, or any hole of any course. There's also a "Mulligan" feature during practice rounds so you can retake a botched shot without getting a penalty.

When you've gained confidence from your practice sessions, go for the dough in the tournament -- four rounds of golf against some of the world's best linksters. The statistics for these pros are modelled after their real abilities and scores, so if you have a tough time winning initially don't be surprised.

PGA TV

PGA Tour Golf features TV-style coverage, complete with fly-by shots and look-back views. Announcers keep you up to date on how your competition is doing. You'll find out about every double bogey and eagle as it happens. There's even instant replay!

Like EA's other sport games, the graphics are top notch. At every hole, you see a "helicopter's-eye-view" of its layout as you fly from the hole back to the tee. If only you could do this in real golf! When you reach the green, a three-dimensional topographical grid enables you to determine which way the ball will roll when you putt. An overhead map helps you pinpoint your shots before you make them. With these features, who needs a caddy?

Fore!

Any golf video game that makes you a better golfer in real life must be good. PGA Golf Tour gets you thinking about wind conditions, backspin on your shots, chip shots versus punch shots, and driving for accuracy and placement rather than distance. PGA Tour Golf has everything except little motor carts to drive around the course. Oh yes... no mosquitoes either!

It's been a busy month here at Team EGM, since we have been trying to get the new look refined. But game companies have been trying to get their games tightened, as well.

EA Sports has been busy getting their 32-Bit products ready for the launch. One of those products is PGA Tour golf for the Sony PlayStation.

The game will feature an exclusive license with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), and actual PGA courses. The ability to play as any one of 14 of your favorite PGA tour professionals will make this game all the more exciting.

All of the signature strokes of these 14 golf professionals add to the realism of the game. If that wasn't enough, you will be able to put back spin and top spin on the ball just like the pros.

Some of the features of the game include stroke play, matchplay, skins, shoot-out and tournaments.

The game features a unique aiming system for driving and putting. A target-based arc system for driving, chipping and putting will give you an idea of where the ball will be going.

A bull's-eye target has been built in as part of the putting experience. It gives you an idea of the flow of the green and helps you determine which way the ball is going to break.

An innovative golf engine and a snap-around view of where the ball lands gives you the feel of real TV-style golf coverage.

Everything you've always wanted in a golf game has been included. I can't wait to tee off with PGA Tour Golf!

Yes, it's another year for PGA Tour Golf fans. In this '95 version there will be more options and features that you've never seen before. Of course the game play is still the same, but overall the game itself has been improved in terms of graphics and sound. Let me take you through the tour on this sequel.

The basic fundamentals of the game are secured. Many of the features you see here are noticeable from the past versions. Fly-bys of the field and the 3-D view of the course when close to the pin are similar. Of course, the advice from the pros has not been changed during the fly-bys. The main changes to the game are the graphics of the courses, realistic as they have been made. Plus, not only do you have the courses here--this game takes you to the European Tour where more courses have been produced, so you have more variety in picking which course you want to compete in. The sound effects on the green are so realistic--like the crowd cheering you on after a birdie or par. The surroundings come alive as nature reveals its sounds from nearby birds. EA has mastered the golf department, showing off what they can do with this cart.

PLAY THE PGA TOUR WITH A BUNCH OF FRIENDS

This game features a battery back-up that will save your name and stats in the cart, so you'll be able to compete against your friends, hacking away at the golf ball and improving your stats at the end.

You'll be able to come back to a game some other time and still have your current stats on hand. Video Cowboy and I can't wait to get a hold of this cart as we battle it out on the courses of the PGA Tour.

You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy PGATour Golf, but it helps, since you'll have probably developed a tolerance for the frustrations of golf. You'll be used to hooks and slices, and to gusting winds that toss your ball around like a kite. Golfers expect such "challenges," and PGA Tour Golf does an exceptional job of simulating them.

As in many video golf games, you control your swing by pressing buttons while watching a power meter at the bottom of the screen. But the power meter in PGA Tour Golf is a bit more demanding than most. It's small, so you have to make your decisions quickly. You press the B button once to begin your swing, a second time to set the power of the swing, and a third time to actually hit the ball. And where you hit the ball determines whether it hooks, slices, or flies straight, so the final part of the swing is very important.

The backswing is important, too, since it determines the power of your stroke. If you press the button after the indicator passes the maximum power line on the meter, you'll "overpower" the swing. The ball will fly a lot farther than it would at maximum swing, but you lose control. Until you get the hang of using the power meter, consistently making good shots is very difficult — perhaps as frustrating as learning how to play real golf.

PGA Tour Golf has seme features not found in many other golf games, such as fly-by hole previews, TV-style announcers, and instant replays. You can play an entire PGA season, and the battery-powered memory in the game cartridge saves your progress automatically.

On the greens, a grid is projected onto the putting surface to indicate slopes and curves, and it's touches such as these which give the game most of its realistic feel. The graphics are good and convey a unique TV perspective, but they are not as detailed or as realistic as the graphics in Arnold Palmer Golf for the Genesis.

PGA Tou r Golf isn't perfect, bu t it's faithful to the look and feel of real golf — complete with all of the frustrations and triumphs.

Good golfing on the Game Gear -that's the goal of PGA Tour Golf, and for the most part, the game delivers. It's not thrilling or enthralling, but it does keep you interested enough so that you'll want to play till the eourses.

Walk Softly, Carry a Mean Club

PGA Tour Golf presents three real courses, plus a challenging fictional course. Sterling Shores.

In addition to tournament action against the leading pros, you etui try out any course in the Practice mode, slug a bucket of balls in the Driving mode, and drop a few in Putting mode.

If you're a novice, the game helps you by suggesting clubs, offering maps, and providing advice. If you're a pro, you might be frustrated by the simple controls, which don't require much skill. You often get the benefit of nice rolls, and it's fairly easy to score a par.

Golf Graphics

Though the game boasts four courses, they all seem to look the same. Your behind-the-golfer view shows you a long stretch of green ahead. Once you swing, the ball sails flatly into the distance, then another screen shows where it lands. Though colorful, the graphics don't always help, since you can't see the whole course in front of you. and you'll sometimes be surprised by the sudden appearance of trees around your ball when it stops. You'll also see your ball overshoot the hole, even though the stats will tell you you're still short.

The graphics need to be much stronger in this game, because the sounds are almost nonexistent. A bit of music plays as the maps roll out at the beginning. but you play this game in virtual silence. More and better sound effects would've helped involve you in the action.

While it's hardly a double bogey, PGA Tour Golf isn't quite the eagle it wants to be. It's about par for the course.

The hushed crowd goes wild as you sink a 23-foot birdie to win your first pro tournament! PGA Tour golf gets into the swing with four authentic PGA courses: Sawgrass, Avenel, PGA West Stadium, and Sterling Shores (a custom-designed link). A rotating 3D putting grid helps you on the green, and instant replays let you review your prize-winning putts. Up to four duffers can hit the links with this conversion from the Genesis title.

Electronic Arts has taken a leadership role among third-party Genesis developers. They've converted several of their top computer titles to Genesis carts, including Zany Golf, Populous, Budokan, Lakers vs. Celtics and others. Now they've done the same to their PGA Tour Golf, and it's impressive in its faithfulness to the computer version.

Although not as graphically elaborate as Sega's own Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, the other golf simulation for Genesis, PGA Tour Golf plays an impressive game and has enough views and options to satisfy any armchair duffer. The ball dynamics are as good as they get, the tournament mode is handled realistically, even the music and sound effects are enjoyable.

The courses, all four of them, are represented in 3-D filled polygon-style graphics enhanced with bitmapped trees. For the most part, the surface seems completely flat, until you get to the putting green, which can be displayed as a rotatable isometric cross section to give you a better idea of what sort of terrain you're up against. Sometimes the green didn't seem to react in the way the isometric view would lead you to believe it would.

There are practice and tournament modes, a driving range and a putting green, and you can have from one to four players in your party (with any combination of computer and human opponents). When in tournament mode, your standings are reported after every hole, and the announcer will often interrupt when somebody in another foursome has scored an unusual shot that results in a change in the standings. Tournaments and players can be saved in progress with the battery back-up and restored later on.

Each hole begins with a piece of advice from one of the real PGA players (like "Be accurate and don't drive into a trap"). Then you "fly by" the hole, a dramatic camera view that begins at the pin, swings back and around to reveal the green, then trucks up the fairway backward to the tee. The object is to familiarize you with the landscape of the hole. Unfortunately, the Genesis doesn't seem quite up to the effect - it's better in the computer version, and the fly-by is too choppy for a decent effect. Fortunately, the overhead view and the pop-up window displaying the lie of the ball are sufficient tools to plan your shot, and you can get those views any time you want from the pull-down menus at the top of the screen.

Speaking of pull-down menus, there are dozens of them in this game, and they are all easy both to negotiate and use. However, they do make use of a lot of very small lettering, small enough to give you a headache after prolonged playing.

The mechanics of hitting the ball are similar to those in Arnold Palmer; they're based on a power/accuracy meter. You have to hit the "B" button three times to make a shot: once to start the meter, once when the swing has reached your chosen power percentage and once more to control the accuracy (hook, slice or dead on). Instant replays are always available; sometimes they pop up automatically after exceptional shots.

The computer plays a good game, but this is one of those that really shines when you play with one, two or three other people. If the graphics, which would seem to be no more than 32 colors, were on a level with Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (or even the celebrated Links 256-color golf game from Access), it'd be a truly remarkable achievement. As it is, PGA Tour Golf is still a thoroughly entertaining, challenging and complex golf simulation.

EASN is proud to present its premier golf title, PGA Tour Golf. You may choose from four different courses and start on any hole you want. Up to four players can battle it out to win the PGA Tour. A few of the other options include a putting course and a driving range to test out your clubs. When you are out putting, you get a detailed view of the landscape showing hills and ruts on a 3-D grid!

So you're stuck behind the slowest foursome you've ever seen, and they refuse to let you play through. What's there to do while you patiently wait in your golf cart? If you're the owner of a Game Gear, you can get in a few extra holes with PGA Tour Golf from Tengen.

This golf sim puts four challenging courses into your hands and pits you against the top names on the PGA Tour in one-round tournament play and practice rounds for up to four people. Yet despite its relatively good graphics, the game suffers from poor game play. Thanks to a horizontal power meter, hitting each shot is easy enough. But once the ball leaves your club, you can never be quite sure exactly how far it's going to go. For example, you're 50 yards from the pin so you use a pitching wedge with a maximum distance of 80 yards. You stop the power meter at about 75 percent, which should more than put the ball on the green. Yet it goes about 35 yards and then plops down in a nearby bunker instead. Argh!

And if the game's distance inaccuracies aren't enough to make you want to pick up your clubs and go home, try hitting the ball over a tree standing in your way. No matter how much distance there seems to be between the top of the tree and your ball, you hear a thud, and the ball drops from mid-air as if it hit a plexiglas wall.

If you can learn to compensate for the shortcomings in PGA Tour Golf then you might just be able to squeeze in an enjoyable trip to the links anytime and anywhere without coughing up the extortionate green fees.

The Only Game To Make The PGA Tour Cut

Pack your bags, you're going on tour.

But make it your golf bags. Because it's PGA TOUR Golf. The only game that lets you make the rounds with guys named Fuzzy the Walrus, Hubie and Fred. In sum, sixty of the best players ever to swing a club.

No matter how you slice it, this is the most realistic Genesis golf game ever.

Real players with hole-by-hole tips. Real courses like the TPC's at Sawgrass and Avenel. 3-D greens you can read like an open book. A whole arsenal of special shots like chips, punches, and fringe putts. Even random pin placement.

You think any other game has the PGA TOUR stamp of approval? Come on. Get real.

PGA TOUR Golf doesn't miss a trick. With balls that have backspin and forward roll. More impossible lies than a politician.

Hooks and slices that butcher the fairways.

And TV coverage is better than any you'll find on the tube. With spectacular aerial fly-bys.

Close-ups of the hole. Multiple angles of the ball in flight. Instant replay Killer sound effects-crowd applause, club swings, chirpin'birds. Even a sportscaster with tournament highlights but no commercials. If you don't devour all your greens, you'll finish out of the money. And back on the driving range and practice greens. A battery backup saves everything - games, accumulated earnings, scores. Even PGA TOUR stats for up to 82 golfers.

So why drive anything else when you can cruise the TOUR? Club your way to the top with PGA TOUR Golf from Electronic Arts.

Despite the appearance here of Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design a couple of issues ago, and now this column on PGA Tour Golf and Links, "PC Players" isn't really turning into a regular column about golf games. It's just that golf simulations have been coming out with unusual frequency lately, and - more importantly - they're all good.

PGA Tour Golf, from Electronic Arts, is designed for those who watch golf on TV. The main difference, of course, is that you take the role of one of the players. You compete against the world's best golfers in one of the Professional Golfers' Association tournaments. At stake its prize money and a chance to improve on your personal best statistics.

The leader board shows your score and the scores of a host of other players, all of them under the computer's control. But don't worry - you don't have to watch all of them take their shots. Instead, a TV announcer lets you know every so often how the leaders are faring, which competitors have improved their standings, and which players are dropping out of the race.

PGA Tour Golf imitates TV in other ways as well. One option allows you to see a course fly-by at the beginning of each hole, complete with a TV-style color commentary on the condition and nature of the hole. And after each shot, you can ask for a replay using either a "camera view" that shows the golfer's swing or one that follows the ball to its destination.

Most impressive of all is how the camera view changes during every shot. Most golf games let you watch the ball through the golfer's eyes (or, to be more accurate, from directly behind the golfer). PGA Tour Golf automatically shows you the reverse angle, letting you watch the ball soar through the air, land, and come to rest - much as you see it on TV.

The graphics in PGA Tour Golf are astounding. While not as richly detailed as those in Links, the graphics appear almost instantly, without the lengthy screen draws in Links. To achieve this speed, it is true that PGA Tour Golf sacrifices some degree of terrain accuracy, especially when it comes to irregularities, gradations, hills, and valleys. But the time you save is so substantial that you probably won't notice. Because PGA Tour Golf is as much a simulation of televised golf as it is a simulation of the actual sport, the trade-off seems exactly right.

PGA Tour Golf is also a very forgiving simulation. First of all, you don't have to know much about golf to make some very good shots. Second, after a good hole, you can just save your game and then restart whenever you ten-putt another hole. By carefully saving and restarting your game, you can end up winning the tournament.

Links, from Access Software, is an entirely different kind of golf game. It clearly attempts to be the golf simulation to end all golf simulations, and in that way competes with Greg Norman's Shark Attack (Mastertronic) and, to some extent, JackNicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design (Accolade) rather than PGA Tour Golf. But the rich graphics of Links and PGA Tour Golf force a comparison, even though a real golf nut will probably want to own both of these products.

That Access Software is extremely serious about Links as a simulation is obvious from the fact that you can't even run the program without an AT-class computer or better. If you don't have a machine with a fast 80286 or 80386 microprocessor, forget it. In addition, you need VGA or MCGA graphics - good old EGA isn't enough - and at least 640K of memory. If you have more than 640K, Links will try to use it to preload the graphics files. This is extremely desirable, considering the length of time it takes the program to draw each new screen.

For maximum accuracy in Links, you must set the distant, medium-range, and close-range graphics scenes for maximum detail. If you have an 80386 and extended or expanded memory, this is an acceptable mode of play. For faster play, use a 386 computer and minimum detail on the distant scenes. On a 286 with only 640K, screen draws at these settings are gorgeous but extremely lengthy. Fortunately, the graphics are just fine at the lower detail settings, so adjust them to get more speed.

No matter how you set the graphics, you're in for a lot of waiting. But the graphics in Links are truly stunning - better than in any golf game yet produced, and better than in most games of any type whatsoever.

Supplementing the graphics is a golf simulation that rewards real golfers without being too difficult for non-golfers to play. You can adjust your stance and the angle at which the club strikes the ball. In addition, hooks and slices are not controlled only by the "power bar", as they are in most golf games. Instead, you can opt for a slight hook or slice as part of your shot - just as you can swing from the outside in or the inside out. Real golfers do these kinds of things, so Links lets you do them, too.

For still more flexibility, Links allows you to customize many of its features. Each player may compete at a different level of expertise, so it's very easy to let beginners play while you tackle the more challenging pro level. You can choose which clubs you want to take with you, and you can choose any club you want while you're out in the rough. You can even step back and "address" the ball, and you have to work hard to get around the slopes and valleys.

So which is better - PGA Tour Golf or Links? Personally, I prefer the greater realism of Links. But I'm using a 33-megahertz 386, which makes it astoundingly quick. If you want simpler and faster golf, with (almost) equally gorgeous graphics, try PGA Tour Golf. Or buy one and put the other on your birthday list. Both are very much worth having.

The ultimate golf game is reaching the 3DO with unbelievable graphics and animation. It's just like the real thing, except without the enormous fees and the exercise.

Tackle 18 holes of pure golfing ecstasy, and suffer such horrible hazards as sand traps and water holes.

With Electronic Arts, the folks who have mastered the sports market, behind it, you can be assured that this game will be a realistic, yet playable simulation of golf.

One of the critically acclaimed carts for the EASN line of games has you swinging your clubs on the green to get one of the best scores in the tournament. Fun for all ages!

Also on EA's line up is a revamped version of PGA Tour Golf. This enhanced version features a cool new concept called Ball Cam in which you get the ball's perspective of the green after you make a hit.

The Only Game To Make The PGA TOUR Cut

Pack your bags, you're going on tour.

But make it your golf bags. Because it's PGA TOUR Golf. The only game that lets you make the rounds with guys named Fuzzy the Walrus, Hubie and Fred. In sum, sixty of the best players ever to swing a club.

No matter how you slice it, this is the most realistic Genesis golf game ever.

Real players with hole-by-hole tips. Real courses like the TPC's at Sawgrass and Avenel. 3-D greens you can read like an open book. A whole arsenal of special shots like chips, punches, and fringe putts. Even random pin placement.

You think any other game has the PGA TOUR stamp of approval? Come on. Get real.

PGA TOUR Golf doesn't miss a trick. With balls that have backspin and forward roll. More impossible lies than a politician. Hooks and slices that butcher the fairways.

And TV coverage is better than any you'll find on the tube. With spectacular aerial fly-bys. Close-ups of the hole. Multiple angles of the ball in flight. Killer sound effects-crowd applause, club swings, chirpin' birds. Even a sportscaster with tournament highlights but no commercials. If you don't devour all your greens, you'll finish out of the money and back on the driving range and practice greens. A battery backup saves everything-games, accumulated earnings, scores. Even PGA TOUR stats for up to 82 golfers.

So why drive anything else when you can cruise the TOUR? Club your way to the top with PGA TOUR Golf from Electronic Arts.

Move over Mr. Palmer as you now have some serious competition at your favorite pastime - golf. EA has taken a pass on tacking a big name to their newest sports game, and they really don't need it as the game play speaks for itself. Everything possible is built in, even mulligans, punch shots and the famous instant replay! Put backspin on your iron shots or try a chip shot to get the ball to the hole. Any way you play it you'll soon see that PGA Golf is the new generation of Sega golf games. Time to retire, Arnie!

Pack your bags, you're going on tour.

But make it your golf bags. Because it's PGA TOUR Golf. The only game that lets you make the rounds with guys named Fuzzy, the Walrus, Hubie and Fred. In sum, sixty of the best players ever to swing a club.

No matter how you slice it, this is the most realistic Genesis golf game ever.

Real players with hole-by-hole tips. Real courses like the TPC's at Sawgrass and Avenel. 3-D greens you can read like an open book. A whole arsenal of special shots like chips, punches, and fringe putts. Even random pin placement.

You think any other game has the PGA TOUR stamp of approval? Come on. Get real.

PGA TOUR Golf doesn't miss a trick. With halls that have backspin and forward roll. More impossible lies than a politician. Hooks and slices that butcher the fairways.

And TV coverage is better than any you'll find on the tube. With spectacular aerial fly-bys.

Close-ups of the hole. Multiple angles of the ball in flight. Instant replay. Killer sound effects - crowd applause, club swings, chirpin'birds. Even a sportscaster with tournament highlights but no commercials. If you don't devour all your greens, you'll finish out of the money. And back on the driving range and practice greens. A battery backup saves everything - games, accumulated earnings, scores. Even PGA TOUR stats for up to 82 golfers.

So why drive anything else when you can cruise the TOUR? Club your way to the top with PGA TOUR Golf from Electronic Arts.