That Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf is a huge arcade and bar hit proves one thing: Drunks are pretty forgiving about what they'll pay 50 cents to play. Ranked as one of the most-played coin-op games for almost two years running, it has finally made its way to the PC, only to land amid a cutthroat and crowded field of entrenched PC golf franchises. Several of the coin-op original's strengths have translated well to the PC, but there simply isn't enough to carry the game when your competition is EA, Access, Microsoft, and Accolade.
The first impression of Golden Tee Golf is of a game that feels and plays pretty well. Its main appeal is a superb control implementation. Like most recent golf sims, Golden Tee Golf offers a dynamic mouse swing interface, dubbed Trackswing. In the coin-op version, this is done with a trackball. Here, it's done by pushing your mouse at variable speeds and angles to finesse the ball the proper distance and direction. There is no three-click or two-click powerbar offered at all, but the Trackswing is so well done you don't miss it. It's one of the best mouse swings we've seen, giving you a real feel for just how the ball is going to fly. By stepping the difficulty up through five levels, the control becomes gradually more challenging, and accuracy becomes more crucial. Ball physics and weather modeling are here in rather simplified forms and won't necessarily convince hard-core golfers.
This superb control is the heart of the game, but unfortunately little else about Golden Tee Golf measures up, starting with the visuals. The courses are all very colorful, maybe a little too colorful. Resolutions up to 1024x768 are supported, and redraw rates are very fast. Several cameras can be onscreen without really slowing things down. From the tee, everything looks pretty sharp, but once you're out on the course it all comes apart. Get close (like within 15 feet) to any piece of scenery, and it pixelizes like a mother. I'm not talking slight pixelization; I'm talking big ol' fist-sized pixels that you can count. After Links LS 1999, it's a harsh throwback.
The feature set is also pretty lean. For starters, you can only play as Peter Jacobsen. Though Peter changes shirts and has a few comical gestures, he's missing a few dozen frames of animation, making him look like a bad flip book whenever he moves. There are no AI golfers whatsoever, and the only way to play someone else to is find a prerecorded game on the Net or make one yourself. There are only two modes of play (skins and stroke) and three courses. Fortunately, Internet play via Golden Tee Net is smoothly integrated. Combined with the fast redraws, this makes online play fairly strong. Of course, everyone you play will look just like you (or just like Peter) since there is only one animated golfer. A live chat feature has been implemented that allows you to simply hold down the Control key and talk into a microphone during head-to-head games.
There's no doubt that Golden Tee Golf will appeal to gamers looking for a more casual approach to the game. Its swing interface is smooth and fun to use. Hit a ball into the woods or try to play against someone else, however, and you'll start running into its limitations. Incredible Technologies has laid a foundation for an entry into the PC market if it wants to continue to tweak and enhance this game. While it falls short of the mark in several areas, a more full-featured, technically competitive version of Golden Tee Golf could earn a place alongside the best of the field.
