Golf games are a dime a dozen, it seems. Occasionally, a fresh rendition of the old game comes along, such as the fairly recent Mario Golf. For the most part, though, golf translates blandly into video game form, and Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf is a blatant example of that fact. There's nothing interesting or engaging about the gameplay or features. Like too many sports games, Golden Tee's appeal is apparently meant to stem from its use of a major sports figure's name. Name recognition alone doesn't make a good game, though, as any discerning gamer will realize after only a few minutes with this one.
Golden Tee Golf starts off as any golf game might. Choose one to four players, name each one, and pick a type of game to play. The choices are standard for the most part: play nine or 18 holes by yourself, or opt for a full tournament game against other players or computer-controlled opponents. A speed round times your game, if you're into playing golf against the clock. Finally, "club roulette" presents you with a fast-scrolling club selector; hit a button to select, and then play the shot with the club you've picked. All par for the golf video game course, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It's not a bad thing, that is, until you get to the meat of Golden Tee Golf. Playing a hole is as simple as picking a club, angling your player toward the hole, hitting one button, then hitting another. Following this simple prescription will typically bring you in at or under par on any given hole. The recommended club is usually perfectly adequate for any given situation, which is nice for novices but will bore the avid golfer. Variables like wind seem to make only minimal difference in lining up and executing a shot. Determining the force of your stroke is accomplished by hitting a button to initiate the stroke meter, then hitting another button when the indicator on the minimap has reached approximately where you want the shot to land. There's just not much technique involved in playing Golden Tee.
The game's graphics and sound don't help matters much, either. It's really surprising that a game created this late in the PlayStation's life looks so bad. Everything has a very cheap, low-resolution look, from the sparsely animated golfer to the blocky sprites that represent world objects like trees. The frame rate on course flybys is amazingly low, too - though the game doesn't appear to be pushing the PlayStation hardware particularly hard. The game does feature narration by Peter Jacobsen, but as mentioned before, such novelties are no boon in an already bad game. To be frank, Golden Tee Golf isn't much fun to play or look at.
Golden Tee Golf doesn't contain anything that warrants a recommendation. It's a boring game in a genre already void of excitement, and that makes it far too dull to sit through for an extended period of time. There are certainly better golf games out there, so if that's your thing, you should pass on Golden Tee Golf.
