Toy Golf: The sports game that's eccentric and proud.
Toy Golf is a budget game. That is the most fundamental thing you need to realise before we go on. Got it? Okay, let’s get to the meat. The graphics, which you would expect to be lacklustre, are actually quite good. I would expect similar quality from budget PS2 games, if slightly less aliased. But still, in a handheld, as a first generation budget title, such high quality is obscene!
One quirk is the lack of a putter, being jettisoned in favour of a big green arrow, presumably to make the game feel like a puzzler more than a sports game. Nevertheless, the game is not in the least hindered by this and is in fact quite addictive.
Sound in the game is a decent affair, with some nice bouncy music and good, accurate sound effects. One nice touch is the inclusion of a voice sample saying how you did after every hole. Overall, acceptable, and just right for the price point.
Shortcomings are a necessary evil in gaming. Toy Golf is annoyingly hard, you will get stuck and you will swear. Pixel perfect aiming is often required. (Don’t believe me? Try and get a hole in one on the Toy Room hole). Difficulty is only a drawback if it keeps you from the best of the game. Here, it does. Another problem is one of loading times. They aren’t nearly as long as even the shorter PSP ones, but they feel that way because every time you screw up in the cup modes you have to go back to the main menu and reselect your mode. There is no restart option on the pause menu in cup mode, a major drawback considering how likely you are to screw up.
Depth is also arguably a drawback. There are no characters to choose in the game, your ball is always the same, and there are only nine “courses”. They call them courses, but they are actually holes.
Overall, Toy Golf is a good game, well worth the money. But Tiger Woods PGA Tour’s reputation as the daddy of golf games is most definitely not under threat. Need a cheap puzzler? Get Toy Golf.