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There are a ton of golf games on the Genesis. Some are true simulations, and others try to spice things up with a bit of fantasy or putt-putt mechanics. T&E Soft made such an attempt with Devil’s Course, which has some of the more outlandish and imaginative courses on the Genesis. Unfortunately, this import-only title suffers intensely from the pains of 16-bit 3D mechanics.
It’s always a shame when new hardware is released, and developers fail to take advantage of it for their games. Every console is guilty of this to some regard, but console gamers first really began to feel the frustration with the Sega CD. A slew of cartridge ports with redbook soundtracks made it clear that many developers had neither the skill nor the interest in using the CD-ROM format to its fullest potential. Vrigin’s Links: The Challenge of Golf is a great example. With so much memory and CD sound, it’s a shame more wasn’t done to make it more than just a sub par (ha!) game that pales next to its PC siblings.
Recently, a trio of masked criminals broke into famed Puerto Rican pro golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez’s home and made off with over $500,000 in cash and jewelry. While golf fans everywhere were just glad to see that Chi Chi was safe, they were perplexed as to why he was so jubilant in all his interviews about the crime. You see, ol’ Chi Chi had the last laugh on those crooks. Along with his money and jewels, they also made off with all the unsold inventory of his horrible Genesis game Chi Chi’s Golf Challenge Golf! “Give them a week of playing it,” the golfing legend quipped, “and they’ll be begging for the cops to take them in!” Our readers should just count themselves lucky then that we have a full review, keeping this game only in the hands of our reviewers and a few choice criminals.
Sega has made a lot of quality sports games over the years. One genre where its efforts have been largely under-appreciated has been golf. The Genesis is chock loaded with golf games, and some of the best came from Sega itself. Case in point: Pebble Beach Golf Links, a 16-meg, four-player monster that’s as easy to play as it is appealing to look at.
Electronic Arts’ PGA Golf series reigned supreme on the Genesis, though there were a few quality games that saw released. There were also some stinkers, and with titles like Accolade’s Jack Nicklaus’ Power Golf Challenge, EA’s supremacy was in no danger. Read our full review of this triple bogey and find another game to play, please.