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Published
by Eidos Interactive
Developed by Telenet Japan Co. Ltd.
Released - Out Now
Price : £39.99
With
quality GameCube titles being a bit thin on the ground recently
and the real quality stuff (Metroid Prime and Zelda for example)
being a long way off for us PAL gamers, picking a new title for
your beloved Cube is difficult to say the least. Fear not though,
because Eidos Interactive have done us all a massive favour by releasing
the one of the most addictive console games of the year, Ace Golf.
Now
I know that you're thinking that golf is boring and that you're
not interested or indeed you've probably looked at the screenshots
and thought this games is for kids and that you'll stick to your
Links 2003 on your PC. Well if you have thought either of these
things then you'd be wrong. The developers, Telenet, have done a
magnificent job with Ace Golf. Not only does it have that distinctive
Nintendo look and feel about it, but it also plays stunningly well
and puts most 'serious' golf games to shame.
Ace
Golf comprises of six 18 hole courses, one 9 hole course, 14 individual
golfers (all with their own disadvantages and advantages), 6 caddies
and a wealth of tournaments to keep you busy. Of course in true
console style there are also many objects (clubs, shoes and other
items) to be unlocked and all these will modify your golfers performance
somewhat. Ace Golf is not content with merely providing you with
these special items though, experience must be gained through using
them to get the full benefit of them.
Of
course if you've followed PC golf games over the last few years
you'll know that the day of clicking buttons are at an end and that
the mouse swing has taken over. Well Ace Golf has taken this on
board and the golfer's swing is emulated through the use of the
C stick. Put simply the C stick is pulled back to the required percentage
of power (showed by a power gauge) and pushed forward to emulate
the swing. Pushing the stick forward in a straight line will give
you an excellent shot whilst being slightly off centre will cause
the ball to draw (off to the left) or fade (off to the right) like
in real life. The swing method is excellent but it has one drawback,
it is very awkward for left-handed gamers, especially as the controls
can't be reconfigured. Spin can also be applied to the ball by moving
the directional pad whilst performing the swing.
Your
shot can be modified too, by pressing the B button. Normally pressing
the B button will give you a power shot (offers a little extra power
of course) but when you're around the green you can adjust the type
of approach shot you make by pressing the B button. Your shots are
rated as either Excellent, Great, Good, Poor or Bad. Power shots
use some of your golfers stamina and overuse of them will result
in one tired golfer whose power will begin to dwindle. Excellent
shots help to replace a little of the stamina so as well as giving
you a great chance to make birdies they also help your golfer.
The
variation between the different golfers is very impressive. The
game begins with only Miho, the former college golf star, and Yoshiki,
the pop star, unlocked. Other characters include the militaristic
Lisa, the academic Rosetta who tends to fade her shots and the 78
year old Kenneth from Ireland who hates playing in the winter. Characters
have ratings for power, control, impact and spin. For each of these
attributes you are given the current ability and the maximum potential
for that golfer. There are also some fixed attributes and these
tell you whether a golfer has a tendency to draw or fade shots or
whether they tend to make high or low shots etc. The Golfers each
have an amount of item points that are used to determine what equipment
they can use. The equipment ranges from the power glove (which increases
power at the cost of control) to the fire ball which is superb when
used in the summer.
The
game also has 6 crazy caddies who are on hand to give advice. You
call a caddy by pressing the start button followed by the R button.
Caddies can only be called when you're on the tee and on the green.
Of course this is when you need the most advice but it would have
been good if you could have called them at other times too. Still
at least you actually see them doing something which is more than
can be said for most golf games.
Ace
Golf offers a tournament mode (1 player), stroke play (upto 4 players),
match play (2 players) and mini-games (upto 4 players) as well as
a training mode that lets you practice any holes you want. The tournament
mode has six stages and each stage consists of tournaments and two
matches. Winning a match will unlock the opponent therefore you'll
need to complete the tournament mode to unlock all the characters,
which will take you ages. The stages in tournament mode need a certain
amount of stars before you are allowed access to them. You'll need
10 stars to access stage 2 and a further 15 to access stage 3. Winning
a tournament will earn you 3 stars and winning a match will earn
you 2 stars. You don't have to play through a tournament in one
sitting either. When quitting back to the main menu your progressed
is automatically saved. If you're golf fans, you'll already know
what stroke play and match play offers. Stroke play is about getting
the lowest shot count for the whole course whilst match play is
about completing a hole in fewer shots than your opponent with the
match being won by the golfer who won the most holes. The mini-games
offer 3 different games. There's Mission which poses multiple golfing
challenges for 1 player. Then there's Survival, which again is for
1 player and sees you facing an opponent to win a hole. The idea
is to win as many holes as possible. Should you lose a hole it's
game over. Finally there's Near Pin for 2-4 players. Near Pin is
played on the short course Wai-Wai GC, which consists of 9 par 3
holes. Whoever gets there tee shot nearest to hole wins that hole.
In
terms of graphics the game looks great. What is a little disappointing
are the textures that have been used on the golfers, which look
a little poor. Elsewhere though the textures look very good, particularly
on the ball and the grass. The courses are all very different and
have slight seasonal variations. The game provides the necessary
visual means to show the wind direction and the nature of the ball's
lie on the ground. The usual grid appears on the green too but arcade
golfers might be upset that no indicator shows how to line up the
perfect shot. Ace Golf demands good technique though and believe
me it's all the more addictive for it. It's also very impressive
to see that the ball physics look realistic. As a player of Links
on the PC for quite a while now, I've become rather sensitive to
what 'proper' ball physics should look like and Ace Golf has impressed
me. Putting has to be accurate and move with the correct amount
of power otherwise it's not going to go in, which is great to see.
Deaf
gamers will be pleased to know that Ace Golf is absolutely fine
for them. The only speech in the game comes in the shape of the
caddies' and golfers' rather repetitive one liners such as Hanako's
excruciatingly painful 'You can do it'. Believe me there is an option
to turn these off and most hearing gamers will probably do just
that. The caddie's tips that you can receive are given exclusively
in text so there's no problem there either.
Ace
Golf is one heck of an impressive title. Sure the golfers are fictional
and some might not like the Anime look of the game but the gameplay
is pure magic and shames what's on offer in EA's Tiger Woods offering
for the Cube and indeed Outlaw Golf on the Xbox. If you're a golf
enthusiast with a GameCube or indeed just looking for a top quality
title, Ace Golf comes highly recommended.
Overall
Game Rating: 9.0/10
Quite
simply superb. The control scheme, whilst excellent for right handers,
will prove very awkward for left-handers.
Deaf
Gamers comment:
One liners from the caddies and golfers are not subtitled
but the caddy tips and all information is shown in text.
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