Putting Golf: Cheap Playstation Marathon

 

Recently, I grabbed a few cheap PS1 games from a retro game shop. I didn't know what I was buying, so it was a random mix. The blog might focus on multiple games from this haul. We can dub this series the Cheap Playstation Marathon. Let's start this off with a simple game, Putting Golf.

    Putting Golf is a golf game and if you had to be told this, you need help. It is specifically of the mini golf variety, so instead of being a sports simulation, it's focused on arcade-like action I kind of have a soft spot for Minigolf games. I remember loving the Mingolf minigame in Thrillville back in the day, so I hoped this would be similar to that, and it actually was. I enjoyed my time with this one, which I didn't fully expect.

    Putting  Golf controls decently. Each course is relatively small, and is more focused on aiming, and using the terrain to your advantage to get a hole-in-one. You can get a top-down view, zoom in and out, and even switch your putter. From what I can tell, this game controls and functions correctly so it's simply down to the player being good. I'm not good, so the CPU wiped my ass.

    One thing this game does to stand out is its trick mode, where the courses have jumps, conveyors, and ice on them. This adds an interesting twist to the game, but that's really where the originality ends. There's not a lot of content either, there's just an original mode with 9 holes and a trick mode with 9 holes. Once you play through both, there's not really a reason to go back. Even multiplayer will get dull after like 30 minutes, so there's little replay value here. 

    The music is also weird. I did like it, but then I noticed how it kept skipping. One song would play, then a few seconds ago, it would skip to another song. I have no idea if this is intentional, or something wrong with my disc. I have never encountered anything like that on any other PS1 game, so it makes me believe it's intentional.

    I like Putting Golf, it's charming in its own way, but I would not recommend it. It just has so little content to be a valuable purchase today. Maybe try it on an emulator, or give it a try if you somehow get it from a bulk buy of games. It's just not worth picking up on its own, even cheaply.