 Hi there, back once again with another big genre video, this time I'm looking at every Super Nintendo Golf game ever made. Previously I've looked at every baseball, basketball, hockey, American football, and pro wrestling SNES games. And like pro wrestling, golf is a very niche genre. There isn't really a game on this list like NBA Jam or Griffey Baseball where you don't even have to like the sport to enjoy the game. Well there is one, but it's kind of a special case, I'll get to that one later. The point is, you pretty much have to like golf to enjoy these games at all. And even then, most of these games have aged really poorly, they're just slow and clunky and hard to play. So yeah, the early to mid 90s weren't a good time for golf games. It wasn't until the next couple generations of consoles until golf games got good, like with the Tiger Woods series, Hot Shots Golf, and Mario Golf. Anyway, let's go on alphabetical order, not a lot of detail on each game, just a quick rundown. Well, I would have liked to have been able to start with best shot pro golf for Super Famicom, but this is one of those super involved text heavy story driven games. I screwed around with this interface for like 15 minutes and couldn't even get to a practice mode. I just like pointing these games out because they're just so different and weird. Anyway, next is Hal's Hole in One Golf. Hal is both a person and the developer, the same behind games like Kirby Super Star and Earthbound. As far as 16 bit golf games go, this one isn't too bad. The pace is fine and there isn't much lag or loading time. It's a simple three-click circle meter to control your swing. Press a button to get it started, press it again, up top for distance, and again down low for accuracy. You'll find that a recurring theme with these games. Hal's Hole in One Golf is decent enough, although it's pretty dang unforgiving if you land in the rough for the bunker. The one big problem with this game is putting. It's next to impossible to get a putt close. You just kinda get lucky. Still, this game isn't too bad. Next we have the Haro Kanaro Augusta series. The big selling point here is that it features Augusta National, otherwise known as the course that hosts the Masters every year. The problem, of course, is that these games are Super Famicom only, so they can be tough to navigate. Typical three-click swing system here, although the third-click dictates direction by where you hit the ball. It's pretty clunky because it's just about impossible to nail it in the same place every time. So yeah, while it's nice to see Augusta National in 16 bit, these games aren't all that great. The Irem Skins game is another game that curiously includes the developer in the title for some reason. Skins game means there's a different scoring system here. It's more of a match-play format, skin implies money, and each hole is worth a different amount, and the amount adds up until one player gets a better score than the other. This might actually be the easiest, most accessible game here, because to swing is just a simple bar that bounces up and down, and you press A to try and land in the middle. This is one game where I didn't feel completely lost as to what to do, so this is a pretty good game. Then we have Jack Nicholas Golf. This game is slow and plotting, and it has a really confusing format. I can't make sense of the meter on the left. I'm guessing they explain that away in the instruction book, because the random markings here make no sense to me whatsoever. This game is just not good. Avoid this one. From out of nowhere, we get a Kirby game. Kirby's Dream Course. Yeah, this game is just slightly different from the others on this list. There's no clubs, and Kirby is the ball itself. The courses are these trippy mazes. There's enemies you gotta destroy. There's warp zones. But fundamentally, it is a golf game. Well, it's mini golf, but that's still golf. Disagree? You think this is more of a pool game? Then there's a Twitter poll in the description. I think you'll find most people would agree it is a golf game. Anyway, this is a fantastic title with a very reliable physics engine that allows you to prepare your shot and execute it in just the right way every time. It's not conventional, and it's more mini golf than golf, but it's still a really good game. Here's where I'd like to talk about Laser Birdie getting the hole for Super Famicom, but the ROM won't even let you boot it up without the Golf Simulator controller thing that was sold with the game. Yeah, it came with its own golf club. How about that? But the game is literally unplayable without it. Moving on. Next, we have Mekka Robot Golf, a game that takes place in a world where humanoid robots are considered second-class citizens when all they want to do is compete in golf tournaments. Well, sure, of course. So this is just match-play style golf where you compete against a robot. This game is very slow and tedious because you have to sit there and watch the entirety of the robot's shot every time. So it takes over an hour to play 18 holes. The swing system is a standard three-click. Nothing else really stands out here. So I'd avoid this game. Namco Open for Super Famicom is okay. My favorite thing about this game is if you play well, your character has a happy expression. But if you play like crap, your character is pissed off. It's a circle swing meter here, and it's very tough to hit the ball straight. Putting is also a problem since it's really hard to see the greens undulations. This game isn't too bad, but there's better. Next is another Super Famicom game, Nice Dish Shot. I wanted to like this one because it's faster paced compared to the rest of the list, but the game is just brutally difficult. Each hole has a different setting, a swamp, a desert, a cow pasture, and they're all really, really tough holes. Really, this is my landing spot? This tiny sliver of grass? Yeah, this game ain't worth it. Okamoto Ayako to match-play golf is another Super Famicom game and another game where you have to play against the computer and watch it's every shot. This game is also incredibly slow and ridiculously hard. Avoid this one. Pebble Beach Nohato New Tournament Edition is a game with big strengths and big weaknesses. It, of course, takes place at Pebble Beach Golf Course, which lends itself really well to video game golf in any format. It's also very forgiving and it's actually somewhat easy to putt for once. And there's some advanced ideas here that aren't common for SNES golf games. The bad thing is that it's a Super Famicom game, so it can be difficult to set up a match. Plus, this game is really slow. You're always stuck with two playing partners, and you always got to sit through every shot. That's such a bummer. I do think this game is pretty good though, so I would recommend it. Finally we're back in the States with EA Sports PGA Tour Series, and finally we have the traditional golf game that gets it right. Instead of cramming tons of information on a single screen or filling up the background with useless clutter, we've got a basic three-click bar swing, quick access maps of the whole format, and greens, and no gigantic loading times. There are even multiple courses to play. As far as SNES golf games go, this is probably as good as you'll get. They take a step back a bit with PGA Tour 96, however. It seems like they just tried to cram too much into this game. There's eight courses, lots of game modes, and the game is so much slower. It takes forever to pull up the overhead camera or the putting grid. I think I played nine holes in PGA Tour and the time it took to play like five holes on PGA Tour 96. That game is just more streamlined and less of a hassle. I'd avoid PGA 96. The PGA European Tour has pretty much exactly the same gameplay format and layout as PGA Tour 96, just a little smoother and better executed. There's only six courses here, so that may have something to do with it. The overhead and putting views aren't as cumbersome to access, and they don't take as long to load, and the game has a better pace to it, so you can move along a little quicker. Still, I'd rather play the original PGA Tour Golf. St. Andrew's Echo to Rikishi, no old course, is certainly a good idea for a game. St. Andrew's is a great video game course because it's so wide open, and the isometric viewpoint is an inspired idea, but the swing meter is so sensitive. It takes a long time to get any sort of consistency. The ball just goes everywhere. Putting is also a real challenge. I'd avoid this one. Super Birdie Rush is a cartoony Super Famicom game that gets a little too cute sometimes. Everything is very basic and straightforward, and this game is easy to play. It's just the game kind of screws with you for fun. Like if you happen to hit the exact wrong part of the swing meter, you actually hit the ball backwards. What the hell is that? There's all sorts of stuff like that here. I do appreciate the different approach, and this would be a fun multiplayer game, but I got old for me quickly. Another cartoony Super Famicom game is Super Nexat Open Golf Day Shobu. Dorabochon. This is a little more like it, with special items, the ability to crush shots by hitting a particular part of the swing meter, and all sorts of neat little touches here and there. This game isn't all that spectacular. It's pretty bare bones, but it's fun enough. First we have three games in the True Golf series. Wicked 18, Pebble Beach, Golf Links, and YLA Country Club. And remember the Augusta National Games on Super Famicom I talked about several minutes ago? These are the same games, just with different courses. I guess they couldn't get the rights to release the Augusta one in the US, so it's jade overseas. YLA is a course in Hawaii. Pebble Beach we saw already, and Wicked 18 is some whacked out crazy ass impossible golf course. If I had to pick one, I'd say the best is Pebble Beach, just because the course lends itself well to be portrayed in a game. Because it's tough, but it's not too tough. Finally we have the Pal Exclusive World Masters Golf. This game would be okay if putting weren't such a disaster. Seriously, I've played free golf games on my phone with a better physics engine than this. It's pretty unforgiving too. If you're just slightly off, the ball goes way to the left or way to the right. I'd avoid this one. Alright, that's every Super Nintendo Golf game. And as you can see, there's not that much to pick from. Instead of picking a top 5, I'll just say if you really insist on playing an SNES traditional golf game, play PGA Tour Golf, or better yet play any of the PGA Tour games on Sega Genesis. Those aren't as sluggish, and they're a little better put together with more options and camera angles. If you want the best golf game on Super Nintendo in general, it's Kirby's Dream Course. Anyway that's all for now. Thanks for watching, and have a great rest of your day.