Released in 1987, Great Golf was the only golf title released on the Master System here in the United States. While the game is far from terrible, it does little to live up to its name. It supports match and stroke play and allows up to four players, which is generous compared to most NES … Read more
How close can you come to copying Street Fighter II without getting sued? Back in 1993 Konami seemed curious to find out. Tournament Fighters is a 2D fighting game based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license. It includes 10 playable fighters plus 2 bosses; the Turtles themselves, Shredder, and 7 characters I’ve never heard … Read more
Being a huge fan of the Genesis version of PGA Tour Golf, I had been keeping an eye out for the SNES version. It was my hope that the Super Nintendo’s superior color palette would give this game a bit of an edge in the graphics department while keeping the high quality gameplay intact. Unfortunately … Read more
I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that PGA Tour Golf has a depth that rivals even today’s modern golf games. It was not only the first real golf sim on the Genesis, but the first in a long line of PGA titles from EA Sports. The game features 4 courses; TPC at … Read more
Released 6 years after its predecessor, the simply-titled “Golf”, NES Open Tournament Golf was the second golf game released by Nintendo for the NES. The game features three courses; US, Japan, and the UK, and has three game modes; stroke play, match play, and a tournament mode. You can also practice single holes to tighten … Read more
During the NES era, two game companies released Ms. Pac-Man cartridges. The game was available from Tengen as one of their easily recognizable black unlicensed carts, while Namco released this licensed version. While the Tengen version included some upgrades in the form of extra mazes and new gameplay options, this release is a straight port … Read more
Vegas Dream is a casino-style gambling game featuring 4 games; blackjack, roulette, keno, and a slot machine. You start off the game with $700, but various events in the game aside from the outcome of gambling itself have an effect on your cash flow. Every so often during the game, you are interrupted by someone … Read more
Released about 6 months after the launch of the Game Boy, this was the first golf game to appear on the system. As is to be expected, you play as Mario and have two course options; USA and Japan. The course design, while not particularly realistic, keeps the game interesting by offering up various challenges … Read more
California Games was not only a launch title, but was the original Lynx pack-in game. Developed by Epyx, a company known primarily for its compilation sports titles, California Games will feel instantly familiar to those who have played any of their previous releases. The game features 4 sports; BMX biking, surfing, half pipe skateboarding, and … Read more
World Grand Prix is a first-party Sega title specifically developed for the Master System, and was part of the console’s North American launch lineup. Although not an official sequel, it is effectively a follow-up to Sega’s 1985 SG-1000 game “GP World”. At first, World Grand Prix seems like nothing more than a Pole Position clone, … Read more
Choplifter is a game that should be familiar to anyone who was playing video games in the 80’s. Originally released on the Apple II in 1982, the game later appeared on almost every gaming platform of the era, including the Atari 5200 and Colecovision, as well as home computers including the Atari 8-bit line and … Read more
Golf was one of four completely forgettable sports titles released with the launch of the NES. The game can either be played single player, or 2-player in stroke or match play format. The game features only one course, but it is a full 18 holes and the holes are varied enough to keep the game … Read more
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf was the first golf game released for the Genesis. Although the game bears his name and his picture graces the box art, aside from the title screen Arnold Palmer does not appear in the game. In the game’s “Tournament Mode”, you play 12 rounds of golf across three courses; United States, … Read more
PGA Tour 96 was three years and four games ago, but EA is still using pre-rendered environments and digitized player animations. The game runs at a poor frame rate, mostly due to the new fluid camera that follows the path of your ball, which was well intentioned but ultimately makes the game look worse. EA … Read more
Amazingly, for the third year in a row, this game still features the same 14 PGA tour pros, but EA has somehow managed to fit 5 courses onto the disc instead of the two courses included with the previous installments. PGA Tour 98 features the world famous Pebble Beach, TPC at Sawgrass (again), the Colonial … Read more
As the sequel to PGA Tour 96, the 1997 edition had big shoes to fill. EA’s first attempt at a golf sim on the Playstation was nearly flawless, and they could have basically phoned this one in by releasing the same game with two new courses and maybe a couple of new PGA pros. The … Read more
Released shortly after the launch of the Playstation, PGA Tour 96 was the first golf game to appear on the system. For a game that’s 14 years old (as of this writing) the game holds up surprisingly well. The game uses the standard 3-click system common with older golf games. Because the screens are all … Read more
Air Combat is noteworthy not only as a launch title (it was actually released 4 days after the system officially launched), but also as the first installment of the acclaimed “Ace Combat” series. The basic premise of the game is that you are part of a group of mercenary pilots who are hired by a … Read more
I had high hopes for this game. The PGA Tour Golf series had no real competition on the Genesis in the form of other golf sims, so when I saw this game on the shelf at my local game store, my interest was piqued. You can choose from 4 courses; Scotland’s famous St. Andrews , … Read more
This disc was included as a bonus pack-in game with Ridge Racer Type 4, and features the complete Ridge Racer game, plus a scaled down version of the game running at a smooth 60 frames per second, known as “Turbo Mode”. You might not think the difference would be noticeable, considering that the original game … Read more