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The definition of golf, as stated in the Webster's
Dictionary is, "an outdoor game, played on a large
course with a small, hard rubber ball, and a set of
clubs with wooden or metal heads, the object being to
drive the ball into a series of variously located
four-inch holes (usually nine or eighteen) with the
fewest possible strokes."
The definition is deep and accurate yet lacks life and
excitement. The same can be said about PGA European
Tour. The game boasts a surplus of features, but in
the end PGA European Tour is just another dull golf
game.
Presentation/Graphics : 80
Surprisingly the graphics are one of the best things
in the game. The courses, when compared to other N64
golf games, are beautiful. The hoards of trees, the
long beautiful fairways, and even the dreadful sand
traps are all comforts to the eyes. Weather can also
be factored in. When it rains you can see the
raindrops. When the weather is sunny you see the sun
and when it is cloudy you see the clouds. Unlike on
some N64 games there is a distinct difference. The
players are also presented well, but do not stand out.
Sixty-four of the top European Tour players are on
the game, but you'd never be able to tell who they
were unless you were given their names. The player
models are all the same. You can change what color
shirt or pants they have on, but in the end the
players look like clones of each other. The courses
and certain weather effects are what make this game
visually effective.
Presentation/Audio : 35
As promising as the graphics were in this game, the
audio was as unpromising. The play by play in this
game is atrocious. I've played plenty of sports games
where the announcers were bad, but none of those
announcers can hold a candle to Peter Allis. Touted
on the back of the cover as the famous BBC announcer,
it's not really what Allis says, it's when he says it and
how often. This plagues many sports games, but none
are as terrible as this one. I doubt Allis says more
than twenty phrases. Not only are the phrases
overused, but also are said at the wrong time!
Compliments on a great hole after a quadruple-bogey
were not uncommon. The sound of the golf swing and
the golf ball hitting the ground were both strains on
the ears. Everything sounds like you are in the
middle of a cave. The echo effect is definitely
present. The best thing about the audio in the game
is that almost every aspect of it can be turned to a
complete silence.
Interface/Options : 95
The interface and the game options are easily the best
thing in the game. PGA European Tour has as many game
options as you'll see on any golf game on any
platform. The interface is easy to pick up and
provided no difficulty to me. When you get to the
main menu you are given the option to quick match,
play a non-tour golf game, start a new tour, or
continue a previous tour. As you might suspect, the quick match is the
fastest way to start a game. A few clicks on the
control pad and you are on the course. A non-tour
golf game gives you the choice of playing one of the
four authentic European golf courses. On the non-tour
golf option you can play three different types of
golf. You can play strokeplay, which is normal golf.
You can play matchplay where a point is given to the
lowest score of each hole, or you can play skins.
This is where a player who has the lowest score at a
hole doesn't get a point, but euros (European form of
currency). Holes one through six the winner gets 100
euros. Holes seven through twelve the winner is given
a whopping 200 euros and the winners of the last six
holes are given 300 euros. In the event of a tie, the
euros are accumulated until a single player wins a
hole.
The game's best feature lies within the "start a new
tour" option. From there you either create a player or
use one of the sixty-four available European players
and try to become the number one player on the
European PGA Tour. This process is a long and
difficult one. You are not started on the European
Tour right away either. You have to earn the right
through four difficult steps. You start your journey
as an amateur on the challenge tour. After playing
four rounds of golf at four different courses you have
to place in the Top 9. If you do that, you then get
to start the challenge tour as a pro and go to
Qualifying School. If you place in the top eight of
qualifying school you can finally advance to the
European PGA Tour. However, when you get to the Tour,
it doesn't mean you'll stay there. If you don't rank
in the top 32 after the season is over you go back to
Qualifying School. You can be knocked down at any
time so being on the top of your game is a must.
Making it on the tour is the most difficult thing to
do in the game.
If you are struggling with your golf game you are also
given the option to practice certain shots from
different areas. You can practice a certain hole on
any of the four courses. You can also hit the driving
range, putting green, or practice your chipping.
Practice helps throughout the game. It's a nice way
to get used to the controls, but it's also a good way
to improve your skills to move to the next level on
your journey to the top of the PGA European Tour.
Gameplay : 70
The gameplay is easy to pick up. There are four
different types of swings. There are the basic two-
and three-click swings. The two-click swing is easily
described as clicking once to determine power, holding
that click until you release once more at the bottom
of the swing to determine if you hit the ball
straight, or with a fade or slice. The three-click
swing is the same as the two-click, but you click at
the top of the swing and do not hold the click. There
are two other types of swings. The X-swing and the Y-swing. For the X-Swing you don't click and hold a
button, but rather use the control pad right to left
for your back swing and follow-through. The Y-swing
also utilizes the control pad, but instead of using
right and left, you use up and down.
The rest of the gameplay is also extremely simple.
You are given a directional line that not only shows
your trajectory, but your distance. When the
directional line is yellow that means your shot won't
hit any trees or bushes. When the directional line is
red, there is some hazard in your way. If you think
using the directional line is too easy, you can move
up to a more difficult way of hitting the ball. You
are not given the directional line and have to factor
in all the possible hazards for your shot.
After choosing what trajectory and distance you want,
you next have the choice of what club you want to use
and what type of shot you want to shoot (like a
backspin lob, a bump-and-run shot, or a punch). On some short iron shots, a backspin
lob shot is needed in many cases. Also, before
shooting your shot you may want to look at what club
the CPU has selected for you. Sometimes the CPU is
blatantly wrong and either chooses a club that will
have too much yardage or not enough.
The ball physics drag down the gameplay score. The
ball just doesn't roll right when it hits the ground.
For example, when it is raining the grass should tend
to become soft and balls will not as roll as far.
This isn't the case in this game. You could be on the
18th green and rain could be pouring down for the
entire round and a ball off the tee would just take
off rolling down the fairway. On par threes the
terrible ball physics is even more evident. If you
don't hit the ball short and into the rough or lay up
by a massive amount of feet, you will end out of
bounds. I remember many times trying to lay up, only
see my ball jump off the green as if it were the parking
lot and venture into the out of bounds. This is very
frustrating and makes the game almost impossible to
play at times.
Replay Value : 65
Getting to the European Tour and achieving number one
status is a lot of fun. After you reach that pinnacle
the game really loses all its fun. The different
types of strokeplay that you can choose add to the
replay value as you can play with friends, but this
game loses any luster it has after you get to the
number one ranking on the PGA European Tour.
Overall : 70
This game achieved what it set out to be, a golf
simulation. What it didn't achieve was anything else.
The game is just boring sometimes and has a couple of
ball physics and audio problems that prevent it from
being one of the elite golf N64 games on the market.
