This week will continue the summer’s trampling of Nintendo golf games with the final two entrants: Golf Power and Golf Grand Slam.
Golf Power was made in 1992 and is sponsored by Greg Norman, but the character sure looks a lot more like John Daly. This has to be the most boring golf game I’ve ever played. The game is covered by a thin layer of green coloring, making every thing just depressing. There’s no music, each shot has a lengthy suggestion, and it’s hard to be specific with your shot placement. Not only that, the first nine holes have 7 par fives. That’s more than most 18 hole courses. The hitting mechanism is slighty different, but results in hitting a full power shot each time. All you do is hold the button to the desired power level, and you can wait indefinitely once it’s full. It shoots back down to the accuracy part pretty quick, and being out of this zone will cause a miffed shot. Also, the wind is commonly 30 mph.
There is a course creator included, kind of like in Excitebike. Unfortunately, these new holes won’t replace the dreaded par 5’s and can’t be saved. This feels like the game the Simpsons based Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge on. Best Score: Withdrawn from Competition.

The final contestant is Golf Grand Slam from Atlus. This game incorporates real-life suggestions to your golf game, as though video game golf can have an impact on your backswing and putting prowess. You can choose your won bag of clubs and how hard you want to hit the ball. A cursor on the hole represents the aiming system and distance selection, while a beeping cursor on top of the ball is included to maintain some interaction. You can also adjust your stance, grip, and downswing to help maximize each shot. This game is fairly fun and the holes are each well done. Though it only has one course and it can feel like the game is playing itself due to the swing mechanism, it’s entertaining enough. Best score: +8.
-mlbradley
durden26@comcast.net