{"id":3173,"date":"2013-06-28T18:26:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T00:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/?p=3173"},"modified":"2014-09-07T21:50:59","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T03:50:59","slug":"golfyssey-23-game-boy-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/?p=3173","title":{"rendered":"Golfyssey 24 \u2014 Game Boy Color"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Game Boy Color<\/a> was released in 1998.\u00a0 Criminy, it sure took Nintendo a long time to release a hand-held console that did more than 4 colours in a palette of pea soup.\u00a0 The reason for this is that colour LCD screens ate batteries like some kind of… uh… like some kind of… battery eating colour LCD screen monster.<\/p>\n

This Achilles’ heel of\u00a0 colour hand-held consoles had limited their appeal to those who didn’t mind changing or charging batteries after about 2 hours of gameplay.\u00a0 By 1998, enough advancements in the tech had been made to limit the power consumption of such screens enough that Nintendo went ahead and released a colour version of their mega-selling Game Boy.\u00a0 And of course, it was a hit too.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at a sampling of the golf games that were released for the system.<\/p>\n

“Golf Daisuki!”, 1999<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

This one’s pretty run-of-the-mill.\u00a0 We can’t expect too much from the Game Boy Color, after all.\u00a0 It wasn’t a huge leap over its predecessor in technology, an it’s still an 8-bit console.<\/p>\n

The first thing you will notice is the kiddie graphics and music.\u00a0 Thank Zeus, Odin and whatever other gods intervened that you can turn this music off, because this game has by far the most annoying music I’ve heard stuck into a golf game.<\/p>\n

Also in the game setup, you can choose the style of gameplay.\u00a0 This is limited to “Tournament” and “vs CPU”.\u00a0 Tournament isn’t what you might think it is.\u00a0 It’s actually single stroke play.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

You can also unlock characters.\u00a0 I predict that the remaining five characters of this game will remain locked in my copy forever.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

\"zod\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’d also like to take this opportunity to say that every time I see the name “Momo” I think of one of the variants of the Bigfoot legend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This screenshot here would lead me to believe that you can upgrade your clubs somehow too:<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

When you begin, you get a brief scrolling top-down view of the hole and then the course view.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressing Select pauses the game and shows your scorecard:<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressing Start shows you the top-down view again:<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

Another hit of the Start button will show you the putting green:<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

Left and right on the direction pad will aim your shot.\u00a0 Up and down will select your club.\u00a0 The B<\/strong> button cancels. \u00a0A<\/strong> is the action button, and it will bring up your power meter.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

The power meter is 3-button, except on the putting green where it is 2-button.\u00a0 The hook and slice dynamics in this game are backwards from the way they are in most other golf games, so be aware of that when you make your shot.\u00a0 Your swing is animated as is the flight of your ball, though the ball will sometimes just disappear from the screen.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

Getting onto the green doesn’t change much, except for the power meter as mentioned above.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/a><\/p>\n

“Mobile Golf”, 2001<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Another Japanese game.\u00a0 And this one starts out all cute and shit like it’s a kids’ game.\u00a0 But it actually has a lot of depth to it and you can turn the music off!\u00a0 Hooray for being able to turn the music off!<\/p>\n

Of course, most of the text is in Japanese, so I really don’t know how much of this game I’m missing or misunderstanding.\u00a0 But I have the basics down, and I liked playing the game.\u00a0 Here we get to choose one of four characters, with eight more unlockable:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

We can see stats for our golfer, and maybe settings we can alter.\u00a0 I don’t know.\u00a0 I can’t read Kanji and I can’t speak Japanese.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t know what’s going on here.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

But here we can set up our gameplay:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Good thing they put some icons with the text.\u00a0 Single player stroke play.\u00a0 The story of my life.\u00a0 HA!<\/p>\n

This screen has me lost again, so I just smiled and pressed A<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Looks like we can choose a course here.\u00a0 Looks like there are only two, and even then, maybe it’s just the front nine and the full 18.\u00a0 I don’t know.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay, here’s something familiar.\u00a0 Club selection.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

When you begin, you get an overview of the hole.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressing Select will show you the putting green.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressing the start menu will bring up an in-game menu:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

The options within the menu (in order) are to:<\/p>\n

Summon Satan:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Seriously, I think this is supposed to be the Devil.\u00a0 I think he has horns and bat wings and you can move him around to see the course.\u00a0 I don’t know if you can sell your soul for that perfect hole.<\/p>\n

Top-down view:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Scorecard:<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Sound menu (and possibly other options).\u00a0 This is where you can turn off the background music.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

?????<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

And a quit game option.<\/p>\n

Press A<\/strong> to get to your course view.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Left and right aim, up and down switch clubs.\u00a0 B<\/strong> will go back to the overview.\u00a0 A<\/strong> will start your swing.\u00a0 The power meter is 3-button press.\u00a0 In the screenshot above, you see a golf ball already in the air.\u00a0 This is part of the “aiming arc” animation.\u00a0 Rather than have that constant “piss rainbow” type aiming arc, which looks idiotic beyond belief, this game features a constant animation of the ball sailing from the ground to the flag as it would were you to hit it.\u00a0 A better looking compromise for sure, but still not necessary I think.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Your shot is animated and the overhead view will track your ball’s flight.\u00a0 There are some corny sound effects as the ball makes its way through the air.\u00a0 I may never have played golf on a golf course, but I do know that golf balls don’t sound like slide whistles when they go through the air and land.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e7\u00a7\u0081\u00e3\u0081\u00af\u00e3\u0081\u201c\u00e3\u201a\u0152\u00e3\u0081\u0152\u00e4\u00bd\u2022\u00e3\u201a\u2019\u00e6\u201e\u008f\u00e5\u2018\u00b3\u00e3\u0081\u2122\u00e3\u201a\u2039\u00e3\u0081\u00ae\u00e3\u0081\u2039\u00e5\u02c6\u2020\u00e3\u0081\u2039\u00e3\u201a\u2030\u00e3\u0081\u00aa\u00e3\u0081\u201e\u00ef\u00bc\u0081<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

Gee, that was almost an eagle.<\/p>\n

On the putting green, the B<\/strong> button will change the strength of your shot, cycling it between small, medium and large.\u00a0 you will see the distances of each shot type in your power meter, which is now 2-button.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

And that’s a birdie.\u00a0 Either that’s what it says above my golfer’s head, or a green ceiling fan has come apart and will chop his head to pieces.<\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mobile<\/a><\/p>\n

I think “Mobile Golf” is a surprisingly good game.\u00a0 I wasn’t expecting something this good for the Game Boy Colour.\u00a0 I avoided reviewing Mario Golf for this system actually because I am so sick to fucking death of the cutesy kids game style that the franchise embodies.\u00a0 But this game is nice.\u00a0 I will actually come back to it.\u00a0 Oh, and when I got to the second hole, I swear some red fedora flew by on the overview screen.\u00a0 And I just thought of this now, but the available characters look like they came out of the Sinfest<\/a> webcomic.\u00a0 So maybe that is the Devil after all.<\/p>\n

“Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000”, 1999<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

That EA logo makes me flinch.\u00a0 And it makes me uneasy, considering how much of the gaming experience they and their ilk have destroyed and decimated.\u00a0 But this game is good.\u00a0 And I would actually say that this game would be a reason for you to dust off your old Game Boy Color and slap in some batteries to play it.<\/p>\n

You get some music in the game menu, but it’s not offensively bad or anything, and it’s limited to the menus.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

There are the standard options available.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Type of gameplay:<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Courses:<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Golfers, including more pros:<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

And other settings.\u00a0 I’m glad to see that mulligan and shot clock are off by default.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

You get a nice panoramic view of part of the course before you begin.\u00a0 Well, as nice as the Game Boy Color will allow.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

A sign with a layout of the hole in lieu of a flyby:<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Then you get to the playing screen.\u00a0 It has a different layout than other games I’ve seen, but everything you need to play is there.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

There was a slight problem when I got to this screen, because I thought the game wasn’t responding as I mashed the buttons and nothing happened.\u00a0 You have to press down on the direction pad first.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

This sets your ball onto the tee, I guess.\u00a0 Press A again.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Now you can set up your shot.\u00a0 You will note that each control in that bluish-silver area has a white dot next to it.\u00a0 When that white dot is black, that means you have control of it.\u00a0 Use the direction pad to navigate among these controls, and watch the black dot move while you do.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

The black dot has moved down from the power meter to the ball-strike aiming control.\u00a0 If you press the A<\/strong> button and move the direction pad, you will be able to move that red cross on the ball to adjust the point at which your club will strike.\u00a0 Press A<\/strong> again when you are done.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Now the dot is controlling your club selection, having moved past the wind speed and direction meter.\u00a0 Pressing A<\/strong> here will switch clubs.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

The above screenshot shows a closeup of the putting green, having been selected while the dot was on the meter that shows the distance to the hole.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

The meter above is more complex.\u00a0 It can alter your shot from a normal shot to a “power” shot.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Navigating to the dot on the top right and pressing A<\/strong> will give you a more powerful shot.\u00a0 The camera has zoomed to show you the destination and the power meter is showing an extended range in red.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

The dot on the top left gives you the standard shot, and pressing A<\/strong> will zoom into that shot’s destination.\u00a0 Note the different appearance of the power meter above.<\/p>\n

When you have set up your shot, direct the dot to the power meter and press A<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

You will see a closeup of Tiger (or your selected pro golfer) appear onscreen.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

The power meter is 3-button, unless you chose “Pro Swing” in the options.\u00a0 The “Pro Swing” option is different from the way I’ve seen any other power meter operate, and to me it’s about as appealing as poking your eyes with a screwdriver.\u00a0 For “Pro Swing”, you press the button for a good guess of how long you think you should, then when you release the button, you start your swing and see if you were right.\u00a0 Fuck, that’s loads of fun.\u00a0 I really don’t think they should have called it “Pro” anything, because if you’re a professional, that means that you don’t stumble blindly into shit, doesn’t it?\u00a0 Good to see this was turned off by default too.<\/p>\n

In any case, once you make your shot, you see your golfer make his swing in glorious 8-bit animation.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

And that stupid slide-whistle sound effect is back.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Every shot gets you a chance to see an instant replay.\u00a0 It would have been nice if this text didn’t appear flashing all over the screen though.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Getting onto the green doesn’t zoom in your view or anything special like that.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

You do get a nice closeup of Tiger’s Nikes.\u00a0\u00a0 I assume they’d be Nikes.<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, thanks for the password… I guess.\u00a0 If I ever want to skip this first boss fight<\/del> hole I can just plug that into… somewhere.\u00a0 I guess.<\/p>\n

Aside from the large flashing text telling me about instant replays and the dumbass loopy ball-flight sound effects, this is a very good game.\u00a0 I might actually go out of my way to play this one again, and if I had the actual hardware, I’d definitely consider having this cartridge on standby if the need for portable video game golf arose.\u00a0 The layout control system is definitely unique, but I think the game developers really made the most of the hardware with this one.\u00a0 Highly recommended for the original hardware, and if you want to try it on an emulator, the excellent BGB emulator<\/a> will do you no wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Game Boy Color was released in 1998.\u00a0 Criminy, it sure took Nintendo a long time to release a hand-held console that did more than 4 colours in a palette of pea soup.\u00a0 The reason for this is that colour LCD screens ate batteries like some kind of… uh… like some kind of… battery eating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[510,474,38],"tags":[494,504,476,487,505],"class_list":["post-3173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-video-game-consoles","category-video-games","tag-game-boy","tag-game-boy-color","tag-golf","tag-nintendo","tag-tiger-woods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3173"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7517,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions\/7517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}