Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf
PC CD-ROM minimum system requirements: 486DX/33mhz; 8MB RAM; 15MB hard diskspace; Windows 3.1; Dual speed CAD ROM drive; SVGA. £29.99
WITH the summer well and truly gone, now is the ideal time to play golf indoors. And with the recently-released Links LS and USPGA Tour Golf on the market, you will not be stuck for choice.
Golf magazine said Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf was by far the most realistic of the dozen computer golf games they played. But having taken Links through its paces not so long ago, I reckon it would take something special to dislodge it from its lofty perch. Not even the mighty USPGA Tour Golf could do that.
This Greg Norman-endorsed product has two modes of gameplay, Sim and Arcade. Arcade is similar to 99 per cent of other golf games: Sim simply removes the swing bar so taking a shot is merely a matter of doubleclicking the mouse button with no skill involved.
Unfortunately, and yet more strangely, this game does not have a facility whereby one can take on a computer-controlled, opponent over Norman's Medalist course in Hobe Sound, Florida or the links at Dorset Cliffs.
This facility has been the backbone of golfing sims since time began and why the programmers decided to omit this feature is anyone's guess.
The publishers would have you believe they have taken this feature out of the game for a more pure end product that relates more realistically to the conditions one might encounter out on the course. What it does, in fact, is reduce gameplay and effectively turn it into a course-management type game.
However, it's not all gloom. Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf does have some useful and original ideas. Before you set out to play your round you are given a choice of which type of golf ball you would like to use - wound balata, wound surlyn or solid surlyn. You can also set pin placements and there is a facility for customising the weather conditions. This is somewhat limited. When the temperature was set at 10 Fahrenheit for instance, the program insisted it was far too cold and automatically reset the temperature at freezing point (32 Fahrenheit).
Apart from the fact that there is no computer opponent to take on, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly is missing. The scarcity of any "real" sound or commentary doesn't help matters. Take the Links or USPGA Tour option, they are infinitely more enjoyable.
Graphics. 78%, Sound: 57%, Gameplay: 65%