When programmers sit down to develop a video game, there are a few factors they have to consider besides the complexity of the graphics. They have to look at their target market. Will the game be purchased after we release it? Who are our target audience? Is the specific sport popular in our target market? With these questions, they are able to establish whether the game will do well before they can embark in creating the game and making the controls easy for everyone likely to take part in the game.
The popularity of a sport is directly proportional to the chances of a video game in the same sport hitting. This is evident from the current blockbuster games like Madden, NBA2K and FIFA. The success of NBA2K is greatly attributed to the love for the game in the USA. There are other sports like golf which are internationally acclaimed but are not as popular. These games are most of the time overlooked by most game developers because they risk losses. Some daring developers took it upon themselves to develop golf video games and the gamble paid dividends because the games ended up blowing in sales and popularity. Today we want to take a look at some of the most popular golf games developed over the years and see why they ended up being hits. Here are the 5 best golf video games for golfers;
5. John Daly’s ProStroke Golf
This game stood out for me because it had very easy controls and the graphics were far from poor. The motion control in this game was astonishingly good considering that it was among the first golf video games. There are standard size golf courses in the game and the views are amazing when playing the game. It’s particularly not the best video game out there but I am sure golf enthusiasts will find it thoroughly enjoyable.
4. Waialae Country Club Golf
Back in 2000, my wife bought me this game as a present and almost 17 years later, I can assure you that I have never managed to wrap my head around this game. This was, and still is, a very tough golf game. Tough because it needs a lot of time and patience before you can finally boss it in the game. To date, I have never managed to boss it in this game. The three click swings on the controls were very tough to control and you could easily screw the game right in the first hole. You have to focus on every single shot if you are to stand a chance in the game. You have to time the swings perfectly lest the ball will stray into the woods and you will have to restart all over again. The gameplay and the concept was plain and flat but the challenge that the game poised is what made it great. If you want some nostalgia, you might want to look for this game and take a few swings.
3. Cyber Tiger
It would be an injustice if we didn’t include this as one of the best video games ever made on golf. This is among the first games to ever use real life PGA tour superstars and the main man as expected was Tiger Woods. Very people know this but this was actually a game developed by EA. It wasn’t a sequel but was a single game that introduced sports arcade style into golf. It had revolutionary features like a practice range, power boost shots, customizing your players, celebratory animations and digital controls. The graphics quality was a notch higher than the one previously seen in prior game. It was a great game to say the least.
2. Hot Shots Golf Fore
When I look back at all the golf games that I ever played, I think this is the game that fully gives the player all the control. It is one of the best arcade golfing game that offered complete backspin control that would literally turn the ball into a pin seeker. There were far more courses in the game and even more characters to choose from. The graphics were improving with every instalment of a new golf game and the graphics in this game were among the best as far as golf video games go.
5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour
EA Sport’s Tiger Woods franchise created the modern-day golf simulation and it is considered by many as the best ever golfing video game ever created. The series of games was released periodically and each new game had its own improvements in terms of graphics, game play, the number of courses, the number of characters in the game and so forth. The later iterations of this series were more challenging and more enjoyable. Am talking about games that hit more than a million purchases within the first few weeks of release.
To understand why we ranked these games in the order above, you might have to pick up that Nintendo stacked in the store or the ps2 under your bed and give this games a try. They are true classics.