Hal’s Hole in One Golf
System: SNES
Release Date: September 15, 1991
Developer: HAL Laboratory
Publisher: HAL Laboratory
Genre: Sports
Take it to the links and win it all in Hal’s Hole in One Golf! There are 18 holes for you to learn and master after many, many attempts. Play by yourself or with friends and try to get the low score! How’s your backswing?
You can choose to play Stroke Play, where the goal is to score the lowest you can. You can play Match Play, where you take on another player and need to score lower on more holes than your opponent. There’s a tournament where up to four players can play against 60 computer opponents. You can play against Hal in a match play game. If you can win, you earn a password for better metal clubs.
I decided to take Hal on so I could get those clubs. Every hole begins with a Mode 7 flyby so you can get an idea of the layout. When it’s your shot, you can aim where you want to hit, but the target is only 50 yards away on the map, so good luck being accurate. I spent a lot of time in the sand because I wasn’t able to aim very well.
You’re given the distance your club will hit on average, which is nice. You then do a three click swing to determine your power and accuracy. I found it incredibly easy to miss the sweet spot for accuracy and made a bunch of bad shots because of it. When you make it to the green, you’re going to want to check the slopes and you can do that at any time. Judging the power you need to hit for while putting is quite difficult and I bet you’ll miss some sure things because of it.
In the end, Hal beat me because I needed a hole in one to move to the last hole. Despite rewinding and trying a dozen times, I couldn’t pull it off and Hal’s shot was the same each time, so I had no chance of victory. I thought that was lame. Otherwise, it’s a fine golf game.
Graphics: 2.0
Graphics are average. The cut away view is kind of cool, but really isn’t that great.
Sound: 1.5
Music and sounds aren’t anything to write home about.
Gameplay: 2.0
Even within the sweet spot, there is a lot of variation. This makes getting a good shot off very difficult.
Difficulty: 2.0
It’s very difficult to make the fairway in one. I spent a lot of time in the rough and the sand.;
Fun Factor: 1.5
I like playing this with Gert, but not so much on my own.
Overall Rating: 1.8
Hal’s Hole in One Golf earns a C. It’s a good launch era golf game, but it needs more holes and precision.