Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf
System: NES
Release Date: September 1988
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Genre: Sports
SNK hasn’t put out anything that has impressed me, yet, and now it’s time for Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf. This was my golf game as a kid and I have rose colored memories of it. Of course, those memories are now destroyed with the reality of what I just played. I had been looking forward to getting here since Nintendo’s Golf, because I was expecting Trevino to blow it out of the water. It doesn’t.
The gameplay is basically the same. You are told your distance to the hole, the wind speed, and have an idea of the hole layout. Everything else is up to guesswork. How far does the 4 iron hit compared to the 6 iron? No clue. The manual sure doesn’t help out. Guess you’re going to have to learn through repetition. That’s probably what I did as a kid, I just played the game hundreds of times and learned the right club to use, the right amount to hit the ball, and the right times to alter my gameplan. I didn’t have that luxury here.
You can choose one of four players. The ultra-control, but soft hitting Amy. The inaccurate, but beastly Super Jumbo. The pin-point accurate Miracle Chosuke. Or the all-around star, Lee “Super Mex” Trevino. As noted, they all have different strengths and weaknesses. I chipped in several shots with Chosuke, but struggled wildly otherwise. Jumbo might be able to hit the ball a ton, but without knowing where you’re aiming, it’s a real crapshoot.
There are two courses to choose from, the USA and Japan. You can play the normal stroke play and go through 18 holes to try to get the lowest score. Or you can try Nassau play, where points are awarded based on stroke difference and other side bets. It’s basically a more convoluted match play. Before you start each hole, you are given tips on how best to shoot. Good luck on carrying out those instructions.
Graphics: 2.0
Fighting Golf has nice graphics and animations.
Sound: 2.5
The music is really catchy and there are a lot of different jingles before holes.
Gameplay: 1.5
There’s too much up to chance and luck. I need better estimates about how far I should be hitting and where I’m aiming.
Difficulty: 1.0
Lack of information does not make for good or fair difficulty levels.
Fun Factor: 1.0
I’m sad I didn’t have more fun, but I was frustrated by constantly pitching over the green or drastically undershooting it because of lack of info.
Overall Grade: 1.6
Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf earns a C-. Lee Trevino is one of the greatest golfers of all time, but his game sadly is not. There’s too much missing for me to be able to recommend this one.