Okay, I really hope at least one of these Champion (Insert Sport) games is decent. I’ll tell you right now that Champion Golf isn’t, but I have four left to go so there’s still hope. It seems the developers tried to find the laziest and simplest way to make a video game based on the sport of choice, with minimal sound effects and replay-ability.

Champion Golf has sure outdone itself in the crappy visuals department and is actually much worse than I ever anticipated. I was expecting the behind your golfer view and a little map in the corner of the course. Instead you get a giant map with your golfer represented by a white dot. At the top you can see what club you have selected and there’s a hit meter, represented by a guy swinging a club, which never works right. It’s really hard to get a sense of distance or even accomplishment from hitting this little white dot around on the map. Imagine playing a more modern golf game and covering up the whole screen except for the little overhead map and playing from that. Not very fun is it? Well… golf games rarely are fun in my opinion, but this one is especially not fun.



How to hit the ball around the map:

1. Notice that you have a little stick figure caddy that you can move around the edge of the map with the d-pad.
2. Move the caddy between your golfer and where you want to hit the ball.
3. Select a club.
4. Time your button press with the little golfer up in the left corner who is constantly swinging a club. The more he’s wound up when you hit the button the harder the hit.
5. Realize you A) chose the wrong club B) hit the ball too hard C) hit the ball to soft D) aren’t enjoying yourself E) all of the above
6. Start at step 1 again until you A) make it in the hole B) shut off the system C) realize the Apocalypse is occurring D) all of the above

There are so many bad design choices with this game I don’t know where to start. Why aim your ball with a little caddy guy rather than just aim some little simple arrow or something. Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t have the time of my life running around the edge of map with a little guy holding a flag. Also, the hit meter never works. I always either hit it too hard or barely at all. I couldn’t get a medium hit and it’s so confusing of when to hit. They could have just had a simple little meter that was understandable. Then, at least I would know what I was aiming for and I could blame the game programming for the ball not going where I wanted it to. Also, I know nothing about the different clubs or how far I am exactly from the hole. I was pretty much guessing the entire game of what club to use and how hard to hit. A lot of older golf games have this problem, but it still takes away from the fun of the game for me.

There’s also no music and very rarely sound effects, which, seems to be a Champion staple.

Remember how there were slight redeeming features in Champion Baseball and Champion Boxing that allowed me to give them a 1/10? Well, I can’t think of one for Champion Golf.

0/10