1-4 Players, Horizontal game
Telegames, for the Atari Lynx
$39.95
Stereo? No
OVERVIEW:
You have to give Telegames one credit: when they promise to deliver a
game, they deliver it. Though it's more than two years overdue, their
long-promised Krazy Ace Miniature Golf has finally arrived for the
Atari Lynx. As the title describes, this is miniature golf on the go,
complete with wacky obstacles and gaudy-colored decorations. From a
three-quarters overhead view, up to four players can compete with a single
Lynx as they try to shoot under par.
GAMEPLAY:
There's a reason why the above overview is very brief -- Krazy Ace
Miniature Golf is a very brief game. The only significant game options
are the number of players and the colors of their golf balls. The game itself
consists of a single nine-hole course, with no adjustments for difficulty; to
add insult to injury, two of the holes are repeated, which reduces the play
value further. As you may imagine, this makes for a very short game of golf.
If it wasn't for that fundamental problem, this would be a respectably good game. The controls are simple enough; putting is done by setting the direction and strength of the putt with the joypad, then pressing the A button. Settings can be changed at any time, and the screen can be scrolled to get a better view of the course.
Since this is miniature golf, the holes offer a number of surrealistic obstacles and layouts. Every one has a timed obstacle to get past, and many add water hazards and other obstructions to complicate matters. This makes the game a little harder to master, but only a little. Ball physics are realistic for the most part, though odd bounces do show up from time to time.
GRAPHICS/SOUND:
The sights and sounds on Krazy Ace Miniature Golf do the job, but
that's all that can be said for them. Game graphics are clear and
recognizable, but are otherwise ordinary and fail to be exciting or
interesting. Scrolling is slow but smooth, while animation of moving
obstacles is at a minimum. The only music in the game is a calliope tune for
the title page; actual game sounds consist of very simple tones for ball
movement, course obstacles, and wall bounces.
SUMMARY:
Krazy Ace Miniature Golf is a good miniature golf game, but not a great
one; the card's major flaw is the lack of variety in the course and the game
itself. With merely passable graphics and sound, this is a decent game to
divert yourself for a little while, but there's almost nothing here to keep
you on this krazy kourse for the long term.
6 | |
6.5 | |
5 | |
6 |
Rating values 10 - 8 Great! This game can't get much better. 7 - 5 Good. Average game, could be improved. 4 - 2 Poor. For devotees only. 1 Ick. Shoot it.