These next 2 Golf games are for the neogeo.
Topgolf is a way cool looking golf game.
There are 2 courses to choose from,
You can play stroke play, match play, or nassau.
The graphics are cool, the music changes throughout the game.
There is advice given in audio that is easy to understand.
All music and audio is crisp and clear, (even through the tiny C3100's speaker)
I haven't tried it with headphones, but I'm certain the audio is much better with headphones.
This game is a bit difficult to play, but once you get used to the controls, should be fairly easy to play.
Except for one thing, putting is very difficult because it is almost impossible to make a putt that is under 6 ft.
The button response isn't accurate enough to register 2 very quick clicks.
The golfball usually shoots over the top of the cup because you cannot register a very small increment on the shot meter.
This kind of control seems to require a joystick, or some other control, besides the 'Z' key on the Zaurus keyboard.
<<<See note about making short putts in my post #239, at bottom of post>>>
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"Instead of clicking the button twice, to try and make the meter stop on a short stroke,
just click it once, and let it go.
The meter will rise and fall continuously, and you can "make" your second click when it reaches your desired position.
Cool, isn't it.
Now I can make those short putts without shooting my ball past the cup."
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This is a very fun game to play, and there are comments on all "nice shots" and good plays.
There is applause for making birdies, and there are also side contests during the game, like longest drive, etc.
I hope to find a way to get screenshots, because the next golf game I'm going to comment on really shines in the graphics department!
I actually got "Neo Turf Masters / Big Tournament Golf" running on my Z
I'm not sure if this version is different, but the site that has this game, has 2 different sections to download neogeo roms.
In the neogeo section is a warning about needing the latest emulator, and if you don't have the latest emulator, they suggest you download neogeo games listed under the "Mame" section.
This game is listed in both sections, and I got the one from the "Mame" section.
To get this game to start, I had to try to launch it 3 times.
It seems like the emulator "gives up" before this game is completely loaded the first 2 times I tried it.
This game is 9.2MB in a zip file and is 18.2MB when unzipped.
So, I'm thinking the size of this game, is what is making the emulator give up before it is loaded.
Well, on to the game. If you think Topgolf's graphics are good, and really cool, you haven't seen anything yet, until you see "Neo Turf Masters / Big Tournament Golf" on your Zaurus screen!
This game is chuck full of features! (I really wish I had a screenshot to post).
The graphics seem to push the limit of the Zaurus, and/or the emulator.
Sometimes the music lags just a little when some hi-res graphic is loading.
This isn't much of a problem, since it is hardly noticable.
This game renders new complex/hi-res graphics very quickly.
It is no comparison to some of the other golf games that I have posted about earlier that are slow to load new scenes.
There are beautiful background scenes, mountains, water, etc.
This game comes the closest to my PC version of Tiger Woods PGA golf as any game on the Zaurus.
(And Tiger Woods comes on 3 CDs)
It also shows a cool graphic of your lie, just after making a shot.
This game has 4 courses
1. Germany
2. Japan
3. USA
4. Australia
The swing/putt meter is a bit different than other golf games I have mentioned and is easier to use on the Zaurus.
There are 2 meters which are constantly moving.
One meter goes up and down, and is for selecting the power of your shot.
The other meter, also goes up and down and has 3 selections to choose.
high, nice, and low
You control these meters seperately, so it's easy to make a good shot on the Zaurus keyboard.
To hook or slice the ball, use the 'A' or 'B' button on the neogeo controller, which corresponds to the 'Z' or 'X' button on the Zaurus.
Putts are also easy to make compared to other golf games on the emulator.
There is a constantly moving putt meter with a sweet spot, which corresponds to the distance needed to make it to the hole.
This makes it easy to play on the Zaurus.
I just made 2 birdies in a row!
When you play poorly, just after you hole out of the "bad" hole, there's a graphic of you "bending" your putter's shaft in disgust, while the crowd watches you.
There are a lot of cool things in this game that need to be seen or checked out.
I just got a penality for "Delay of Play", (as in real golf), because I was busy typing this and not playing my game.
I just needed to insert more coins, and start game as in the real arcade game.
The female announcer just said, "Player 1 had a bad day" he he
You really have to try this game.
It also has an autosave, and when you re-start the game, it asks if you want to resume, or start a new game.
One last thing before wrapping up this review.
Once you have launched this game successfully, it seems on subsequent launches only take 1 or 2 attempts.
I just launched it on my first attempt, (after starting, and closing it several times, I think 3 or 4 times).
That's it,
Jon
