#053 - Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach accepts your challenge.

**Just your average ’80s white guy hittin’ the links!**

**He’s no Mario, but his paunch game is on point.**

PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous

PUBLISHER: Bandai

DEVELOPER: TOSE

GENRE: Sports

RELEASE DATE: February 1989

I’m not sure pro golfers would scratch their buttocks in public with their clubs, but I know I might be tempted to do something like that. My physical openness and my distaste for expensive mustard yellow polo shirts both dictate that I should never be a golfer, on the actual or virtual green. Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach appears to offer us never-shoulds a gentle approach to “the links,” but said approach is really shenanigans in disguise. The game begins with you selecting your handicap (purely for stat reasons, so lie all you want!), then hitting the one and only course available to you, Pebble Beach. The controls take some adjustment, granted, but the swing meter is one of the best I’ve ever seen featured in a golf game for the NES. I was swinging like the pro I knew I wasn’t within a couple shots. Once you get close to the hole, though, Challenge Pebble Beach expects you to fend for yourself. Up until this point, the game chooses the proper clubs for you, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll be stuck trying different clubs, seeing what works (and absolutely ruining your flawless handicap!). If you have the patience, it can still be enjoyable, thanks to the fantastic swing meter. Otherwise, Bandai Golf is a golf game for golfers, not shlubs like me who can’t be bothered to iron tan slacks.

C+