www.jap-sai.com - Fighting Golf

Golf and golf games were of noticeably increasing importance throughout the tail-end of Japan's bubble economy of the late 80s. Triggered by the visits of the 'Big Three' in the seventies, windfalls of dodgy money and bad loans were pouring haphazardly into anything even vaguely related to the sport - so if anything game companies would have been foolish to ignore the trend. Remember: happiness is only measured by how much you spend.
Fighting Golf was SNK's first attempt at the genre, and it is interesting to see how little the layout has evolved since Nintendo's Famicom Golf (1984). Coming to think of it, there have been literally hundreds of golf games of this ilk released over the years. Yet this one ranks as one of the bigger names out there, thanks in great part to its endorsement by golfing great Lee Trevino and a top-selling home conversion on the Nintendo Famicom.
The setup is simple: press start, and select the character that you think is best suited to your golfing style. And before you ask, yes - everybody has a golfing style. Even God has a golfing style.
- SUPER MEX (Lee Trevino) is the smooth all-rounder
- MIRACLE CHOSUKE putting expert and fashion victim
- PRETTY AMY is a weak but steady player
- BIG JUMBO is the driving expert and long hitter
Lee Trevino, oddly enough, is best remembered as the player who was struck by lightning during the 1975 Western Open. Apparently he has suffered from back pains ever since, but that still didn't hamper his swing or stop him from racking up over $13M in golf-related shenanigans. Presumably a reasonable slice of it came from his endorsing of this, starring as himself in Happy Gilmore and appearing on The Simpsons. Sellout.
Anyways - if you enjoy the odd retro-cruise around the links, this one is OK.