Tee Off Game Sample - Dreamcast
0Tee Off is an okay golf game that should've been good or even great, released in 1999 by Acclaim and developed by Bottoms Up Interactive. Comparable to quirky golf titles like "Hot Shots Golf" and later titles like "Pangya", Tee Off features 18 great holes in Japan, Australia, the U.S., Africa, and Scotland, and the player can choose from over a dozen International golfers (with four by default) with different statistics. Known as "Golf Shiyouyo" in Japan, Tee Off is the only golf game released outside Japan for Dreamcast and one of only two golf choices for the system, the other being the Japan-only "Netto Golf". Tee Off had one sequel and a few adaptations in Japan for Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance.
There isn't much to say about the general play mechanics of Tee Off, as it follows tried-and-true golf sim mechanics with multi-tap gauges, club and stroke variations, wind direction, and timing, but its execution isn't as tight as some of the top-tier golf titles out there and there are a few curious design decisions that bring the experience down a tad. For starters, the swing gauge does not respond right away to button inputs; there is a small delay of about half a second or so which can throw off the timing of swings a little. While one can get used to this, the penalty for missing swings by even so much as a millimeter is unrealistic, causing the player to flat-out whiff or send the ball flying only a few measly yards.
Getting the timing down requires little practice, but once you do, you have another factor to worry about: Luck. What? Isn't luck a factor in a lot of games? Well, yes, but this game actually gives players different luck stats, which seem to rear its ugly head when you're on the green near the hole. Never before have I seen a player miss the hole so many times from only ten yards away as the ball curves slightly left, slightly right, or flat-out losses momentum (even when the shot is sent perfectly) right in front of the hole, even on flat terrain and with minimal wind resistance. When the CPU can't even sink it properly at close range when this isn't even an issue in most other golf games, you have to ponder the relevance of the mysterious "luck" stat. It too is a minor irritant, but it's annoying nonetheless. Even if luck is a factor, the game should NEVER make the player aware of this, as it leads one to believe that foul play is in order.
The game does feature another, more unique diversion from the main game though: Japanese croquet, or in this case, "G-Ball". It's like croquet, but with a bunch of rules you can toggle on or off and is actually pretty fun, provided you understand the rules in their entirety and don't undulate the field too much. The object is to get the ball through four gates and bump players to earn points. Players are split into two teams and the team that gets through the gates first or who has the most points before time runs out wins. Curiously, the player is given a line to guide their shots in this mode which is absent from the main game. Sadly, there is only one G-Ball field, but it can undulate in a variety of ways, allowing for a variety of games with a variety of outcomes.
Visually and aurally, Tee Off is quite nice for its time, though the localization of the CVs is hilariously bad. It sounds like all the men and women are voiced by two people, and Acclaim didn't even bother to take each characters' nationality into account or at least fake accents like in Battle Arena Toshinden Remix. To put it simply, the guy from Japan (Akio) should not sound more fluent in English than Nick from the good ol' U.S.A. Clearing the game allows you to unlock more characters, balls, and clubs to choose from, and it has some replayability and lasting appeal, but a few minor issues kept it from reaching the level of greatness it deserves. Still, Tee Off is a game that I can recommend. This is a video showing the movie, story, basic gameplay, and G-Ball. Enjoy.