There is something truly special about golf video games, as the sport itself is a perfect balance of tranquil relaxation and impossible difficulty. The dichotomy of how beautiful, yet dangerous, each course is is one of the things that makes golf so unique. The same is true in the realm of video games. Whether it be arcade-style golf games with over the top courses and goofy characters, or simulators that focus on the realism of the sport, golf video games are wonderfully relaxing, beautiful, and challenging.
With PGA TOUR 2K21 being released very soon, it's exciting to see golf games start to make a comeback. PGA 2K21 is an evolution of The Golf Club series, and although published by a totally different company, it fills the gap left by the absence of Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
The return of a PGA series is something fans can look forward to, but there are a bunch of other golf games and golf franchises that have been on hiatus for far too long. Just like skateboarding games have made a return with the like of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 coming back and a new Skate game being announced, now is the time to bring back golf video games.
Mario Golf
Many consider Mario Golf to be one of the best golfing game series of all time. Perhaps the best Mario spin-off series that should make a return, the franchise has been a treasure beginning with Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 in 1999. Unfortunately, the series has not had an entry since Mario Golf: World Tour on the 3DS in 2014.
Fans had to wait ten years for Mario Golf to return, but when it did on the 3DS, it wasn't quite what some had hoped for. As a solid arcade experience with the Mushroom Kingdom as the backdrop, the 3DS game was certainly fun, but it wasn't as good as the Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on the Gamecube, considered maybe the best Nintendo sports game ever. Toadstool Tour had a wonderful mix of an arcade feel with simulation and precision elements sprinkled in with perfection. And with a wonderful cast of characters to chose from, each Nintendo mascot had thier own strengths and weaknesses.
Mario Golf returning as a Switch game would be perfect. The hybrid console could use a Toadstool Tour style golf game, especially with the drought of first-party Nintendo games lately. Playing on a big screen and launching balls around Peaches Castle or grabbing it for the go and striking shots through the treetops of the Donkey Kong country would be splendid.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
There is no argument as to who the best golfer of the past 25 years has been, Tiger Woods, and there is also little doubt as to which golfing simulator had been the best during that same stretch of time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Perhaps thanks to off-the-field concerns and the dip in his play, Tiger Woods hasn't had his own video game since the well-received Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. But it could be time to make a return.
There aren't many simulators in the 2000s that even dared to compete with the EA Tiger Woods games, and for good reason. The games sold well and did pretty much anything that golfing fans wanted out of a video game. When Rory Mcilroy took over as the cover athlete in 2015, the series pretty much immediately vanished for good.
Competition breeds excellence, and now that 2K has its own golfing franchise, it could be time for EA to bring back Tiger Woods. The two simulators could go head-to-head and continue to innovate. Although he isn't the dominating force he was in the late 90s and early 2000s, Woods has still managed to win, including The Masters in 2019. Having him as the cover athlete would be the equivalent of Michael Jordan being on the cover of NBA2K. Even once Tiger hangs up the clubs, his legacy lives on, and his games could too.
Powerstar Golf
Powerstar Golf was a gem of a game for early Xbox One users while the software was limited during the launch window. As a game that came out on the same day the Xbox One was launched, Powerstar Golf took advantage of some of the unique aspects of the console. Players could record amazing shots and share them with friends with the "Xbox Record that" feature. And there was live feedback about top-notch shots in comparison to the rest of the world, so if someone was the first ever to hit a hole in one on a specific hole, the game would announce that it is a "World Record," which is pretty cool for bragging rights.
Powerstar Golf was not perfect by any means, but it was a wonderful combination of simulation and arcade fun. Crazy courses with high winds were a thing, as was dangerous shortcut shots, but simulator type elements allowed for wonderful precision and mathematical approaches to each shot. The game also had a cool upgrade system with its clubs, and each character had their own special ability like slowing down the power meter for perfect aim or launching the ball with rocket-powered strikes. The Xbox One exclusive was a blast, and maybe it would even be a nice fit as an Xbox Series X game this time around.
Everybody's Golf/Hot Shots Golf
The game on the list with the most recently launched title, Everybody's Golf released as a PS4 exclusive in 2017. Although the game wasn't one of the highest selling games on the PS4, there is potential for it to be successful.
Perhaps part of the reason for the lack of sales is in the name. Hot Shots Golf was a huge success for PlayStation consoles in North America for years, but when the series came back in 2017 the name was switched over to Everybody's Golf, the title of the Hot Shots series in locations outside of North America. Hot Shots Golf, or Everybody's Golf, deserves to continue on for the PS5. It would be super cool to see Mario Golf, Powerstar Golf, and Everybody's Golf all compete as console exclusive golf games for their respective platforms.
Golf is back with PGA Tour 2K21. Whether it's simulators like Tiger Woods going head to head with PGA 2K, or more arcade-style exclusives competing for which can be the zaniest and most fun, a renaissance of golf video games would be wonderful, and there are tons of great franchises to choose from.