Sid Meier's SimGolf 1.0

Build your own golf resort - then compete in championships!

Have you ever fancied running your own golf resort, complete with water-park, hotel and 18-hole tournament course? How about being a pro-golfer with all the skills needed to win a major title? Actually, it doesn't matter what your answer to those questions is: this is a great game and should appeal to anyone who likes fun, amusing and addictive games.

SimGolf consists of two major parts: the construction and management of your golf course and resort; and actually playing rounds, matches and tournaments. As soon as you complete work on your first hole, golfers will start to appear and will begin playing. Making a hole too easy will put golfers off - but so will making it too difficult. This is important because the happiness level for your entire resort will affect various aspects of the storyline - such as wealthy heiresses donating landmarks which in turn raise happiness levels! And the happier golfers are, the more money they're willing to spend.

As your course develops, you need to keep a close eye on what characters are saying as they interact with it and each other. People getting tired need a bench to sit on whereas thirsty golfers are happy to pay for drinks from the snack bar. Marshals need to be hired to keep golfers moving and groundskeepers are a must if you want to avoid weeds overrunning your course. All of these aspects require your management, which makes the game very immersive indeed.

When your course is ready, you can start to play matches and host tournaments. The gameplay for the actual golf part of the game is fairly simplistic but very good fun. At first, the five or six shots you can choose from seem rather limited but the drive length, terrain and topography work together to guarantee that no hole should be the same. If you pull off a particularly good shot, your skill points increase: poor play will result in just the opposite.

SimGolf's graphics aren't much to write home about but then, this game is five years old. Unfortunately, the game locks you into a rather poor 800x600 resolution. Other elements of the gameplay (like downloadable courses, pro players and more) mean that despite its age, SimGolf still has great longevity. In all, this is a classic game packed with fun and humour. Even if you're not a big fan of sims or golf you should give it a go.