Golf: Tee It Up! Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 10 July, 2008

From the makers of Super Stardust HD. Woo.

Version tested: Xbox 360

While Everybody's Golf may be an obvious touchstone for this budget round of putt-putt fun, it's a credit to developer Housemarque (creator of PS3 sensation Super Stardust HD) that the comparison is favourable rather than dismissive.

Unlike the atrociously titled 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures, Live Arcade's only rival golf game, this effort avoids the easy lure of wacky crazy golf antics and instead concentrates on providing an accessible but satisfying round of golf, livened up with cheerful cartoon characters. You can dress them up in silly costumes, should you feel the wacky quota isn't up to your required standards, but its otherwise business as usual.

Control is intuitive enough for anyone familiar with any golf game from the past twenty years. Aim your shot with the stick (the game automatically selects the most appropriate club for the distance) and then use the traditional three-hit power bar to set power, accuracy and swing away. There's a very handy terrain gauge on top of the power bar, giving you an instant idea of the power needed under ideal conditions. Hitting the centre of the accuracy gauge takes a little practice, since the power bar returns fairly quickly and the margin for error is slim. Thankfully, the game doesn't overdo the effect of hooks or slices, and you can always correct horrible mistakes to some degree by using the focus feature.

This allows you to apply after-touch to the ball in flight, a little bit like the draw and fade in recent Tiger Woods games. You're limited as to how long you can apply this gentle nudge though, with each hole only offering four seconds of tinker time. The time is cumulative, however, so you can bank up to twenty seconds of time to guide shots in mid-air. The force you can apply isn't enormous - you won't be able to steer the ball into the hole against the laws of physics - but it is enough to scrape back onto the fairway in an emergency.

'Golf: Tee It Up!' Screenshot 1

The golf game with the totally tropical taste.

It's a useful feature, since the game really does like its wind and trees. Gusts are a major factor to consider, since it seems that a lot of holes suffer from gale-force wind at all times, while foliage often acts as a brick wall, stopping balls mid-flight with the slightest contact. Both can prove annoying in the long term, especially when the design of some holes seems to deliberately use these factors to inflate the challenge rather than using clever fairway design.

There are only two courses included in the initial download - Caribbean islands and Scottish parkland - but that seems more to do with the file-size limit than any Scrooge-like tendencies. Even so, I'd have preferred a choice of three, simply because there's not a huge amount of difference in terms of challenge between the two provided.

Golf: Tee It Up! may not have a better name than 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures, but it's a much better game. It plays a good game of golf, for one thing, and does so with the mixture of depth and accessibility that we hope for in all Live Arcade titles. It may not be up there with Everybody's Golf, but for the price it's tantalisingly close.

7 / 10

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About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (37) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • quantumsheep #1 4 years ago

    How much is it?

  • Poorandugly #2 4 years ago

    800, no?

  • Apostle #3 4 years ago

    Two courses?! That's it??

    Edit: Shows how much I know about golf ;)

    *gets coat*
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/08 @ 11:42

  • dr_shambles #4 4 years ago

    Played it last night. Won't set the world alight but it's fun.

  • muscleblade #5 4 years ago

    This game is fantastic imo. 800 points is a steal. 9/10 from me. Theres only two courses with 18 (of course) holes. But you need some practise on the courses if you want to win and theres live play wich is very good fun. Im guessing downloadable courses in the future.

  • Razz #6 4 years ago

    A few people in my friends list was playing this last night. Looks good.

  • Scrumhalf #7 4 years ago

    Played the demo this morning - really quite liked it.

  • Monkey_Puncher #8 4 years ago

    I'll be picking this up when I get some cream for my red ring.

  • TOOTR #9 4 years ago

    LOL @ monkeypuncher

  • Carlo #10 4 years ago

    Looks good. Not a system seller though so I'm going to pass :)

  • Blakester #11 4 years ago

    TBH, I wouldn't even mention this in the same breath as Everybody Golf World Tour. Not even for 800 points.
    Edited by 1 at 10/07/08 @ 11:57

  • cyacomini #12 4 years ago

    Has anyone tried Ticket To Ride yet?

    I started playing last week and havent been able to stop since - well worth the download!

  • RedSparrows #13 4 years ago

    Hmm sounds quite good - ideal little XBLA game.

  • baardhimself #14 4 years ago

    7/10 is too high for this awful game imo. Should be taken out back and put down by Everybodys Golf. Even flash based 2D mini golf games online make this XBLAbortion look poor.

  • muscleblade #15 4 years ago

    @baardhimself

    Bold words from a person that has actually completed CSI. LOL.

  • Godz_Mercenary #16 4 years ago

    >Should be taken out back and put down by Everybodys Golf.



    Well done for comparing an Xbox Live Arcade title to a full priced retail title. You fail.

  • DrDamn #17 4 years ago

    @Godz_Mercenary
    The main limiting factor which makes it an XBLA title is more the number of courses rather than game features. So a comparisson to a full price title is fine. The review itself even does it. The core mechanics of the game itself shouldn't be limited by the fact it's an XBLA title.

    You could argue that as EG isn't available on the 360 the comparisson is not helpful, but EG is the standard bearer for this type of golf game and as such its a useful benchmark.

  • Greychapter #18 4 years ago

    Just played a live match and this was really good fun. Looking forward to playing a few more over the weekend!

  • smoothpete #19 4 years ago

    I quite like it, simple and fun.

    So will there be more courses or what? I was kind of surprised that there were just two, I could have sworn I read somewhere that there were 4...

  • Lebowski #20 4 years ago

    Can you take a six iron to a piece of dog s**t in this game and hit your mate with it? Then run off from Parkie (the bloke who runs the park, not the gravel-faced presenter from Barnsley). Though speaking of presenters, here's my impression of Peter Aliss:

    "Steady ... steady ... ooh .... steady .... Good shot, sir. Now then, we've had a lovely letter and cake sent in, etc etc."

  • malteaserhead #21 4 years ago

    I might be missing the bit in the review (takes closer look) but is this multiplayer (online)?

  • Greychapter #22 4 years ago

    @ Malteaserhead.

    Yes, the game has online multiplayer and does local multiplayer as well.

  • AOFanboi #23 4 years ago

    Solitaire is the new golf.

  • Darren #24 4 years ago

    Only ONE screenshot and it doesn't even show a golfer?!?!?

  • Harmonica #25 4 years ago

    Ignore baardhimself natch.

    This is a really solid golf game. I play golf games a lot, from the more simsi ones, to Wii Golf, minigolf, even bizarro games like 'Golf?' (is that still going??) - it holds up well in terms of other arcade games recently.

    The courses are nice and pretty much *realisticly* designed, well paced over 18 holes (takes about 20-30 minutes), and the play is I'd say semi-realistic (fitted to the game) - draw and fade works nicely, ball pitch versus terrain is as accurate as you'd expect, and the aftertouch (as Dan's review says) only affects in a limited 'ah crap my ball is going into the fluff' kinda way.

    Nice variation of greens (which are variously challenging, though not stupidly so), some island hopping, interesting placement of trees that rewards risk taking.

    Generally it's on the easy side - in Cup mode or otherwise. You can whack the ball really hard, and as long as you've judged the landing zone right along with wind (really nicely done), you'll land where you want AND beat the AI (so don't buy it for tough AI).

    Haven't played online yet.. anyone?

    Lebowski:Though speaking of presenters, here's my impression of Peter Aliss:

    "Steady ... steady ... ooh .... steady .... Good shot, sir. Now then, we've had a lovely letter and cake sent in, etc etc."

    Hahaha. Spot on.

    Here's mine: "Ahhh yesss. That Kenneth.. he's a bit of a wizard with those weee whiiite balls. Yes sir. ... Aren't you Ken?"
    Edited by 2 at 10/07/08 @ 20:32

  • yagisencho #26 4 years ago

    I want Super Startdust HD on XBL please. That is all.

  • malteaserhead #27 4 years ago

    cheers Greychapter :)

  • EmiliasHorse #28 4 years ago

    Another good game, really enjoyed the demo. Think I will splash the cash.

    More fun than the menutastic TW 2008.

  • stallion185 #29 4 years ago

    So last-gen :p

  • 3william56 #30 4 years ago

    @yagisencho: and so you should, sir. So you should.

    Don't Housemarque like the 360 or something? This is pretty weak sauce for the Xbox crowd compared with the fire breathing ultra tabasco powered brain frying eyeball watering hot chilli awesomeness of Stardust (which just keeps getting better with each update).

  • systems #31 4 years ago

    I absolutely hated the demo of this. The control feels wrong and the sound is awful. Everybody's Golf World Tour has spoiled me as it blows this out of the water.

  • coach_mcguirk #32 4 years ago

    I enjoyed the demo. Shame it only has two courses, but still decent for the price. Was contemplating buying We Love Golf for Wii and this has thrown a spanner in the works.

    And someone mentioned "Golf?". Holy crap I'd forgotten about that bizarre game.

  • Katsumoto #33 4 years ago

    This looks great, shame you need a 360 and an HDTV to run it!!!!111111oneone

  • DrDamn #34 4 years ago

    They had Peter Aliss do the commentary for the Actua Golf series from Gremlin years ago. It was stonking e.g.

    "Now what was the thinking behind that shot? Or was there any thinking at all?" :D

  • Harmonica #35 4 years ago

    Is Aliss on the commentary for the Scottish Open? I've been out all day, missed it.

    Can't wait for The Open next week.

  • muscleblade #36 4 years ago

    I have maxed out 200/200 on this very fun but very easy game. Waiting for some dlc now. Loved the few hours it took me to fully complete it.

  • Amicus #37 4 years ago

    I'm not ashamed to say I really liked this. The only thing stopping this being an 8 or even a 9 is a) the lack of a meaningful offline comp game and, b) another course or to. But it's still very moreish, like Viva Pinata crossed with PGA.