Updates & Acquisitions

August 26, 2024

On this episode:

Bucking the usual trend for these updates, I'm going to call out the most interesting items in the lot first, as they come by way of a kind donation by Golfshrine supporter Adam Hartling. Firstly, we have a (once sealed!) copy of The Golf Pro, featuring Gary Player, which I had previously misidentified as being a game by Looking Glass Studios. (That game wound up being British Open Championship Golf, which was - partially - added to the Shrine in the previous update but remains on the wishlist as I pursue the complete version.) The Golf Pro, then, comes to us by way of Empire Interactive, on four CD-ROMs. I'd say this is unheard-of for a game of its era, but Links LS '97 came on three of them, and only one of those was filled to the brim with video clips. Not that this game doesn't come with video clips, too.

On first boot-up, Gary Player is present to teach you how to use TGP's "Mouse Drive" system, where you swing the mouse from right to left, to fade or draw your shot based on the mouse's rotation. The back of the box even boasts, "Now you can do everything with your mouse than you can do with a golf club!" The real reason why The Golf Pro takes up 4 CDs (two per course!) is that it does not have a 3D renderer - the courses are 100% pre-rendered, much like World Cup Golf: Hyatt Dorado Beach, just in higher resolution for PC monitors. This can sometimes put your golfer at strange positions on screen, but the top-view map makes it easier to aim than in Hyatt.

The other item donated by Adam Hartling is a jewelcased copy of Slice 'N Hook: Haunted Miniature Golf, from Communication Wave and published by Maverick Software. This game led me down something of a rabbit hole by way of the Video Game History Foundation's patron discord, specifically by way of the VGHF's official librarian (and webmaster of The Obscuritory over on my links bar), Phil Salvador, who got my attention with this magazine clipping of short-lived computer magazine, Digital Diner (volume 1, issue 1, p.98):

(Click to view the full page. Thanks immensely to Phil Salvador and the VGHF for this scan.)

This was a game which I was aware of already, thanks to a long-time friend from elsewhere, but not by this title. Upon searching for it to confirm my suspicions, I found that Slice 'N Hook did not have a MobyGames entry, but "Caddy Hack" did (at the time, anyway - this has since been rectified). Was this a regional change? Why didn't Caddy Hack have screenshots or scans? Was it a coincidence? Phil and I scoured whatever information we could - he ran down the MobyGames info, while I hopped over to GameFAQs and eBay - and found that they were one and the same. Caddy Hack was a development title for the game, and it was to be published by Virgin Interactive at the end of 1997. However, some factors - perhaps the imminent collapse of Virgin Interactive? - resulted in it not being released under this title or publisher. The game would come out in 1998 instead, under a new title, and a new publisher. But that's not the only mark Caddy Hack left - a look over at Internet Archive showed me that Virgin had even released a beta demo under the old title, which was published on at least one magazine cover CD-ROM - I ended up locating it on Disc 2.9 (Oct 1996) of PC Gamer (US version). Somebody else also uploaded that demo version by itself in case you don't feel like downloading an entire demo CD.

The first thing you see, once you've clicked past the haunted, ball-spewing baby doll on the title screen, is this sassy skeleton concierge in a run-down clubhouse. He does not think very much of you. The game proper takes you through everything from graveyards and mansions to this tornado-ravaged trailer park. All of the scenes in the game were made from real physical models, with limited computer effects for animations. The result still looks quite nice, albeit somewhat crunchy due to being restricted to 640x480 in 256 colors.

Rather unfortunately, Slice 'N Hook's reliance on fixed camera angles and somewhat awkward aim and swing indicators make for a frustrating miniature golf experience. (The game also managed to crash before I could figure out where the hole was.) But I highly admire the artisanship of this game, and it deserves to be in Golfshrine just as much as that Beavis and Butt-Head one does. Thanks once again go to kind donor Adam Hartling and excellent researcher Phil Salvador for facilitating its presence here.

Now it's time for me to go on about the other, very slightly less interesting things on deck for this update. World Tours II Golf - a fine production of VALUSoft - is actually another game from the Friendly Software Corporation, producers of previous acquisitions Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf and Loyal H. "Bud" Chapman's Infamous 18. I'm starting to get a picture of the evolution of Friendly's golfing engine, and this one even contains the same "advice" guy as Infamous 18, but I'll probably want to collect just a few more of their games before I'll have a complete idea of their progression from "budget golf dev" to "indoor simulator powerhouse."

And alongside this, two more entries in the Tiger Woods series (I swear, I'm not actively hunting these down!): Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 for PlayStation 2, which does not have a face maker, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: Masters for XBox 360, which very much does. And yes, it actually does have the disc in it this time.

Of course, this means I'm going to need to update the Golfer's Gallery again, with yet another freak of nature talented individual. Go see the new guy: Duckman at your convenience.