The Things I'm Missing

It's so hard to quantify the things that I don't have in Golfshrine, because what I most look for are just things that are cheap. I can't exactly filter an eBay search for "video games, golf simulators, old" - there's a number of things that definitely belong here, though, that I'm either waiting for a good deal on, or just have not found yet.

• Ninja Golf (Atari 7800). Not in print for very long and released at the tail end of an unpopular console's lifespan, this one is also well known due to the Angry Video Game Nerd if I recall. It also recently appeared in the Atari 50 collection in 2023, which is neat. Sadly, physical copies of it are getting freakishly expensive - and I don't even own the console to play it with.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (PlayStation 2). Video game adaptation of the Adult Swim animated series, and apparently a spiritual remake of Ninja Golf. Somehow has never shown up at any of the vendor tables at Portland Retro Game Expo. I haven't searched exhaustively for it, but maybe it'll turn up for a good deal sometime.
• Sid Meier's SimGolf (Windows). While not really a golf simulator so much as a golf tycoon game, this one goes in the wishlist entirely because of how frequently it gets confused for Maxis' 1996 SimGolf.
• Ribbit King (PS2 or GameCube). A tiny print run and a high degree of desirability among collectors makes my ownership of this game very unlikely, but someday, I will experience the game of Frolf.
• Links: The Challenge of Golf (Memorex VIS). The only port of Links I'm missing. Probably exceedingly rare, rarer than the console that's supposed to play it, but hell, if it ends up in my lap, I'm not going to say no.
• PGA European Tour (N64). Not the 1995 EA Sports game. Inexplicably one of the most expensive US-released Nintendo 64 games, published by Infogrames. I guess there's no shortage of golf games on N64, but this one is rare and expensive, so. [/shrug]
• The Golf Pro (Windows). A golf simulator from the makers of System Shock? Could be interesting to look into.
• Vs. Ladies Golf (Nintendo VS. System). One of the handful of "VS. Paks" released by Nintendo for their VS. System arcade boards; it's an alternate set of ROMs for Vs. Golf (itself an adaptation of Satoru Iwata's NES Golf) that replaces the normal Mario-like golfer with a female character. Flyers indicate that it sold for the same price as the normal Golf game ($295 in the 1980s), so it might exist as a VS. Pak in a black suitcase, but this one might as well be my white whale now. (With hat tip to Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation, for reminding me it exists.)
• Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf (PC). One of only two home ports of the actual Golden Tee arcade game (discounting the plug-and-play and Arcade1UP versions), uses the mouse to replicate the trackball controls.
• Neo Turf Masters/Big Tournament Golf (Neo Geo CD). I'll probably never get an NGCD. But if I had the opportunity to own the legend itself, I might make that choice at some point. The CD version, specifically, has much more in-depth stat-saving, tournament mode, and - if my sources are correct - the hidden Scotland course doesn't exist in the cartridge version.
• Top Player's Golf (Neo Geo/CD). The only other golf game on the Neo Geo, and somehow also one of the worst golf sims I've ever tried to play. I had the opportunity to rank this game for Hardcore Gaming 101's Top 47,858 Games of All Time podcast (Patreon episode 212), so my opinions on this game are well documented. But even an awful golf sim belongs in Golfshrine. And so shall it be written.
• GALF (NES). A Limited Run Games-distributed NES adaptation of the GALF minigame found in the Nintendo Switch game, Golf Story. Comes in a distinctive green cartridge. Unfortunately, it's sought after entirely because it's an LRG game, so it's expensive - even brand new from the manufacturer. Well beyond casual impulse purchase.
• Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn). I own 3 versions of this game already, why do I need a fourth one? Because the Saturn version is the only one that features Craig "The Walrus" Stadler.
• Skins Game (Arcade, 2000). Not "The Irem Skins Game" from 1992. Basically the only game released for Midway's "Atlantis" arcade board, Skins Game has a unique controller (a spring-loaded "bat" joystick that you pull back and release). It's basically NBA Jam but for golf. No home ports, didn't seem to sell very well (but despite that, got a Tournament Edition upgrade). Also apparently a revision exists that's called... Swingers Tour.com? [/shrug]
• Ernie Els Golf (Game Gear). I'd have to import this one from Europe if I want it. I don't know what it is about it, but this game refuses to load on my Analogue Pocket via the OpenFPGA Game Gear core. Hard to say if it's an incompatibility or if there's something unusual about the hardware in the cartridge, but the best way to figure that out is to just buy a copy.
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000 + Buick PGA Tour Courses (Windows). Thanks to the utter rabbit hole I found myself in, I discovered yet more things Buick put their name on, golf-wise, and of course I just need to have them.
• Buick Dimensions 1994 / Cadillac Impressions (PC/Mac?). From the same vein as the entry above, General Motors and the InMar Group produced more car catalogs with built-in golf sims, and for some damn reason, I need them now. This is a healthy hobby, I swear.
• Putt & Putter (Sega Master System/Game Gear). Two largely different games, both published by Sega for different 8-bit platforms. The SMS version was never released in the US, so I'd need to import it from Europe... or Brazil, maybe. Would love to have the Japanese GG version in a box; that's a really artful cover it has.