''Fred Couples Golf'' is a 1993

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

video game for the

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

featuring professional golfer

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

. A 32X sequel, '' Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples'', was released in 1995.

Gameplay

The player chooses from four generic

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

s and must compete in either a tournament,

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

, or

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

. Each golfer has their unique strengths and weaknesses. Names can be changed in addition to shirt color and the

difficulty level Game balance is a branch of game design that is described as a mathematical-algorithmic model of a game’s numbers, game mechanics, and relations between the two. Game balance consists of adjusting values to create a certain user experience. Play ...

. Through a Game Gear link, four players can play at once.

, the golfer that endorsed the game, can only be used as an opponent. He is not available as either a teammate or as a playable character.''Fred Couples Golf''
at

allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

While the ball is on the ground, the player is shown an overhead view and must analyze it before swinging the

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Wood (golf), Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; iron (golf), irons, the most versatile class ...

. The player can also choose a

caddie In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support. Description A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the ...

as well. A password is given every time the player advances in the tournament.

Reception

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' gave the game a mostly negative review. Though they praised many of the game's elements, such as the practice mode, the animations, and the controls, they found the graphical layout to be a fatal flaw, and concluded "Golfing fiends may enjoy the strong details in ''Fred Couples Golf'', but the tiny, cramped graphical layout will assault the senses of casual hackers."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Couples, Fred Golf 1994 video games Game Gear games Game Gear-only games Golf video games SIMS Co., Ltd. games Sega video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Cultural depictions of American men Cultural depictions of golfers Video games based on real people Video games developed in Japan