is a golf-based sports simulation

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and released by Nintendo in 1984 for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

in Japan. Later the same year, it was ported to the Nintendo VS. System as ''VS. Golf'' or ''Stroke and Match Golf'', released in arcades internationally, followed by another arcade version called ''VS. Ladies Golf''. The original was re-released for the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

in North America in 1985, and for the

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for ...

in 1986 in Japan. The game was re-released across many years for different Nintendo consoles. It was hidden in the Nintendo Switch firmware as an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

as a tribute to the game's programmer, the late

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the app ...

Gameplay

The main player wears a white shirt and shoes with blue pants and uses a white ball, while the second player wears a red shirt and shoes with black pants and uses a red ball. The player selects either single stroke play or the two-player selections of doubles stroke play 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 ...

. The player is then placed at the tee of the first of 18 holes. In 1991, Nintendo identified the golfer as

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

in a gameplay guide book. Nintendo's Wii game '' Captain Rainbow'' identifies the golfer as ''Ossan'', which happens to be one of the generic hero names during the development of ''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

''. The Game Boy conversion would feature Mario on the Western cover art, but not the Japanese version.

Development and release

In 1983, the

had only three launch games, and its library would soon total seven, including ''Golf''. Shigeru Miyamoto said he was "directly in charge of the character design and the game design", and

said he was the only programmer. ''Golf'' has been re-released on many other consoles after its release. Hudson Soft released a conversion of the game for the Japan-only

PC-88 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japane ...

and Sharp X1 in 1985. ''Golf'' was converted to the Japan-only

Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" f ...

on February 21, 1986. It was re-released for the

Nintendo e-Reader The Nintendo e-Reader, stylized as ereader, commonly abbreviated as e-Reader, known in Japan as the is an add-on manufactured by Nintendo for its Game Boy Advance handheld video game console. It was released in Japan in December 2001, with a ...

for the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

in 2002. Both the NES and Game Boy versions were released on the

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Uni ...

. It was re-released on the Nintendo Switch in the Nintendo eShop on October 25, 2019, by

Hamster Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999. On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 200 titles are distrib ...

as part of its Arcade Archives series. ''Golf'' can be unlocked in the 2001 video games ''Dōbutsu no Mori'' for

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

and ''

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. The series was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. In ''Animal Crossing'', the player character is a human who lives in a village inhab ...

'' for GameCube. The latter supports Advance Play using a

GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable The GameCube Game Boy Advance cable (DOL-011) is a cable used to connect the Game Boy Advance (GBA) to the GameCube (GCN). Depending on the games, the cable may facilitate unlocking additional content, turning the GBA into a second screen, turnin ...

, allowing ''Golf'' to be played on a Game Boy Advance. The game is a hidden

in the pre-4.0 firmware of the Nintendo Switch, in tribute to Satoru Iwata. Iwata was the sole programmer of ''Golf'' (as one of his first projects for Nintendo) and later became Nintendo's CEO. It can be accessed on the Switch home menu if the system clock is set to the July 11 anniversary of Iwata's death, and then the user moves

Joy-Con Joy-Con are the primary game controllers for the Nintendo Switch video game console. They consist of two individual units, each containing an analog stick and an array of buttons. They can be used while attached to the main Nintendo Switch con ...

controllers to imitate the "Direct" action that Iwata popularized during his Nintendo Direct. This version exclusively has the option for

motion controls In video games and entertainment systems, a motion controller is a type of game controller that uses accelerometers or other sensors to Motion capture, track motion and provide input. History Motion controllers using accelerometers are used as c ...

Reception

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 ...

'' rated the Game Boy version 4 out of 5 stars. The Famicom version yielded 2.46 million copies sold in Japan.

Legacy

''Golf'' is the first golf video game to feature a power and accuracy bar for swinging the club, which has been used in most golf games since. Three-dimensional versions of ''Golfs courses appear in the nine holes of ''

Wii Sports ''Wii Sports'' is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The 1.0 (pre-release) version of the game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and the ...

'', the "Classic" courses in ''

Wii Sports Resort ''Wii Sports Resort'' is a 2009 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console, and is a sequel to ''Wii Sports''. It is one of the first titles to require the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which wa ...

'', and in '' Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics''.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Golf''
at NinDB {{DEFAULTSORT:Golf (Video Game) 1984 video games Famicom Disk System games Game Boy games GameCube games Golf video games NEC PC-8801 games Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo arcade games Nintendo games Nintendo e-Reader games Nintendo Switch games Nintendo Vs. Series games PlayChoice-10 games Sharp X1 games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console games for Wii U Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games scored by Hirokazu Tanaka Video games scored by Koji Kondo Video games designed by Shigeru Miyamoto Mario Golf Hamster Corporation games