''Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf'' is a

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

simulation video game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...

developed by

Sculptured Software Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game publisher from Long Island, active from 1987 until filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 1, 2004. Through a series of acquisitions between 1990 and 2002, Acclaim built itself a large portfol ...

, and published by

Accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing, adoubement, or knighting) () was the central act in the rite of passage Ceremony, ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. Etymology The term ''accolade'' entered English by 1591, when Thomas ...

beginning in 1988. It was released for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

(C64), MS-DOS,

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES),

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 four major Japane ...

Sharp X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wi ...

, and Game Boy. During 1990 and 1991, the game was released in

HuCard The (Known as the TurboChip in regions where the PC Engine was marketed as the TurboGrafx-16) is a ROM cartridge in the form of a card, designed by Hudson Soft for NEC's PC Engine and PC Engine SuperGrafx video game consoles, which were or ...

cartridge and CD-ROM formats for the U.S

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

and its foreign counterpart,

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched ...

. The TurboGrafx-16 versions of the game were titled ''Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf'', while the PC Engine version was titled ''Jack Nicklaus World Golf Tour'' for the CD-ROM format. The Game Boy version was released as ''Jack Nicklaus Golf'' in 1992. It was the first in a series of golf games named after golfer

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

, and was followed by ''

Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design ''Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design'' is a 1990 golf video game developed by Sculptured Software and published by Accolade for the Amiga and MS-DOS. A Super NES version with the same golf courses, titled ''Jack Nicklaus Golf'', was rel ...

'' (1990).

Gameplay

The game features

' favorite 18 golf holes, all put together in a single course, which includes holes from

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for T ...

Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, U.S. Opened in 1919, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, o ...

Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, is one of the courses in the Open Championship rotation. The Women's British Open has also been played on the course five times: once prior to being designated a major ...

, and

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

. Two courses designed by Nicklaus are also featured in the game: Castle Pines (Colorado) and Desert Mountain (Arizona). Additionally, the Game Boy version includes

Muirfield Village Muirfield Village is an “upscale” golf-oriented community in the central United States, located in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. Origins Founded by Jack Nicklaus, it is named after Muirfield, Scotland, where he won the first of ...

as a course. Several add-on disks were released for the computer versions to add additional courses. The game features two game modes:

Stroke Play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

and Skins. A

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

option allows for a maximum total of four players being able to play. The player can also compete against a selection of eight different CPU players that includes Jack Nicklaus. An image of Nicklaus also appears in between holes as he gives tips to the player. ''Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf'', for the

, differs from the other versions. In CD-ROM format, the game has five courses, including Castle Pines. The other courses were previously featured in the game's early add-on disks:

The Australian Golf Club The Australian Golf Club is a golf club located in Rosebery, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is arguably the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 22 Australian Ope ...

Royal Troon Golf Club Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire. The club was established in 1878, and originally only consisted of five holes whereas today, it has increased to a total of 45 holes. Its Old Course i ...

Kemper Lakes Golf Club Kemper Lakes Golf Club is a private country club in the central United States, located in Ela Township, Lake County, outside Kildeer, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. It is also near the communities of Forest Lake, Lake Zurich, Hawtho ...

, and St. Creek Golf Club. The CD-ROM version allows the player to take a 360-degree look around any of the courses, and Nicklaus appears in between courses to give advice about each hole. The

cartridge version of ''Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf'' includes only one course, The Australian Golf Club, and includes eight golfer rivals, as well as Jack Nicklaus.

Release

began publishing ''Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf'' in 1988. It had the longest title of any software product at the time of its release. By August 1989, versions had been released in the United Kingdom for the

and PC, while other versions for the

and

were scheduled for release that autumn. An

version had been released by late 1989. As of 1990, a

version had been published by Accolade. The Nintendo Entertainment System, NES version, published by Konami, was released in the United States in March 1990, while a United Kingdom release came in August 1991. Versions were also released for the

, and

. For the U.S.

, the game was released as ''Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf'', in

and CD-ROM formats. The game was also released for the TurboGrafx-16's foreign counterpart, the

. In the CD-ROM format, the PC Engine version was published under the title ''Jack Nicklaus' World Golf Tour'', while the game in HuCard format retained the original ''Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf'' title. ''Jack Nicklaus' Turbo Golf'' and its foreign counterparts were released in 1990 and 1991. The Game Boy version, ''Jack Nicklaus Golf'', was released in the United States in May 1992; it was published by

Tradewest Tradewest, Inc. was an American video game company based in Corsicana, Texas that produced numerous games in the 1980s and early 1990s. The company was the publisher of the '' Battletoads'' and ''Double Dragon'' series in North America and the PAL ...

, along with an unrelated game with the same title for the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

Reception

Computer versions

The computer versions of the game received criticism for the slow load times in generating each new screen. Some criticized the computer version for including an off-disc

copy protection Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, is any measure to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on vid ...

scheme, which was deemed as difficult to use. Some critics favorably compared the game with the ''

Leader Board ''Leader Board'' (sometimes ''Leaderboard'') is a series of golf simulation video games that was developed by Bruce Carver and Roger Carver, and published by Access Software. Summary image:Leaderboard in-game screenshot (Atari ST).png, left, T ...

'' golfing game series. Some praise was given for the graphics of the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64 versions. ''

Amstrad Action ''Amstrad Action'' is a discontinued monthly magazine, which was published in the United Kingdom. It is about home computers from the Amstrad CPC range and later the GX4000 console. It is the first magazine published by Chris Anderson (TED), Chri ...

'' called the CPC version, "Beyond a shadow of a doubt the best golf sim ever on a CPC." However, the magazine also wrote that the game would "only immediately appeal" to golf fans and people who have played computer golf games, while stating, "These limitations will unfairly cripple the game's popularity – a crime, because it's an entertaining and well-programmed sports sim." ''

CU Amiga-64 ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

'' praised the Amiga version's gameplay but was critical of the minimal sounds, the putting, and the "agonisingly slow" computer golfer opponent. ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' is a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazi ...

'' reviewed the Commodore 64 version and criticized the sound effects, as well as the blocky scenery and its unusual color schemes. ''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published '' CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History ''The Games Machine'' ran head ...

'', reviewing the CPC and ST versions, criticized the blocky scenery and its murky colors, as well as simple sound effects and poorly animated golfer sprites. Reviewing the Amiga version, the magazine praised the digitized image of Jack Nicklaus that appears in between holes, but criticized the rest of the graphics. Tom Malcom of '' .info'' reviewed the Commodore 64 version; he called the graphics adequate and the sound "abominable," and concluded that the game, overall, was a good choice. Malcom subsequently reviewed the Amiga version; he praised the gameplay but felt the graphics were "not what they could, and should, be." He also wished there had been an option to turn off Jack Nicklaus' advice before each hole, stating that it slowed down the gameplay considerably. Bob Wade of ''

Amiga Format ''Amiga Format'' was a British monthly computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when Future split '' ST/Amiga Format'' into two separate pub ...

'' praised the sound. Tony Hetherington of ''Your Amiga'' criticized bad putting controls. He called the game "perfectly playable and competently programmed," but still considered it bland. ''

Amiga Action ''Amiga Action'' was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Europress (later IDG Media) and ran for 89 full issues, from October 1989 to December 1996. After its closure, it was merged into sister ...

'' praised the game and recommended it, but considered ''Leader Board'' to be superior. ''

Amiga User International ''Amiga User International'' (or ''AUI'') was a monthly computer magazine published in its later years by AUI Limited, it was the first dedicated Amiga magazine in Europe and in comparison to other Amiga magazines, AUI had a more serious persp ...

'' recommended the game for people who had not already purchased '' Mean 18'', a similar golf game also by Accolade. Dan Muse of ''inCider'' praised the Apple II version as "a new standard in computer golf games" and "the best sports game, period." Regarding the image of Nicklaus that appears in between holes, Muse wrote, "Okay, it's a little corny, but I like it." Michael Dashe of ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG. History ''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...

'' praised the Macintosh version for its graphics, realistic gameplay, and variety of courses. Mike Siggins reviewed ''Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf'' for ''

Games International ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

'' magazine, and gave it 4 stars out of 5, and stated that "In the end, this is an excellent game that is badly let down by one feature: the painfully slow screen updates." Mike Siggins reviewed ''Jack Nicklaus Golf – Additional Courses Vol II'' for ''

'' magazine, and gave it a rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "It is good to see Accolade supporting the program with these high quality course disks but their assumption seems to be that there is nothing wrong with the product. This I find hard to understand and would suggest, unless you aren't bothered by round of computer golf taking a couple of hours, that you don't bother buying any more add-on disks until the problem is attended to."

Other versions

The NES and TurboGrafx-16 versions were also criticized for slow reanimation. ''

Raze Raze may refer to: * Demolition **Slighting * Raze, Haute-Saône, a town in France * Raze (Underworld), a fictional character in the Underworld films * Raze (magazine), a videogame magazine published by Newsfield Publications from 1990-1991 * ''Ra ...

'' reviewed the NES version and stated that because of its easy gameplay, it was more fun to play it with other people rather than alone. ''

Mean Machines ''Mean Machines'' was a multi-format video game journalism, video game magazine published between 1990 and 1992 in the United Kingdom. History In the late 1980s ''Computer and Video Games'' (''CVG'') was largely covering the outgoing generatio ...

'' criticized the NES version for its blocky scenery, stating that it hampered gameplay. The magazine also criticized the golfer sprite, the "average" sound effects, and the lack of music, and concluded that it was a "very tedious golf sim, which only die-hard fans of the genre should take a chance on." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', reviewing one of the game's versions, wrote, "Great for golfing enthusiasts and good for those who are new to golf." Chip and Jonathan Carter, writing for the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

'', reviewed the TurboGrafx-16 cartridge version and stated that additional courses would have been nice, although they praised the gameplay and graphics. ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' reviewed the TurboGrafx-16 CD-ROM version and recommended the game for golf fans, but criticized the slow reanimation and stated that the game did not offer much to distinguish it from other golf games.

References

External links

''Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

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