🏌️‍♀️⛳️ Smoots Golf | Xbox Series X | Review | 6/10 | "Not Quite Up To Par" 🏌️‍♀️⛳️@JanduSoft #IndieGames #GameDev

The last title I reviewed from Jandusoft was Cards of the Dead, a clever and simple zombie survival deck game that was released just before Halloween and provided a few hours of tense, pixelated fun.

When I saw that Jandusoft were releasing Smoots Golf, I leapt at the chance to cover it without even looking at the trailer, as I’d had such a good time with Cards of the Dead – and I love to golf!

Unfortunately, whilst there is a fair amount of content here for the budget price point, some fundamental issues in gameplay and mechanics detract from what could have been a fun little arcade-style golf game.

When heading into the title screen for the first time and selecting your character (one of many pop funky culture icons), you’ll probably assume that this is a port of a Wii game, as the character designs and entire vibe really harks back to Nintendo’s oh-so-white system. The thing to bear in mind before diving into Smoots Golf is that this isn’t a title that is going for intense simulation. The clubs in your bag are few, the physics aren’t realistic, and the courses only have nine holes each, for example (aside from the mini-golf, where each of the six courses is comprised of four holes).

There are a lot of options, though. The tournament mode – a three or nine-hole competition – can be played with up to four players, as can the exhibition mode and separate mini-golf mode (there’s also a training mode that you probably won’t need, due to the simplicity of the game). For a few quid, there’s enough here to keep you and some friends entertained for a couple of hours. That said, it’s the actual gameplay that is the problem.

As I’ve said already, this is not a simulation. The problem is that the physics don’t just feel ‘arcadey’ they don’t feel ‘right’. It’s a standard setup with the goal being to get your ball in the hole in as few shots as possible, and the game uses a traditional three-click power bar and a separate scale for accuracy, it’s all groovy in that area.

The courses, however, are really bland. Gentle, stock music lilts along in the background as you compete through the five courses on offer (a lush, green course; an ice course, a desert-themed course etc.) but, aside from the AI getting progressively tougher, there’s no pull to any of the courses and no fun hazards or the like aside from standard bunkers and the dangers of the wind picking up.

They all feel quite flat and would really have benefited from being jazzed up with some wacky obstacles or quirkier course design. Going back to physics, the ball has no momentum when it lands and rolls, this is also the case on greens, it’s as if your ball is oddly heavy. I found that, when I was doing long putts, as the maximum power gauge takes the ball 20 feet, I was switching to a lob wedge on most greens to try and get close, something I’ve never had to do in any other golf game.

The generic music and smooth - if dated – presentation is fine; but the bland, empty-feeling courses, odd design choices in how the putting works from a long-range and those heavy physics really chip away at the enjoyment, which is odd as the physics in the mini-golf – whilst not feeling spot on – do feel closer to comfortable.