Desktop Golf Nintendo Switch Review (also available on Steam) 8.5/10 "A Hole-in-One!" ⛳ @SAT_BOX_EN #IndieGame #GameDev

SAT BOX have quietly impressed me with their releases over the last few months, specialising as they do in simple premises done well. This latest release pretty much does what it says on the tin and casts you as a desktop golfer, you’ll be sailing your ball across fairways and dog-legs whilst making your way across bridges made of binders, whilst avoiding toys and pencils as well as the standard sand and water hazards. 

As usual, SAT BOX is selling this at a bargain price, and the content that you get is genuinely quite astonishing, the game is well-designed and accessible as well as requiring skill to get the most out of, thus it appealed to both the gamer and golfer in me, succeeding on both counts.

Utilising the usual SAT BOX style of bright colours and cutesy, smooth animations, Desktop Golf allows up to four players to dive in and runs at a steady 60 FPS. You can choose from several courses that all feature 18 holes, but also allow to play shorter rounds of nine holes, even allowing you to choose the starting hole. It’s the nice touches such as this, as well as the extras and unlockables available that really give the game legs, and elevate it from being a simple arcade experience to something that’s subtly a little meatier

The golf itself is a very smooth experience, with only a few caveats that slightly dent the fun. Whilst the actual golfing features satisfyingly precise top-down anime golfing action, and there’s a leniency in the gameplay that allows cool shots and the occasional hole-in-one, the musical loop starts anew on each hole, and as most holes can sometimes be completed in under a minute or two, the ceaselessly jaunty music constantly re-starting does get a little wearying, and a longer loop or some musical variance would really have taken the edge off this. A similar issue lies with the Turfmasters-esque audio comments, which have absolutely no variety, and the tie-in nostalgia harking back to Turfmasters’ ‘ON THE GREEEEEEEEEN!!!!!’ can only take you so far. You can alternate between a male and female voice, but they say the same things, and so you’ll probably find yourself muting this after a round or two.

As I’ve said, the game caters for up to four players, and there are online leader board scores to be beaten that can be accumulated not only by completing holes in as few shots as possible, but also through how swiftly you complete them. These can then be used to unlock further courses, or in the gacha store that will net you a myriad of different clubs, each with their own pros and cons, such as giving you more power, but requiring more accuracy etc.

SUMMARY
All in all, Desktop Golf is right up there with Sugoroku Casino Party in the accessible fun stakes. I recently had a family holiday, and Desktop Golf was the game I kept returning to for quick blasts of action, and the extra layer added by the unlockables combined with the pacey play makes this a budget game with a surprising amount of content, in a well-presented and addictive package that really shouldn’t be overlooked by those out there that like their golf on the more arcade-y side of life.

8.5/10

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