Golf (Nintendo Entertainment System)

Golf
Developer	Nintendo R&D2
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	NES, VS. System, NEC PC-88, Family Computer Disk System, Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS, Wii U), Nintendo Switch
Release date	Famicom/NES: May 1, 1984 October 18, 1985 November 15, 1986 VS. System: 1984 October 1984 (VS. Golf) December 1984 (VS. Ladies Golf) PC-88: 1985 Disk System: February 21, 1986 Virtual Console (3DS): June 29, 2011 September 8, 2011 October 13, 2011 October 13, 2011 July 20, 2016 Virtual Console (Wii U): October 10, 2013 October 10, 2013 October 10, 2013 November 13, 2013 Nintendo Switch:* March 3, 2017 March 3, 2017 March 3, 2017 March 3, 2017 March 3, 2017 *Only playable July 11. Nintendo Switch (Arcade Archives): October 25, 2019 October 25, 2019 October 25, 2019 October 25, 2019
Genre	Sports
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer 1-4
Media	NES: Game Pak Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download Nintendo 3DS: Digital download
Input	NES: NES Controller Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (Sideways) Wii Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo 3DS: Control pad

Golf is a Nintendo Entertainment System game that is based on the sport of the same name. It was first released for the Famicom in 1984 and would later be released overseas as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1985 in North America and 1986 in Europe and Australia.

Golf is the second video game that Satoru Iwata programmed for Nintendo while working at HAL Laboratory, after Pinball. A copy of the original game was embedded in Nintendo Switch firmware. Activating it required the internal system clock to be set to July 11 - Satoru Iwata's death anniversary - and performing his iconic "directly to you" hand gesture with both Joy-Con controllers on the HOME menu. If successful, a voice clip of Iwata from a Japanese 2012 presentation would confirm the input, and an emulation of Golf with added motion control support would promptly boot up. This version of Golf was overwritten as of the 4.0.0 update, making it unplayable.

Gameplay

An in-game screenshot

The gameplay of Golf is relatively simple. The player is given a ball, and a map on the right side of the screen shows the hole that they must hit the ball into. The obstacles on the way are also displayed on the map. The player will get more points depending on how many times they hit the ball to get it into the hole. Many different types of clubs are also available to choose from by pressing Up/Down on the + Control Pad.

Golf features eighteen holes separated into nine labeled "OUT" and nine labeled "IN". Each hole features some green and some woods, and every hole except hole 11 features sand traps. Holes 2, 3, and 5 feature inland ponds, holes 7 and 16 feature rivers, and holes 6, 9, 13, 15, and 18 have water covering the majority of the map; the other holes do not have water. Once the player gets the ball close to the target (the actual "hole", marked by a flag) on each map, the section of the screen which previously showed a map of the entire course will show a zoomed-in map of the putting green.

Alternate versions and re-releases

• 1984 - The game was released for the VS. System, also known as Stroke & Match Golf. Two versions of this game exist: VS. Golf features the same male character as the NES version, but VS. Ladies Golf features a female player.
• 1986 - The game was reissued for the Family Computer Disk System, also as a launch title.
• 1989 - Re-released for the Game Boy, also with the title Golf.
• 2001 - Golf is one of the playable Nintendo Entertainment System games in the Nintendo 64 game, Doubutsu no Mori and its Nintendo GameCube port, Animal Crossing.
• 2003 - Re-released for the Game Boy Advance's e-Reader peripheral as Golf-e.
• 2019 - The Nintendo PlayChoice-10 version was later included as a part of the Arcade Archives.

References in later games

• Wii Sports - Nine of the holes in Golf reappear as the 9-hole course in this game.
• Wii Sports Resort - The same nine holes that appear in Wii Sports reappear as the back nine of this game's course, and in the same order.
• Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics - The first hole from Golf reappears in the Golf game.

Descriptions

Nintendo 3DS eShop

Bogey, par, birdie, or Eagle.
The score is up to you.
Golf is 18 holes of realistic links action. Each hole has tricky hazards, so strategy is a must.
Read the wind direction, check the distance, select a club, adjust your swing and keep your eye on the ball. Now drive it home.
From twisting fairways and hungry sand traps to big water hazards and deceptive greens, Golf is packed with challenges.

This version of the game does not have multiplayer functionality.

Staff

Producer

• Masayuki Uemura

Director / Course Designer

• Kenji Miki

Programmer / Game Designer / Course Designer

• Satoru Iwata

Original Music

• Koji Kondo

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Golf (Nintendo Entertainment System).

• 

  PC-8801 box art.

• 

  Stroke & Match Golf's title screen

• 

  VS. Ladies Golf gameplay

Trivia

• Nintendo planned to release an 18-hole golfing game as a launch title for the Family Computer, but software companies declined the project and believed that it could not be done with such limited memory at the time. Satoru Iwata, who was a HAL Laboratory employee at the time, was eager to prove this technical achievement and program the game himself, which required him to create a custom data compression routine.
• The golfer has been identified as Mario in supplemental material, albeit not wearing his traditional shirt and overalls. However, the game Captain Rainbow would instead identify the golfer as Ossan, which is the internal name that Mario had during the development of Donkey Kong. It is the first time Mario has been associated with golf, years prior to the introduction of the Mario Golf series.
• Similar to Ice Climber, the red-colored character on the North American box art is actually the second player.