Golf Zero
Colin Lane and Brad Erkkila’s Golf Zero is a fantastic new indie game where you play as a nameless little cheesy-wotsit dude in a red hat that loves golf… Now I’m not saying you’re Donald Trump - but the comparison is definitely there! Originally released for iOS, Golf Zero has finally arrived on Xbox One and it’s a surprisingly fast-paced and fun game.
The idea is simple, get the ball in the hole - and if you want a Gold Medal, then make sure to pop any balloons you see. You are given three balls upon starting each level, and it is up to you how you take on this challenge. Some levels can be completed in more than one way, and it’s all about figuring out the best route and the best timing in order to shave vital milliseconds off of your score as you work your way through all of the game’s levels.
The art style is very simplistic but adorable, and the platforming style works beautifully with all of the traps and tricky jumps you’ll need to pull off to progress. Playing games like Super Meat Boy has trained us for this, getting the timing down to a T. Having a nice simple style also helps to keep the levels from being too cluttered, as a more detailed backdrop could easily cause disaster when trying to carefully navigate your way through a level.
Sound design is fairly tame, with simple tracks playing in the background. I felt that these worked well to keep your calm when trying to avoid traps and massive boulders, rather than the usual over-the-top tracks to increase your anxiety as you play. It definitely could have done with a bit more in terms of sound effects from the saws, etc. as sometimes you subconsciously ignore certain traps due to be hyper-fixated on others, so a bit stronger of environmental sounds would have helped here, however this is just personal preference.
Controls are very straightforward, with the only requirements being for you to jump and hit the ball. Time slows down whilst aiming your hit, and this can allow for a little bit of manipulation when trying to wrangle your way in a tight gap. The controls feel nice and responsive, and our only gripe here was that it is a little too easy to accidentally restart a level by tapping either the Left Trigger or Y.
There’s plenty of replayability to be had in Golf Zero, as the timer alone encourages you to practice more and more. It has also been a fantastic game for sort-of-multiplayer in our house, with each of us taking turns to attempt to beat the previous player’s fastest time. It provides just enough of a challenge, whilst also being reasonably accessible for the kids to play against us. One thing that really stood out to me was that the Achievements are all tied to just completing levels, with none being linked to fastest times or the Speed Run options. This allows for the Achievements to be accessible for a wider group of people, and whilst I know some people like the more challenging achievements in games, it can definitely be off-putting if you know you won’t be able to manage some of them.
In the end, we decided to give Golf Zero the Collecting Asylum rating of 8/10.
Have you played Golf Zero yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Ratalaika for the Golf Zero Xbox One review code!
