WHAT THE GOLF?
Triband’s WHAT THE GOLF? is one of the few golf games I’ve had pique my interest (along with other nonsensical golf games such as Dangerous Golf). I’m not really a ‘sports-game’ fan. Sure, I’ve owned and played plenty over the years, from FIFA 2001 (one of the few PC games I had as a kid) to Mario Tennis, I’ve never really had a sports-based game that I’ve fully enjoyed. And this is where WHAT THE GOLF? comes in. Marketed as a golf game for people who hate golf, it is a hilarious physics-based parody of the titular sport.
Courses are wacky, with weird shapes and a variety of obstacles in your way - and not only this, but the actual core gameplay changes up frequently from hitting golf balls into the hole, to knocking over cats, and racing against NPCs to the end of the course. It’s very easy to get deeply invested in, as all of the levels provide a great deal of enjoyment and humour. Frequently we were caught off guard by something unexpected happening in a level, and would end up in fits of laughter.
The art direction here is very simple but unique, with a muted colour palette that blends perfectly with the simple shapes building out the locations. Some levels are inspired by other games, and take on appearances (as well as music) reminiscent of those games, including the likes of Mario and Flappy Bird. There are surprises round every corner in WTG? and it will frequently throw you for a loop when you’re so sure you know what’s going to happen in any given level.
WHAT THE GOLF? feels great, with different levels playing in different ways. Whilst some levels have the typical “golf” style idea behind them, this is frequently changed up in all manner of ways, from moving holes to the club being tossed instead of hitting a ball. The sheer variety in how each level plays out keeps things feeling fresh, fun and exciting - whether you’re playing alone or with a friend. You can choose to play with traditional controls, or, being that this is on Switch: touch controls. For the most part, we both stuck with the traditional controls but for different reasons. Allan’s preference for playing Switch games always comes down to playing it on the TV. As much as he enjoys the ability to play the Switch on the move, if he’s got the choice - docked wins hands down, every time. For me, I quite like just curling up on the couch with the Switch, so will often play games handheld but I rarely ever use touchscreen controls. I don’t really like them. The Joycon drift of late has definitely been a bit of a bummer, but I would still rather play with the traditional controls over touch.
At £17.99 on the Nintendo eShop, it’s a fantastic price for a game that will offer you hours upon hours of enjoyment when playing single player, as well as a fantastic multiplayer mode that is filled to the brim with hilarity. It’s not often that we get a good two-player game that works well as a party game, really driving home the competition between us, so it was nice to have a game that does this so well.
In the end, we decided to give WHAT THE GOLF? the Collecting Asylum rating of 9.5/10.
Have you played WHAT THE GOLF? yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Popagenda for the WHAT THE GOLF? Nintendo Switch review code!
