Who said golf was a crazy game?

Producer: Accolade/Electronic Arts
Par for Course: £8.95 cass, £14.95 disk
Author: Chris Fayers

Move over Nick Faldo and Co, this is a program which shows how the game should really be played...

Having paid for putter and ball you, and up to three friends, choose which of four courses to make fools of yourselves on - Deluxe, Classic, Traditional or Challenge -then input a suitably silly names, like Ian Woosnam. Each of the courses have nine holes and - if you're a real boring fuddy-duddy - you can practise any of them before playing a course in full.

Once in play the main part of the screen shows a bird's eye view of whichever part of the putting green you're mucking about on. Below that there's a control panel with a map of the complete hole, power and direction bars, score card and a rather daft for flattering, depending on who you are) picture of you. Once you've placed the cursor where you'd like the ball to go, then set the suitable power and direction (left/right) bars by two presses on the fire button.

On first playing I was disappointed there were no windmills or such like, just patches of arrows which alter the direction of the ball. However upon selecting the Classic course I was pleased to discover hazards such as a space shuttle, elephant, jet and even the Taj Mahal.

Graphic presentation of the course is just adequate, except for the Classic's obstacles which are quite nicely drawn. With no need to pick a club, watch the wind speed and so on Mini-Putt is really easy to get into - but hard to master. A good, fun game for armchair sportsmen everywhere.

MARK [80%]

THE ESSENTIALS
Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: a mixture of simple arrows and well-drawn large obstacles
Sound: not much, but it isn't important
Options: up to four players can take part on any of four courses. Practise any hole option

I remember playing this sort of thing at the seaside when I was knee-high to a sheep, so I really enjoyed Mini-Putt. One problem is how important luck can be - sometimes you just whack the ball and it goes straight into the hole. Still that's part of the real game. Recommended even for non-golfers and sane people like Mark.
PHIL [71%]

This is one to keep crazy for ages. The way the ball moves, and the different power settings, all work fine and the Classic course in particular is great fun. In short a refreshing change from the Leader Board-type golf games which should keep you, and some friends, alternately giggling and cursing that darn elephant's trunk.
NICK [68%]

Accolade
£8.95 cass/£14.95 disk
Reviewer: Sean Kelly

Mini-Putt is a straightforward simulation of the sport of Crazy Golf. There is one or two player mode, and a choice of four courses, each made up of nine holes. Two of those courses are loaded with the main game, and the other two from the multi-load. And many well known (!) holes, such as the 'windmill' - with revolving windmill blades - the 'castle' and the 'aeroplane' can be found on the courses, as can oodles of bouncy walls, obstacles, hills, hollows and ponds, all determined to send even the most crazy of crazy golfers even crazier.

The playing screen is made up of four units, the main one being the view of part of the hole you are playing. Underneath this are (four minus one equals...) three more units. The left unit shows the power needed to accomplish a particular shot, the middle unit, a plan view of the complete hole, and the right unit a list of hole, par, number of putts taken, current value of BP shares...

To play a hole, you first move the 'X' on the main screen to the spot where you wish the ball to end up. Next the power of shot needed to get the ball there is noted, and then by cunning use of the fire button, a bit of dexterity and the two scales, you set the speed and accuracy of the shot. How good the shot is depends on whether you get the right speed and accuracy. Once your whack is completed, you'll then see the ball either slowly lolloping along, or thundering around bouncing off everything in sight, depending on how hard you hit it. When it comes to rest, you start again. And... er... that's it.

This is one of those games which could, with a little more effort, been quite a funny and addictive game. As it stands, however, there are a number of things which let it down. It is very easy to play, and quite often a hole could be completed by hitting the ball as hard as possible in the direction of a hole. If the hole was surrounded by fairly close walls, then more often than not belting the ball with your club (that's the technical term for the big stick) would result in a ricochet ending up in the hole. Most of the holes had a par of two, which also indicates the ease with which they could be completed.

I found the game a little tedious, firstly because of the repetitive nature of taking a shot, and also because more time was spent watching the ball belt around and slowly stopping than actually being involved in the game.

In the end it reminded me of a single event in something like Decathlon: where although each event is fairly simple and easy to control, playability is increased by the range of different events. Unfortunately, in Mini-Putt the only variety is from the number of holes, and the game play remained boringly simple throughout.

I expect that playing in two-player mode would increase the fun for a while, but again the novelty would wear off pretty fast. Not a game I feel I could recommend to even the most hardened of crazy golf fans. If there are any.

Accolade, £8.95cs, £14.95dk
C64 version reviewed Issue 6 - ACE rating 586

The graphics did not stretch the 64, so they have translated fairly well. The somewhat silly gameplay has also travelled well. The ball does stop a bit suddenly, but otherwise the game behaves fine.