Review: Golf Peaks

cre: Review: Golf Peaks

What’s that peanut guy?

Golf is a very deceptive sport. While many people will lament how “boring” it is, they only watch it from a viewer’s perspective. In fact, picking up a club and hitting a ball will show you how much technique is needed to perfect your shot. You need to understand the weight of your equipment, the arc of your shots, the wind resistance of the course, and consider the shapes of the greens. It can sometimes look like a giant puzzle.

That’s what makes a game like Golf Summits feel so natural. It’s such an obvious idea, it’s a real surprise that it hasn’t happened before. Golf requires careful thought and planning, so why not mix that up with a puzzle game? While you may lose all club selection and technique execution, what you gain is a title that captures the essence of golf in bite-sized chunks anyone can. to dig.

Golf Summits (Android, iOS, PC, Switch [Reviewed])
Developer: Afterburn
Publisher: Afterburn (Mobile, PC), 7Levels (Switch)
Release date: November 13, 2018 (Mobile, PC), March 14, 2019 (Switch)
MSRP: $2.99 ​​(mobile), $4.99 (PC, Switch)

Explain Golf Summits is actually a bit harder than just playing it. It’s a blend of golf aesthetics with a card-based puzzle platformer. Levels introduce concepts that are iterated over multiple levels before culminating in a final challenge. Each world (there are nine of them) focuses on something new and constantly tasks your mind with figuring out which shots you need to hit the hole.

The shots you have are predetermined on each hole, so you can’t just shoot your ball straight at the goal. You’ll need to carefully assess the terrain, make sure you compensate for obstacles, and make sure your final shot won’t go over the hole. It neatly encapsulates the various parameters that go into every golf shot while focusing more on level design than skill execution.

Being placed in a fictional environment allows Golf Summits the opportunity to create bizarre greens. Everything is placed on a grid system, but you will see various slopes, water obstacles, jump ramps, boost ramps and multi-level platforms. Not the plains of real golf, but rather something you would see in a mario Title. The isometric viewpoint limits the possibilities a bit, but it also doesn’t obscure obstacles from your view.

On the Switch port, you control the game with the Joy-Cons or via the touchscreen. Since Golf Summits was originally a mobile game, it makes sense that the original control scheme would be retained. You can’t detach the Joy-Con and play in portrait mode, but you do get docked gameplay. The physical controls work perfectly well and it’s nice to have a massive view of the playing field. You can call a friend if you’re confused, which certainly helps.

As for how the game progresses, it’s basically Jonathan Blow’s formula laid out by braid. The worlds don’t drastically change the controls, but you’ll have to deal with different variables on each hole. The theme of each space changes and merges with the concept put forward. For example, an ice world has a blue color palette. It makes levels distinct and has a natural difficulty curve that is generally well executed. For some reason, World Seven is the hardest, but there are still a bunch of levels left after the game hits its maximum difficulty.

Once you complete the nine main levels featured in each world, the game will seamlessly launch you into the next world. If you go back to the menu, you’ll find three bonus challenges that sometimes mix later concepts into the current level. There is no stipulation to unlock these levels other than completing the current world, which feels like a missed opportunity for bonus content.

What I mean is that some of the holes have multiple solutions. While there’s clearly a path the developers have offered you to follow, sometimes you can complete courses in fewer moves than you’re allotted. I’m convinced that all of these options are intentional misdirection on some levels, but I’ve also replayed levels where I didn’t use every option and managed to complete them while burning unnecessary shots. I think there could have been a better reward for finding the most efficient path through a level, which would make replaying individual holes more rewarding.

That’s really my only complaint, though. There are 109 levels (one of which is a bonus in the credits) and figuring out how to complete them doesn’t take that long. I’m not saying there has to be 100 more or anything, but locking those bonus levels behind alternate paths would have given players a reason to revisit the levels and perfect their game, much like real ones golfers.

I guess the moving roots of this game are why the levels are so small and easy to digest. It was something meant to be played in quick spurts instead of being run through in one sitting. It’s not like you’re missing anything doing it, but I’m not sure the Switch is the best platform for Golf Summits. It retains that portability factor, but it also costs a few dollars more than its mobile counterpart.

Still, $5 for a solid puzzle game with an interesting twist on golf isn’t what I would call a bad deal. Unless you just don’t like puzzle games, you’ll probably have a little fun with it. Golf Summits. Being a golf fan will help, but anyone with a penchant for solving various puzzles will have a great time here.

Now I would just like to understand what this weird promotional material nut thing is. Is he a golf caddy or Mr. Peanut’s hippie cousin?

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

source: gameplaytrick.com -

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