Developed by Hand Made Software and released exclusively for the Atari Lynx by Atari Corporation, Awesome Golf is a classic golf sim that both impressed critics and sold very well when it was first released in 1991. And it remains an excellent golf game to this day.

Players compete in matches on various golf courses set across three countries of the world (the UK, the USA, and Japan), in one of three game modes (“Medal” is 18 holes played solo; “Practise” and “Driving” are self-explanatory). Awesome Golf also has a multiplayer mode for up to four players, who can compete against each other by connecting via the system’s ComLynx port.

When driving or putting, prior to seeing the golfer you’ll be presented with an overhead view of the hole, with your position shown and a flashing crosshair, indicating the shot direction. By holding down the ‘B’ button you can push the d-pad left and right to move the crosshair and therefore your aim. You can also push the d-pad up and down, with the ‘B’ button depressed, to zoom in and out of the overhead view. Which is useful to know.

Understanding how to use the game’s ‘power meter’ is key to playing Awesome Golf effectively. You basically press the ‘A’ button once to start the meter rising; press it a second time to mark where you want the peak of the power to be, then press it a third time when the meter falls back down to the ball slice options.

When putting, you hold down the ‘B’ button and push the d-pad left and right to aim your shot, and can judge the lie of the green by looking at the shadow on the white pin. Making the shot then requires a three-button press of the power meter, just like when driving.

There’s also a gopher caddie, called Chipper, who you can call on for advice and tips by pressing Option 2 during the game. Pressing Option 1 brings up the score card.

Awesome Golf features a wide variety of digitized voice samples, which was impressive – and a significant USP – back in 1991. We now take speech in games for granted, but back then it was a big deal and it was not easy to get clear, non-muffled samples. But the voices in Awesome Golf are clear and varied. The music is very good too. In fact: the presentation overall in Awesome Golf is superb. There are lots of nice touches, like the scaling of the ball, and the green, during overhead views; player naming and setup (male/female and different ethnicities and clothes), and each hole having its own name and intermission sign during play.

Awesome Golf really was “awesome” back in 1991 and Lynx owners certainly had something to boast about to owners of rival systems. Playing the game now I’d have to say that it is comparable to (if not better than) the classic Commodore 64 game Leaderboard, which was widely seen as being the best golf game of the 8-bit era. Awesome Golf demonstrated that the Lynx was more powerful than many 8-bit home computers. At least in some respects.

This is a classic golf game and one of the very best releases for the Atari Lynx. Even non golf fans might like it (I say that because I love this game and am not much of a golf fan).

More: Awesome Golf on Wikipedia