The Wonder of Everybody’s Golf
There is something about the concept of golf that makes it entirely more entertaining and interesting when played through the medium of video games. The difference between actually playing golf and playing golf in a game is stark. It’s a whole lot more fun in video games.
Why that is, isn’t really explainable. Perhaps it’s the much more speedy nature, or perhaps it’s easier to master, but on another level golf games is a genre almost completely separate to other sports games and it’s because there is something so wholesome about it.
When playing Everybody’s Golf, everything is so cheery, so happy, so colourful. It offers a kind of escapism that is totally different to what is expected of the medium.
Golf Island is a whole island dedicated to just golf and it is simply wonderful. Everyone is welcome and everyone feels included. Golf Island might just be the happiest place on Earth- if only it were real. Even after victory in a 1-v-1 battle against an AI that you are intermittently asked to take on, the expert golf player is very supportive of your bid to level up and aims to come back stronger next time. And there is an incredibly wide variety to the type of people that you are pitted against, from small girl to large old man, each with their own background.
What is weird about Everybody’s Golf, however, is just how ungame-y it feels. Unlike most modern video games, there never really seems to be any danger of failure, there is no consequence to any failure and even winning doesn’t feel that rewarding.
Yet, none of that matters when it comes to the enjoyment of just constantly playing some good, old fashioned golf. The golf gameplay itself feels good, works well on a very basic and easy to learn way. It is quick to learn and almost just as quick to master.
There is something so gripping about going through 9 or 18 holes and just tearing through it, or even completely screwing up and learning from those mistakes. The game is never too harsh and even when you initially mess up a hole, it is pretty kind in how easy it can be to salvage par.
No matter what is going on when not playing Everybody’s Golf, once a round has started there is this amazing escapism where life simply melts away and all of a sudden you are just this really good golf player.
It achieves something that most sports games don’t, or maybe even can’t. Coming from just having poured a couple hundred hours into the latest Football Manager to now playing some Everybody’s Golf, the difference is incredible. When playing Football Manager, there was never that sense of true happiness when playing it.
A similar experience can be said of any other football game, or the Formula One series or any of the tennis games over the years — though hopefully the latest Mario Tennis can change this.
Everybody’s Golf is everything video games should aspire to be. It is just pure, unadulterated fun. No ulterior motive, no swindling the customer into purchases that are more akin to scratch cards, nothing but a good, wholesome time.
