Disney Golf (PS2) Retro Review

No doubt if you're a regular of SPC, you know how much I enjoy my golf games, especially arcade, cartoon-y golf games. I recently (within the past year) stumbled upon this one: Disney Golf. After a brief history lesson to get myself accustomed to the game, I dove in, played through it obsessively, and have my verdict with this retro review.

Golf Disney-style may not be as magical as it could be, but it's still enjoyable all the same.

Before being fused into Spike Chunsoft, T&E Soft was a developer that crafted a fair amount of games of varying quality. Recently, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers with the required peripheral have been able to sample some of their previous works with the Virtual Boy's 3D Tetris, Red Alarm, and Golf. The latter of which is a sport and genre that pops up a good deal in T&E's software catalog. From the Nintendo DS's touch-only True Swing Golf to the PlayStation 2's launch title, Swing Away Golf, no shortage of tee-riffic to not as tee-erribly exciting golf games (excuse the shamelessly awful puns) came from the developer.

One that completely flew under the radar from me, as connoisseur of arcade and mascot-driven golf games came from T&E Soft itself as an early PlayStation 2 offering, launching two years after the dev's freshman golf outing. This one starred characters featured within the Happiest Place on Earth and saw them take to the tee with some of that Disney magic and charm. Appropriately enough, this PlayStation 2 golf game was named none other than simply Disney Golf. 

Disney Golf features a roster of nine of Mickey's friends and rivals, including Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, and even some rarer characters like Mortimer. Curiously enough, despite having a full roster of those aforementioned friends and rivals available to take the tee with, Mickey is totally absent from the playable golfing fun. Instead, he's relegated to a caddie role exclusively. Each character is grouped within a type. There's balanced types, power types, and even a duo of characters specifically meant for younger players--making it easier to hit the ball without worrying about setting the accuracy of their shot.

Pretty much a mainstay of the arcade golf genre is that of the three-click shot meter. It's been in many golf games prior to Disney Golf's release, it's been in many golf games after Disney Golf's release, and yes, it will be in many golf games after this review, as well. It's as simple as starting the gauge with one click or press of a button, setting the power as the gauge approaches the left-hand side with a second click, and then lastly, one final press to set the accuracy. With proper timing, you'll be driving, approaching, and putting like a pro. 

I don't know, Donald, that doesn't seem like proper posture and form.
But, what do I know--maybe you'll get results!

Taking to the tee and the links alike, you set up your shot like any other arcade golf game of Disney Golf's type. A rainbow, multicolored arc shows your current shot's trajectory and where your ball will go. That is, it shows you this information without factoring in key details like elevation, wind velocity, and where your ball currently sits, whether that be the tee, a fairway, rough, a bunker, etc. After all, if Disney Golf provided every bit of information to you to determine where your shot was going to end up, you might as well have shots automated, too, and have the game play itself. 

Chipping it from the dirt to hopefully hit pay-dirt and save par.

Putting is equally user-friendly and accessible, though it doesn't fully reveal everything to the player either. For instance, your initial view of your putt will have your character directly facing the hole. A tentative trajectory of the putt, showing what is essentially a putt preview, reveals itself. Seldom from a far enough distance away will the putt be completely straight, so you'll have to adjust based on the elevation and slope of the green. However, upon adjusting even a little bit, the putt preview will disappear, only reappearing when you face the hole again. Thus, you need to use the putt preview to course correct and best estimate the line of your putt. 

This isn't overly difficult--really, the only major issue is how finicky turning your character is. Just attempting to make minor corrections with your putt makes your line move considerably more than you'd expect. It's the same with taking shots from the tee or making approach shots. Trying to make small movements to factor in things like the wind and slope is next to impossible. The sensitivity of the stick and D-Pad are way too high with no options to lower them, making shots and calculations harder to accomplish than necessary. 

The longest type of golf hole of them all, the Par 5. Aim for an eagle, Goofy!

Disney Golf sports myriad modes, but the most interesting of which--the one that provides a little sampling of each general mode in the game in one overall enjoyable package--is that of the challenge mode. This mode takes your chosen character through two classes--beginner and expert--of golfing competitions, requiring you to win three of the four events in each class before moving on to the next series of challenges. These events are all competition-based against another CPU opponent or set of opponents, ranging from Match Play, Skins Play, Scramble events, and also long drive and approach events. 

Win three of the four events in Beginner Class to move on to the second class in Challenge Mode.

Match Play are you standard duels against another competitor, where the player with the fewest strokes on a given hole wins that hole. Skins Play is a variation of Match Play where competitors drawing on a hole by having the same amount of strokes means that the point or skin for that hole is carried over to the next. Therefore, if two players tie on the first hole, the second hole is worth two skins instead of just one.

Meanwhile, Scramble Play is insufferable in Challenge Mode, due to the fact that you have to rely on your dummy CPU teammate to win. This mode is 2v2 style play where you and your teammate alternate between shots. You can have as great an approach shot as possible, and usually your goofy (not to be confused with Mickey Mouse's tall pal) CPU teammate will foul up the putt, costing you a chance for an otherwise easy and quick victory.

Max is one of the "Kids"-type characters. Both literally a kid and "accessible for kids", as well.

Challenge Mode offers plenty of obstacles to get in your path to winning and moving on to the Mickey Invitational tournament, which caps off Challenge Mode. The main obstacle is that of power-ups and items. These can be utilized in matches to either help yourself or hinder your opponent, and let me tell you--the computer is not shy about using these on you to impair your playing and game of golf. These range from helpful assists like adding more power to your next shot, changing the weather to something more desirable, and granting the ability to hit your shot through trees and bushes without worrying about pesky things like solid matter, to name a few. 

Meanwhile--and you'll grow accustomed to these because your computer opponents will occasionally shower you with them like gifts--the less than helpful items can be used on a competitor. These can range from affecting the shot gauge to make it move more quickly or even more randomly, removing your view of how much distance you have between your ball and the hole, and even shuffling your clubs on you, forcing you to perhaps use a powerful driving 1-Wood when simply a Sand Wedge would suffice instead.

Five down with seven holes to go. Can Minnie overcome the deficit? (Spoiler: No, she could not.)

Of course, you and your opponents can't just use power-ups and items on yourselves and each other freely. The stronger the effect of a given power-up, the more energy it uses, and each character has a set amount of energy they are allowed. Through Challenge Mode, characters level up through standard play, earning more energy as well as greater driving and hitting capabilities to smash the ball harder, too. 

In total, there are over 50 unique power-ups and items available, most of which offered in the in-game shop using currency won through Challenge Mode victories, performing nice drive, great approaches, and long putts. Some of these, however, are hidden on specific courses in specific holes and specific locations, known as secret spots. Hitting the ball here will reveal the power-up and unlock it. With lots of secret spots potentially available to discover, you can have an impetus to play on and delve deeper into the world of Disney Golf.

Six courses are available within Disney Golf. This one I wouldn't recommend visiting IRL nowadays.

That said, the question is begged to be asked, then: Is this game of golf worthwhile enough to even bother? If you enjoy what's on offer, theoretically, you could play through and finish the Challenge Mode as all eight characters (Mortimer is not available in this mode for story reasons) and feverishly find all secret spots to earn every power-up in the game. The replay value is there, so longevity is not a problem. However, for me, there are far better golf games available than what Disney Golf offers. It's not a question of Disney Golf being a bad game--it's inoffensive and lacking innovation at worst. Unless you really, really have a hankering for golf with various friends of Mickey Mouse without, y'know, actually playing as Mickey, then there are good times to be found.

Meanwhile, when it comes to the graphics and animations of Disney Golf, there was room for improvement to be found. While the courses and characters are colorful, detailed for early PlayStation 2 era graphics, you'll get really tired of the repetitive nature of hole-out animations being the same. Yes, Mr. Goofy, examine that golf ball after holing out. It's the same exact golf ball you looked at the past 16 holes. Anyone want to make a wager if Goofy opts to examine it on the last? 

The European Course ends with a picturesque castle approach.

On the audio end, every then-official Disney-cast actor of the time was present to voice and reprise their respective character in this game, which is a really cool thing to see--or, rather hear. The little vignettes and scenes that play out prior to matches in Challenge Mode are cute, though the lip-syncing is mediocre at best. Musically, you'll find a lot of memorable tunes, and I don't just mean the renditions of the Mickey Mouse Club theme or Zippity-Doo-Dah, which are present as course themes. Though, these, of course, are catchy instrumental versions all the same.

With nine playable characters, six courses, standard modes, and basic gameplay that doesn't reinvent the wheel--or deviate from the norms of arcade-style golf for that matter--Disney Golf is a nice enough game that is accessible enough for casual players and veterans alike. The latter may find the game a bit too easy mechanically, but Challenge Mode's abundance of impairing power-ups used by the computer can frustrate even the most levelheaded player out there. ...Perhaps that's projection since I'm nowhere close to levelheaded as a player. Ahem. Anyway, tracking down this game physically nowadays isn't too arduous a task, and a complete PlayStation 2 copy isn't overly expensive, either. I'm glad I spent time with Mickey and friends on the links, and if you're a fan of the genre like I am, you probably will be glad to spend some quality golfing time with the Mickey Mouse crew, too.

[SPC Says: C+]