Producer: Atlantis
Retail Price: £1.99

It's off to the links once again, and your bag of clubs hangs heavy on the caddy's shoulder - but that doesn't worry you, because you're about to play some great golf.

Two courses are available to you, Lytham and Royal St George's. On each you can decide whether to play a single round, or a four-round pro championship against up to 17 players. The prevailing weather and ground conditions can be set, or given a random element. The wind speed and direction are vitally important, as both can seriously affect the flight of the ball.

At each hole you can select one of 13 clubs. Club selection is made with regard to how the ball is lying, on what type of surface (fairway, bunker, rough), and how far it needs to be hit.

The strength of the swing is another variable. There is also the possibility for backspinning.

Once the ball has been hit on to the green, the putter is automatically selected as the appropriate club, but you still have to determine the direction and strength of the shot. This time the slope may be the problem.

As with all golf courses, there are hazards like sand bunkers, and on these courses in the game there are water traps and some areas which are out of bounds. If you get stuck in one of these, only certain clubs may be used to get you out and back in the contest.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: none
Graphics: bad use of colour with simply-defined targets and scenery
Sound: barely a beep to be heard
Options: championship or medal competition

There have been dozens of golf games released over the years especially budget ones. But Pro Golf II seems to have taken features from lots of versions and put them all together to produce a very well presented and playable game. The great thing about this golf game is its so easy to play and understand what's going on even with its sickeningly bright colours.
NATHAN [61%]

Pro Golf II is bad. Seriously bad. The graphics are chronic, the gameplay is worse.
MIKE [20%]

There's no doubt about it, if you don't know everything there is to know about golf you won't understand, let alone like, Pro Golf II. Rather too much has been crammed into the screen and I find the same problem as with golf on TV: the ball disappears because it is so small and the background so fuzzy. Atlantis set themselves a hard test trying to turn golf to the computer and they failed, miserably.
BYM [23%]

Atlantis
£1.99
Reviewer: Tony Worrall

When giving an overall mark for a computer golf simulation I'm usually tempted to shout... FOUR! But that would be too corny (Dead right there. Ed) Anyway this newie from budget house Atlantis deserves a better mark than that.

Pro Golf II is, astonishingly enough, the follow-up to the hugely successful Pro Golf I. Follow-up usually means retread in this business, and it has to be said that the main difference between old and new is the addition of a couple of new courses to test your wares on (oo-er). Still, as these courses are Royal St George and Lytham St Annes, lets not moan too much.

The action is all seen from above - first the drive down the fairway (Faster then walking, I s'pose. Ed), then a zoom-in for play on the green. The graphics have every UDG feel about them, but they work well and I especially like the animation of the tiny golfer.

Play options include a Championship round against 17 other players, a single round game and a useful one-hole practice session. The Championship option can take the computer some time to work out, with dozens of scores to collate at any one time, and this can become a bit of a bore.

In the end, I suppose, golf games must be compared to the classic Leaderboard. Pro Golf is certainly not in that class, but for two measly quid its no disgrace. Above par, in fact, and handicapped only by the lengthy input before you can tee off. I can see Atlantis knocking up Pro Golf III even now!

Label: Atantis
Author: In-house
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: None
Reviewer: Jim Douglas

Not a big golf fan, me. Haven't really got the Headroom angle on clubbing a little white ball. Still, Pro Golf is reasonable enough.

Up to four players can take part, and you have two course to choose from. Either Royal St George's or Lytham & St Annes. Along with the human players who may take part, there are a host of computer-generated opponents (max - 17), and there are the usual league table breakdowns of what's going on.

The graphics in these things are never much to talk about, and PG2 is no different. Everything is pretty schematic and representative, with very little time having been spent on artistic endeavour.

There are, however, all the little twiddly bits that you'd expect of a golf game - wind direction, ground conditions, club selection etc.

If you're the slightest bit interested in golf, this may be worth a look, though hardened addicts would be better off with the Leaderboard series.