GameSpot editors' review
-
CNET editors' rating:
stars
OK
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 11/06/2003
- Updated on: 02/18/2004
- Released on: 11/04/2003
- Originally published on GameSpot: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (Game Boy Advance) Review
More often than not, when a publisher decides to roll out a game in true multiplatform style, the GBA version tends to come out as an afterthought. The features of the full-sized console versions get compressed to fit the limited capabilities of Nintendo's handheld--usually to lukewarm results--and this is basically the case with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 for the GBA. Some of these features actually translate pretty smoothly, but there are plenty that don't. Furthermore, the game seems to be lacking in some specific characteristics that you'd expect a modern golf game to get right.
Of all the versions of Tiger Woods 2004 out there, the GBA version is easily the least impressive.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 imitates its bigger brother's analog swing mechanic and has you pushing down and up on the D pad to swing the club. You can put hook or slice on your shot by pressing diagonally. This imitation-analog control scheme doesn't provide the same level of accuracy as the old-timey three-button-click mechanic, but all the same, it works well enough. Additionally, you can charge up the power of your swing by tapping on either shoulder button during your backswing, and you can affect the spin of the ball while it's in the air by pressing a direction on the D pad while tapping on either shoulder button. For all the realism that the game tries to imbue with the swing mechanic, it seems counterintuitive to include such blatantly unrealistic devices while not including an option to disable them.
When you get on the putting green, though, you're given little indication as to the contour of the turf, thus leaving you to rely solely on your "caddy's tips," which give you a rough estimation of where you should aim to sink your shot. The putting doesn't make you feel like you're really playing the game, and it just isn't fun. The other significant quirk comes when you're lining up your long shots. Before you go off the tee, you can press the A button to switch to a top-down perspective, which lets you change clubs and lets you adjust your aim. However, when you're in this view, you can only move around the course as far as you can hit the ball, which means you'll often be lining up a shot without any real idea of where the hole or even the green is. This poor functionality is so obvious that it almost seems like there's something missing.
The game doesn't really do anything too radical to the sport of golf and pretty much sticks to the safe stuff in terms of gameplay options. There's a practice mode, which is good for a one-off game of golf, as well as a career mode where you can choose between full 18-hole tournament games and special three-hole scenarios. Either provides a decent game of golf, but the career mode feels pretty limited, so a few days of steady play is enough time to tear through the game's eight tournaments and 12 scenarios.
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