September 15, 1991 — HAL’s Hole in One Golf

There is a game-breaking flaw in HAL’s golf release for the SNES — if you end up in a sand trap, you’re in it pretty much for good.

While RPGs of the era could boast 40–60 hours of gameplay, one sand trap offers about the same value. You’re only option is to try to shoot your way out by aiming away from the closest edge of the trap, so shoot back the way you came, a practice I would assume is frowned upon in real life golf.

I managed to make it to the seventh hole before getting permanently stuck in a sand trap.

Aside from that mechanic, it takes just a few holes to get into the swing of the game. I managed to get par and birdie, but early on racked up a lot of strokes giving up mired in the sands with a final score of 38, with a par of 24 for the holes I did play and 72 for the course.

Another game experimenting with Mode 7, and at this point it’s safe to say: mode 7 wasn’t that great.

While HyperZone and HAL’s Hole in One are flops, the developer goes on to produce Kirby games, a bunch of Pokemon games, and arguably their crowning achievement: Earthbound.