2000 · Golf · Sports

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition

Take your golfing game to seven different authentically recreated courses. With over a dozen different scoring modes, Zone and LAN multiplayer support, this game has plenty of options for you to play even if you've never laid hands on a golf club before. Full tutorial and quickstart options ease you into the game. Multiple swing methods and customizations keep the game catering to you, not the other way around.

Released: 24 August 2000
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Golf Sports
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Non-fiction
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB E
Languages: English

About

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition is a 2000 golf video game developed and published by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows. It is the final game in the Microsoft Golf series, and the successor to Microsoft Golf 1999 Edition. It uses the same game engine as Links LS 2000 (1999), part of Microsoft's Links series of golf games.

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition was marketed as a basic golf game with limited features, intended for casual players and beginners. It received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic, with some praise going towards the game's graphics and high resolution. Some critics noted similarities between the game and Links LS 2000, and believed that it would appeal to its target demographic.

Keywords

golf
simulation

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition is similar to Links LS 2000, and features seven courses, most of which are already featured in previous Links games and add-on disks. Courses include Bighorn in California; Bountiful Golf Club and Entrada at Snow Canyon, both in Utah; Kapalua Plantation and Mauna Kea, both in Hawaii; Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia; and the fictional Three Canyons red rock course. Courses include varying obstacles and conditions relating to wind, fog, and cloud coverage.

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition features ten game modes, five of which are absent from Links LS 2000. Modes include match, Nassau, scramble, skins, and stroke. The game also offered multiplayer through MSN Gaming Zone. The game includes three playable golf characters, and more can be custom-made by the player.

Development

Microsoft Golf 2001 was developed and published by Microsoft, which owned the rights to the Links series. Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition uses the same game engine as the 1999 game Links LS 2000. In North America, Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition was released for Microsoft Windows on August 24, 2000. It was marketed as a basic golf game with limited features, intended for casual players and beginners.

Reception

Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic. Some critics viewed Microsoft Golf 2001 Edition as a basic version of the Links games; several noted similarities between the game and Links LS 2000 in particular. Kevin Rice of Daily Radar considered it a "continuation of Links LS 2000 with very minor changes," but stated that this was "not really a bad thing". Brett Todd of Computer Games Magazine called the game "really nothing more than a repackaged Links LS 2000 offered at a bargain basement price," while stating that this "is both good and bad."

Critics considered the game a good value at $20, and believed it would appeal to its target demographic of casual players, rather than hardcore golfers. Considering its low price, Todd believed the game could have appeal for some people, but not for most, stating that nearly all of its good points had been eclipsed by other golf games. Stephen Poole of GameSpot called the game an "attractive package" for its variety of terrain and "excellent" course design.