This post has affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more.
From the archive: this review first ran on the Mac Gaming Alliance (MGA), the Mac games site that lived here on DimensionZ in the late 1990s. It was published around 1998 and is reproduced as originally written. More in the Mac Gaming Alliance archive.
| Publisher | MacSoft and Accolade |
|---|---|
| Tested on | Performa 5260/100 Mhz |
| Gameplay | 3 / 5 apples |
| Graphics & Sound | 5 / 5 apples |
| Interface | 4 / 5 apples |
| Difficulty | 4 / 5 apples |
| Bugs | 4 / 5 apples |
| Overall | 4 / 5 apples |
| Reviewed by | Jonathan Dreyer |
Jack Nicklaus is the first game in the MacSoft/Accolade deal which will also bring us Starcontrol 3 and Deadlock. Jack Nicklaus was created and ported to the Mac by Accolade, MacSoft is just publishing and distributing it.
Jack Nicklaus’ box points out that “Graphics so detailed they look like photos” that part is true but, it goes on “And fast screen re-draws still won’t keep you waiting between shots” that part is not true, I found Jack very slow, not slow enough to make it unplayable but still slow…
Gameplay
Jack Nicklaus has a standard computer golf game gameplay, you choose your club, you target the hole, and you swing with the swing meter. I found the computer caddies in this game to be pretty good at choosing the right clubs, I only manually switched clubs once or twice. The targeting feature on Jack Nicklaus I found to be a little inaccurate, I had trouble lining up my shoots exactly as I wanted them but, that didn’t do anything to the actual accuracy of the shoots. I found the swing meter in Jack Nicklaus Golf rather refreshing, it had a nice natural curve to it compared to some other golf games like PGA Tour Golf 3. I have a minor complaint against the swing meter though, maybe it’s just me but it seems to be faster than I would like, maybe I’m just seeing things?
The most interesting feature of Jack Nicklaus is it’s Course Editor. I found the course editor a little too complex for my tastes but, if you spend the time work at it, you should be able to create any number of your own course adding for unlimited replayability in the game.
Interface
Whoever ported Jack Nicklaus, although they did a pretty good job, It seemed to me that it just wasn’t up to the standards I expected compared to games like Quake or Duke Nukem 3D.
If anyone has any info on Eclipise Software who ported Jack, could you let me know; Jonathan Dreyer
Graphic & Sound
One thing that Jack Nicklaus can brag about is it’s beautiful graphics. Jack Nicklaus 4 has the greatest graphics I’ve seen in a golf game yet! In the water you can actually see the reflections of trees, bushes, and other scenery.
The background sound in Jack is amusing, while not of any great quality, there is plenty of it, be it frogs, birds, whistling wind, etc… There were enough different background sounds to keep me hitting my ball in rather unusual place to see what sounds would play while there.
Bugs
Nothing big, I had to re-install once although I never did find out why…
Conclusion
In my opinion Jack Nicklaus 4 Golf is a excellent golf game for your money. The most appealing feature of this game is the included Course editor which gives the game UNLIMITED replayability.
So if you like golf, this is the game for you!
Find a copy
Jack Nicklaus 4 Golf has been out of print for years, but used copies of the original Mac release still turn up, and some classics have been re-released for modern systems. Search for Jack Nicklaus 4 Golf on Amazon.
Leave a Reply