Golf Resort Tycoon

The Good
Golf Resort Tycoon tries to appeal to the same sort of gamers who liked RollerCoaster Tycoon, or any of the other tycoon games that flooded the market afterwards, and it tries to use novel ideas to bring casual gamers into the mix, but all it ends up doing is being another dull budget game.

Still, this doesn't mean there aren't some strong points in the game's favor.

The idea of running your own golf resort and managing the holes, the groundskeeping, and finding creative ways to get money from your guests is quite a good one. I for one would have loved to play a game where it worked.

The 3D graphics set this one aside from the rest of the pack, especially at a time when most of the tycoon clones were in 2D. You can fly around in an overhead view watching, but not participating in, the activities.

You also have the (limited) ability to create your own courses, which is fun for a while. And since you can choose to play in several different settings (including a mountain setting, island setting, and desert setting) you have the option of creating completely unique resorts.

The Bad
But that's about where the good ideas end and this game becomes a chore.

The 3D graphics aren't very good, even for the time, and the animations are ugly. Worse still, the game stutters even on the spiffiest system with everything maxed out.

The AI is abysmal. You constantly have to babysit your groundskeepers (since you aren't allowed to make patrol routes for them), and make sure that your guests go where they're supposed to instead of getting stuck on a tree or deciding to walk in circles.

Of course this might be a blessing in disguise, since the game is slow-paced to the point of boredom. In a proper tycoon game, you have plenty of things to keep yourself occupied with while waiting for the money to roll in. Not here you don't. You can watch your golfer play golf in the slowest manner possible. Or you can watch your employees work, in the slowest manner possible.

Money comes in so slowly, that you could probably spend three hours on this game and still need to wait another thirty minutes before you have enough money to buy anything.

And it doesn't help matters that the game uses a wonky system to make you purchase the various accouterments for your resort. For example, you cannot buy the best toilet until you buy the one below it, which you cannot buy unless you have the entry-level toilet. And if you do buy the best you can, and get rid of the outdated old ones, you can't purchase another of top-quality until you buy both of the others.

All items in the game are like this, making it tiresome and frustrating.

The Bottom Line
Basically, I would say try and find an old copy of RollerCoaster Tycoon, or Sim Theme Park, or really anything but this tepid budget title. It may not be the worst game I've ever played, but it is one of the most boring.