Super Inefficient Golf Review

A golf game where the clubs are replaced with remote explosives. A game with explosive potential or a game which will only leave a pit in the grounds of enjoyment.

Released in March 2018 Super Inefficient Golf looks to change-up the mechanics of an already established and tested market. The major difference between Super Inefficient Golf and other mini-golf games such as Golf with Friends is that instead of using a club to hit a ball into a hole, you use remote detonated explosives triggered by the number keys. The mechanic is difficult to master but isn’t too complicated to grasp, but they end of my first round I was able to play the holes with a mostly successful success rate. Timing is everything, predicting the trajectory that the ball will take after detonating a single (or sometimes multiple) explosive is the key decision-making mechanic the game has to offer.

The aesthetic is similar to mini-golf games already in existence. While this may appear to be uninspired or unoriginal. I do feel that the classic visual style of the mini-golf genre does have a charm to it which I think would be spoiled with another art style although with so many games appearing with the same graphical expectations, a new offbeat style wouldn’t go amiss within the golfing genre.

There was nothing special about the sound of the game although there wasn’t anything inherently bad about it. The music fits the gameplay well and doesn’t draw too much attention away from the game. It could have been better but given the indie status of the developers it is of a high quality. Sound effects of the explosions draw from a good quality foley which fits the theme well. Overall good sound with room for future improvement

Super Inefficient Golf does differ from the competition is the style of the holes. Verticality is something other mini golf games often shy away from, but explosives open up the possibilities of gameplay by allowing the player to reach great heights, often from right at the bottom, meaning navigating ninety degrees to get over an obstacle. This makes for an exciting mechanic although can get frustrating if you stack too many explosives on the underside only for it to fly off at an odd angle for the tenth time. Other obstacles such as explosive barrels are also fairly prevalent which will blow you very far off course if you hit them. There were a few experiences where I felt that there were too many of these shots ending targets, it felt like more like an rng system than an actual skilful experience. While admittedly it does mesh with the title of the game, I did feel that it was a cheap mechanic.

Overall, I felt that the game was a good experience although I didn’t feel that it beat away the competition, the game takes an interesting turn on the genre, there wasn’t anything exceptional when compared to other existing games. The game keeps to the classic graphical settings although that isn’t necessarily a bad point in the book. While at times there are some design features which could be interpreted as lazy or bad, the overall experience within the game is of a good quality with a good amount of content. I would recommend this game if you are an avid player of mini-golf games, but you are also looking for a twist on the genre. As its own thing I wouldn’t say that this game is worth the investment.

REVIEW CODE: A FREE PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.