Your caddy isn't especially good (you'll only get the total yardage of the hole, and you'll never know how far you are from the pin once you leave the tee) and the wind gets suspiciously tough when you drop too far below par, but in 1984, if you were looking for a decent golf simulation, Golf was where you wanted to tee off.
Gameplay: Select your club and aim your shot. Tap A once to start your backswing, again to gauge your power, and one last time to square the impact of your club. You can pull or draw your shot (careful not to hook to slice there, Tiger), or hit the fearsome Super Shot if you connect perfectly on the one-wood. Once you're up on the green, read the break, take aim, and tap twice to put it in the hole.
You can choose from a few different modes, from single-player stroke play to two-player match play, and since the links at the Nintendo Country Club aren't too difficult, it's a nice, low-key alternative to NES staples like Excitebike, Ice Climber, and Clu Clu Land.
Could be mistaken for: Uh, it's golf. If you mistake it for anything else, you need to spend a little less time in Bat Country.
Kids today might not like it because: No matter how you dress it up, it's still golf.
Kids today might like it because: The unofficial John Daly mod turns this into a hell of a drinking game. If you're still able to push buttons by the 18th hole, you lose.
Enduring contribution to gaming history: PGA Tour Golf on the Sega Genesis may have helped golf games reach critical mass on console systems, but Nintendo's Golf was the first to tap into the market. Whether you're a Hot Shots Golf fanatic or you prefer a more realistic EA Sports title, tip a 40 for Mario the next time you hit the virtual links. —Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton is a Cinderella story… a former greenskeeper now about to become the Masters champion.