I find golf something of an odd sport in that I both enjoy it and find it boring in equal measure. I can’t stand regular golf, however I’ll struggle to find a more enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours than engaging in the crazy variety. It’s this side of the sport that I’ve always found translates well into video games, especially those which fall into the arcade genre.
Enter Turbo Golf Racing. Aiming to do what Rocket League did with football, this is a game that puts you behind the wheel of a buggy with the aim of smashing an oversized golf ball down a variety of fairways and eventually into the finish zone. Here a large shaft of light signals as to where the course hole can be found.
This second beta that has become available on Xbox presented a choice of twelve different courses which could be played solo to get some practice in, or online against seven other racers. Each single player track had three stars up for grabs, all earned by hitting certain time targets. The more stars you earned, the more rewards you would unlock.
It’s as delightfully simple as it sounds, and lots of fun when playing with others as the melee unfolds. Thankfully, you’ll ghost through opponents and their supersized golf balls, leaving you to squarely focus on your own. Turbo Golf Racing is all about the multiplayer, and online matchmaking is slick and quick. Matches consist of three rounds, with points up for grabs depending on where players place.
You can deploy a few tricks to outrun other players, such as jump, flip whilst in midair, glide and of course boost. These come in handy as, like in real golf, certain areas of the course will slow you down such as long grass and sandy bunkers. Your boost can be refilled by performing certain actions, as well as driving along certain luminous strips of track. You can also hoof the ball through boost rings that will give you the edge over your opponents. You can also go on the attack, making use of homing rockets to blast other players and slow them down.
Turbo Golf Racing is certainly easy to pick up and play, but I did find the driving over-sensitive. This is especially true when you miss your golf ball, and need to drive back around to get it moving again. In fact, this scenario eats up a lot of time and even the reset button won’t prevent you from eating your rivals’ dust.
Anyhow, as I said earlier, playing unlocks rewards which is also the case in multiplayer. Some of these are exclusive which can be carried through to the final release with Turbo Golf Racing due to hit Early Access, Xbox Game Preview and Game Pass in August. Others have been designed by the game’s community. There were plenty available in the beta and it has been promised that the amount will only grow in the future.
Earning XP levels you up whilst other rewards will allow you to go shopping. You can get your hands on all sorts, such as new car parts, boost effects and golf ball styles to name but a few. Limited time objectives will also net you some extra currency to spend.
However, what interested me the most are the power cores. These allow you to make use of certain potentially game changing abilities, such as an increased boost or bouncier ball. Playing around with these different skills as you unlock them is great fun.
I really enjoyed my time with the second Turbo Golf Racing Beta. The sport lends itself to the arcade genre and the colourful, quick fire gameplay works well. I’m interested to see how deep Hugecalf Studios can make the experience because this is a game which has a lot of potential.
Turbo Golf Racing will tee off on 4th August, landing on Xbox Game Preview and Xbox Game Pass. To see the action for yourself, check out the trailer below:
