By Alay Polanco

Disaster Golf, released by Hippo Havoc, is a unique and creative way to play a classic sport. The game, which is just $1.99, begins with a tutorial that introduces players to four abilities in the form of natural disasters: wind, meteor, geyser and lightning.  Throughout the game, players utilize these abilities to hit a golf ball around the course. The first ability, wind, is used to give the ball momentum and push it closer to the hole. Meteor is the second ability, and it drops an actual meteor on your golf ball. Depending on where you aim the fiery ball, it will launch the golf ball upward, forward, or sideways. The geyser ability lofts the ball into the air, and a lightning strike sends the ball to the area of your choice. Typically, I found that these abilities are not very useful by themselves. But there are ways to enhance them by using them in combination. One is to simultaneously use the geyser ability to launch the ball upward, all the while employing the lightning ability to launch it forward.

After progressing from the tutorial, you’re greeted with a new set of stages set in the jungle, along with a new set of abilities: earthquake, singularity, and sandstorm. These abilities serve different purposes: earthquake is similar to meteor, for instance, but it doesn’t launch the ball as far. Singularity is considered one of the better abilities by the community, and is one of, if not the most used ability in the game. It summons a black hole that swallows anything in its radius and fixes the ball in place. The final ability, sandstorm, is like geyser and wind combined, although I find it’s quite weak.

Each level has a unique obstacle that will try to throw you off your path. In one stage, there are ginormous hippos that inhale anything within reach, including your golf ball, which forces you to restart the entire level. In a later stage, there are mushroom trampolines that will ricochet your golf ball off its course and mess up the entire trajectory that you set for the ball. The way the levels are set will help you create distinct combinations of abilities that will make beating the stages easier. 

My favorite feature of the game is the leaderboard system, which adds a multiplayer feel (although the game is single player). The leaderboard lets you compete against people globally to try to beat the lowest time on the various stages. While the learning curve of the game is fairly easy, some techniques that you need for better times require higher skills. Becoming proficient at these will help you improve, so that you can beat other people’s times on the leaderboard. While the game adds an interesting spin to the game of golf, you’ll often find yourself using the same strategies as others on the leaderboard to compete for the record, generally because there is only one way to get the fastest time. 

I found the game’s graphics to be very distinctive, with a number of special touches, such as the inclusion of the aforementioned hippos (nice and meta – because the devs are called Hippo Havoc), as well as chameleons, birds and many types of dinosaurs. The game has an unusual look for a 3D game, in that it appears playfully cartoonish, rather than realistic. The music changes to fit each level; it has a prehistoric feel during the game with dinosaurs and other ancient creatures, for instance. Sometimes, it seems inspired by the music of the original Crash Bandicoot.

Disaster Golf is not without challenges, however. Primarily, it doesn’t have enough content. There are only two worlds of nine levels each, for a total of eighteen levels in the entire game. Honestly, I know the game doesn’t cost much, but I did want more depth. This can be fixed with DLCs, which would add more maps and abilities. Further, if you want to have the fastest time overall, you are limited to using the abilities that are best for each particular level, which limits your creativity. Adding more disasters like floods and snow, would be appreciate, as would multiplayer.

Overall, the game is well-thought-out and well-constructed.  I love many of the small things about it,  but there are changes that should happen to improve it, which would significantly increase its diversity and bring in more players. Overall, it’s fun game for everybody, one that could be made even more fun with more content and online capabilities.

Alay Polanco goes to the TapCo School in the Bronx. This is Alay’s first review for the New York Videogame Critics Circle.

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