Golf is one of those strange sports that splits communities in two.  Some people think that Golf is a fantastic sport that needs precision aiming, body co-ordination, and a firm grasp of physics and mathematics to play well. Others - like me - Think that Golf is more of a social pastime. To me, Golf is a great way to get away from the wife and kids, get together with few friends and a couple of beers and release all your stress and aggression by knocking a poor white ball into next week with the aid of a club and screaming "FORE!" at anyone in the near vicinity.

 Eagle Eye Golf is certainly a game for the latter group.

While it may say "The Definitive Simulation" on the back cover, Eagle Eye Golf is a simplified version of the sport in many areas. It's designed to be accessible for everyone, and to be more enjoyable rather than more realistic. Eagle Eye sits somewhere between the over the top cartooniness of Everybody's Golf (Hot Shots Golf to our American audience) and the realism of Tiger Woods PGA, resulting in a game that keeps to the purities of Golf, without inundating the player with the intricacies of the sport.

That's not to say that Eagle Eye Golf doesn't have options. Oh No Siree! Eagle Eye Golf has several game modes, including over 100 Challenge Missions, several tournaments, Stroke Play, Survival Mode, training modes, and a long list of multiplayer variants that you can play on any of the 7 courses the game provides.

Once you've either picked your golfer or created your very own using the built in Character Creator, you get whisked away to the Golf course of choice. First impressions of the game may leave you a little underwhelmed, with the plain yet functional graphics, flickering low-res textures music that's better suited to a 1970's porno flick, and voice acting that makes Night Trap look like an Oscar Nominee, but don't let that put you off.

This game was originally released in Japan in 1997 by Telenet, but never got a license outside of the east until 505 Gamestreet picked up the rights recently, which explains why the game lacks the presentational impact that more recent games have.

The control system is fluid, easy to use and accurate. Simply pull the right stick of the Dual Shock back to power up your shot, then launch the stick forward in a straight line. If you hook the stick to either side as you push it forwards your ball will follow the same ark as your controller did in exactly the same way that many other Golf games play, e.g. Tiger Woods.