Super FamiComplete #69: Super Birdie Rush (Redux)

Title: Super Birdie Rush

Release Date: 03/06/1992

Developer: Data East

Publisher: Data East

A new month of titles! What could the first one be? Super Birdie Rush? Could it be an avian action-platformer? Perhaps a racing game? Maybe a port of Flicky? Nope! Its another golf game (we will actually have two this month so buckle in). This one is Japan only, though, which is rather rare for a sports game. Let's check it out.

Background

Our Joe & Mac friends at Data East are back on the blog again.They are definitely one of the classic companies of this era, and so I am pretty excited to see how they try their hand at a golf sim. 

Not too much is known about this game's development. It has a little mascot named "Mr. Grandslam" which is kind of cool. It is a sequel to a Famicom exclusive golf game called Golf Club: Birdie Rush, and both games seem to play kind of similarly. 

Gameplay

In this era, there seemed to be two kinds of golf games: birds-eye view golf, where the point of view is from a height looking down at the green, or a 3rd person golf game, where you are playing golf from the perspective behind the golfer. This game is a prime example of the birds-eye golf. 

 

The game has a very vibrant primary color palette, with very rich greens and blues. It makes hitting the links quite enjoyable in this virtual setting. It is definitely a much more cartoonish in its aesthetic than Hal's Hole in One or Haranaku Augusta. The UI is nicely done too. 

The action is pretty serviceable. Believe it or not, its a golf game! None of the controls seems broken or off kilter. Golf really hasn't changed too much in the video game setting: you choose a club, where you will hit the ball, and then the power of your back-swing and fore-swing (or whatever the terms those golf-jocks use). It plays much the same as the aforementioned golf games. I mean I guess I can't really fault it for doing nothing new with the sport of golf...but yeah there is nothing new with this game. 

 

What about them sweet, sweet, 16bit golf licks?

Per usual, golf games tend to have pretty excellent music. This game is no exception.

Verdict

It's a golf game!