The BEST unknown SNES game the world needs to know about

It's a game that's never been reviewed before. It's SO obscure that there's NOT EVEN a video of this game on YouTube! Now that's saying something. Enough is enough. The time has come for all that to change. This awesome four player game has been buried and left hidden in the shadows for FAR too long. If you love the SNES, or just love simple, charming, fun, addicting games -- you simply must see this. Sadly, the game remains UNRELEASED to this day. Perhaps a good man, like Brandon Cobb and his Super Fighter team (who will be releasing Nightmare Busters for SNES later this year -- bless them!), will give this game some consideration for release in 2012?? One can only hope! I'll say that if SFT, or anybody ELSE for that matter, if anyone releases this game I'd bet on it becoming a smash hit RUNAWAY SUCCESS in the SNES/retro gaming community. It's such a unique and fun one-of-a-kind game that I'm sure many will gladly purchase. Heck, I know I would.

And no, it doesn't work on the SNES PowerPak. If anyone can find a way to get it to work on the PowerPak, please let us know in this topic!

OK, what's the game called? And why all the hype(rbole)?
Read it, watch it, then play it for yourself and see.
YMMV, but it's definitely a quality game!



Perhaps THE best unknown SNES game around... 'tis a shame


BS Out of Bounds Golf review. CLICK!


Gameplay + cool tricks YouTube video (look for my notes sprinkled throughout!). CLICK!



Dreaming that one day someone will make it available to us all!

 

Nice review Steve. I especially enjoyed seeing the Youtube video. Looks like a really fun game. Hopefully someone will release it on a cart at some point.

 

Looks pretty nice, I always enjoy your articles! Some notes though. Making this game (and any Satelliview game) work on a regular cart would require extensive hacking. Without the Satellaview hardware, it would be a pretty tough go. This is why you had no success on the flash cart. Also, judging by the graphics and gameplay, it is pretty clear that this game uses the same engine as Kirby's Dream Course. If you haven't played Kirby's Dream Course, you should!

 

Looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, it won't run on my machine.

 

It will work on the PowerPAK. If it doesn't load up then the header might be confusing it. However unlike many BS games, it seems to have a valid header with good checksum and should load fine. I don't have time to try testing it myself but I don't see any reason it wouldn't function if it is loaded properly on the PowerPAK.

 

Yeah I'd heard somewhere that making any Satellaview game on a regular cart requires extensive hacking, of which has been beyond the programming skills of everyone I've talked to so far. Kirby's Dream Course is definitely a great game too

Let me know what your results yield when you get a chance. Right now I keep getting the message regarding no header. If it works on your end, please let us know the steps to get this game to work. Much appreciated in advance, with fingers crossed...

 

I love your passion for super famicom titles this game looks like every single reason one gets into super famicom gaming.

 

Welcome back Steve. A great review. I love your enthusiasm.

 

Out of Bounds Golf is by Masaya, Dream Course is by HAL. I have a hard time seeing any code sharing between the two. However, it is obviously very inspired by the Kirby game.

 

Yeah, after playing it, it is not exactly the same, but the gameplay is obviously modeled after Kirby's Dream Course.

 

Hmmm, KDC was released in Japan September 21, 1994.

You can see clearly OB Club was almost finished by August '94 (previewed in EGM in their Sept. 94 issue which came out August '94). Not so sure that the gameplay was modeled after KDC as it looks like both games were in development at pretty much the same time.

I really really like KDC, but I prefer BS Golf myself. To me it plays more like mini golf which appeals greatly to me. KDC on the other hand is like mini golf on acid

Ah thanks for the kind words, guys. Much appreciated. It's easy for me to be passionate about a system I loved so much as a kid, and still now love. In some ways, even more now than I did 20 years ago

 

Very interesting read your review, I enjoyed it as much as the video, want to give the game a try right now!!

 

Credit Kiddo of DigitPress fame for releasing the following:

http://kiddocabbusses.tryhappy.net/Satella/Golf Daisuki OB Club (header hack).smc


This does work on the PowerPak. I've been playing OB Club on my actual SNES on an actual TV the past couple days. Adjusting from playing 18 inches to 8 feet away -- no longer can I line up my thumb, lol

 

Cool. Thanks for throwing the link out there - entertaining little game, this!

 

Wow thanks Steve! Downloading right now :drool:

 

More layers to OB Club

So, in playing it some more, I've discovered some interesting quirks about OB Club that I didn't touch upon previously


Anyone know what the Japanese says here? I don't know what all the yes/no options are for yet, though I presume it's safe to say one of them is YES/NO on the presents being on the golf course. My guess is maybe another one allows no Out of Bounds? (that'd be no fun...). Another guess would be no weather option. Would be cool to find out what each one means. Anyone can translate the option screen for us?


There are 3 game modes. First one is straight up regular golf for 1, 2, 3, or 4 players. 2nd mode is minimum of two players (maximum of four), and is based on who can score first on the least amount of strokes. Whoever does wins the round. This mode, obviously, is faster than the first mode. Finally, the last mode, like Super Bomberman 2, allows Team Play! Pretty cool stuff.



Here you see a gift. These grant you a random item. There are many, I don't know the exact number, but one of my favorites is the poison stroke. This makes all your opponents' next shot very weak. If you're playing TEAM mode, this doesn't affect your partner. Another icon, for example, magically places your opponent's ball in its previous position. The craziest powerup I'd seen though (and only once, it must be rare) is the one that randomly switches all four balls on the course... which could completely change the tide of the battle



Team play demonstration



Pretty cool mode, though I prefer every man for himself


As you can see, OB Club has plenty of tricks to keep one going for a good while. I'd been having a great (and somewhat frustrating, lol, the CPU is tough!) time playing this one on a real TV. Every time I play I see something new, whether it's two balls going in the cup on the same stroke, or a crazy trick shot. I also discover that while the 12 players each have the same ability (i.e. strength), the CPU actually controls each player differently. There are less challenging CPU players, and tough(er) ones. Which means, there IS sort of a "built-in" difficulty factor. Brilliant! This game gets my utmost stamp of approval. From Battle Royal to Team Play to Stroke Play, 48 courses with over 200 random cup generators, one will never truly master OB Club. Talk about longevity...

Has anyone been able to consistently beat all 3 CPU opponents in the 8 course mode? I find it pretty tough. I win out maybe 25% of the time. They're quite a challenge, unlike most CPU opponents in other multi-player games. Quite vicious too. Their propensity to OB you may cause a curse word or two, heh. Still, I can't help but come back to it.

Love this game!


EDIT: Someone translated options screen for us: 1st YES/NO is for penalty, 2nd for weather, and 3rd for items. It's always nice to be able to pick and choose based on your mood...

 

Man, this past weekend I got a chance to play this against my brother. It was me vs. him vs. CPU vs. CPU. I can't tell you how much more fun it is playing this with real people. It's already a blast with 3 CPU rivals in my book, with loved ones it's that much better.

We played all 8 courses on the first 3 worlds. The 2nd world, "Books and Breakfast" one, my brother did amazingly well with all his trick shots. It was his first time playing it and he was nailing some of the craziest shots I ever seen. We both jumped outta our seats when he curved a shot that ricochet off a coffee cup and bounced into the hole. It was frigging SWEET.

We laughed as one CPU rival went "haywire" on like the 6th course. He just snapped and started playing around on the jumper, making his ball jump 6 (!) times in one stroke. With the little sound effect "boop boop boop!" It was hilarious. There was also one random bumper on this one course that deflected the CPU's shot. What great gaming design... it's so evil, heh.



See the jumper there? CPU made his ball bounce on it 6 times in 1 stroke!


I really like the basic simplicity of World 1. I like World 2 because you can really use the obstacles to your advantage, bouncing the ball off coffee cups and such. The ink spills are a bitch though. My bro and I didn't like World 3 (the ancient ruins) so much though. We found it a bit bland coming off the crazy World 2.

Next time we'll try Worlds 4-6. I can't wait for the next big family gathering, so we can max this game out in 4 human player mode. You know this game is special when your brother emails you the next day "Haha, I'm still thinking about that miniature golf game. Why didn't they release this back then? I love it."

It takes a special game for my bro to say something like that. This game simply appeals to all ages and all types of people. I know it'd be a huge hit with females too, with its silliness and cutesy characters.

Also been finding out more about the crazy items. If anyone can add to this list it'd be great:

1. Ball Switcher: This icon seems to be the hardest to get, like the lightning item in Super Mario Kart. It randomly switches all four balls. Can turn what looks like a failure round to one of sweet victory

2. Poison Stroke: Makes opponents' very next shot go very short, even on POW 100

3. Sun: Makes it sunny (meh)

4. Wind Blower One: Gust of wind sends your rivals' balls (tell me I just didn't say that) a ways away. Could potentially lead to O.B. (heh heh heh)

5. Wind Blower Two: Makes the wind MPH speed increase (meh)

6. Mole: Takes rival's next shot back to original position (ouch! love this evil powerup)

7. Fast Shot: Not confirmed, but seems to send your ball at speed of light if you hit the desired button to activate it.

8. Control Shot: Love this one! You can control the ball by working the D-Pad. Unconfirmed: you can control others' shot if they get this icon. I once was able to control CPU ball's shot when he got this icon... weird. So, user and rivals can control? Crazy...

9. Shot Stop: By pressing B, you stop your shot short at any desired time. Can be quite useful

10. Ink: Anyone know what this does? I never figured it out. I'd guess in World 2 it allows you to pass safely through the ink spills? Dunno.

11. Anvil: Anyone know this one? I haven't been able to figure out its purpose. I know it flashes for all opponents' next shot, but I haven't been able to ever employ it. Can anyone solve this mystery?

12. ? That's all the icons I can recall off the top of my head. There may be others I'm missing. Feel free to contribute to this list in any shape or form.


Also, anyone else wanna share their experiences with this game? Would love to hear it. I can never tire of playing this game or hearing others speak about it





CAn anyone translate these wor(l)ds for us? Thanks

 

If you play a lot of Japanese games, you should learn katatana. Very easy to learn, and will help you greatly in navigating menus. Of course, not all menu items will be in katatana, and sometimes even the ones that are will be so weird that you can't even guess what they mean. But often it'll be fairly obvious. The titles on the sides of games are very often in katatana, too.

Just to give you an idea of what this knowledge can do, I'll try to translate the course select screens. I have very little knowledge of the japanese language itself, so a more knowledgeable person can probably clarify. They say (from left to right and top to bottom): nikoniko country club, microworld CC, iseki (slightly uncertain about that one) country club, dream land GC, seaside country club, and future golf links (slightly uncertain about that one too). The white text to the left of "No 1 ~ No 4" says "half," and the text at the bottom says "start button de game gahajimarimasu." ...yeah.

As you can see, it's hit or miss, but still pretty helpful.

 

^ Cool thanks for the info.

By the way, some cool short cuts!

DOGHOUSE SHORT CUT WORLD ONE/HOLE TWO

It comes flying outta the house! Very cool stuff



Each hole has four random cup generators. If it's the former here, don't doghouse it. If it's latter, the doghouse is a great idea. It's all about strategy and seeing where the cup is. The doghouse short cut always shoots your ball at that position... so it's not ideal for the first pic here, but the second pic where the hole lies? Perfect position for a relatively easy putt shot for the Par (neverminding my score there, lol)


HOLE IN THE GROUND WORLD ONE/HOLE FOUR SHORT CUT

Love this one! Get it in the hole and a mole takes your ball to that place 100% of the time. If you get the present on your way to the hole, the remote control icon (if it is what you get) can easily secure an EAGLE shot for you. Just use D-Pad to direct the ball. Also, there is a MOLE icon power-up, and that's where the same looking mole will pop up and take your rival's ball to its original position. One time, a CPU rival was one shot away from a Birdie, but the other CPU opponent in front of him got the MOLE icon. So the CPU rival went ALL the way back to starting position. Instead of finishing with a Birdie, he finished with a +3 and it helped me to finish in 1st place! Mole icon is perhaps the most satisfying power up available (mwahahaha)


There are probably more short cuts in world 1 and possibly other worlds as well. If anyone finds out more, please post here. What can I say, this is the game that keeps on giving. Seems I see or learn something new every time. The mark of an infinitely awesome game. Man, can you imagine if this was released back in '94? Had it beeen, today you would probably see "Golf Daisuki! O.B. Club" (which is its real name BTW, not BS Out of Bounds Golf) heralded on many SNES recommendation lists. Hey, at least we have it now! =)

 

This game rocks i love it i hope someone can convert this to a normal super famicom cart..i asked mottzilla last year if he would have a go at converting bs kaizou choujin shubibinman but i think he was too busy. and then i asked raylyd to give it a shot but he had no luck too..



bs kaizou choujin shubibinman
is also a game by masiya / ncs corp