Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: SNK
RELEASE DATE: Mar. 24th, 1988 (JP), Sept. 1988 (US), May 18th, 1990 (EU)
The History
Hold up, wait a minute. What did that box say? “Endorsed by the U.S. National Video Game Team,” right next to Lee Trevino’s head. As if to claim equality with the golf legend himself.
But this isn’t the U.S. National Video Game Team Fighting Golf now, is it? So who are the U.S. National Video Game Team? How did they have enough clout to get their endorsement on an SNK-developed golf game? And why, out of all games, did they endorse Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf?
According to Wikipedia, The U.S. National Video Game Team “was founded in July 1983 by Walter Day and Jim Riley as part of the Electronic Circus tour.” The Team was essentially comprised of top arcade players, and in the early-to-mid 80s, they’d go around the U.S. in a tour bus to arcades across the country and challenge top local players.
As the 80s progressed, the USNVGT also embraced home consoles. Donn Nauert, the Team’s captain starting in 1986, did a series of commercials for the Atari 7800 in 1987. He also served as referee for a TV special called “Incredible Sunday,” where three teenagers competed against each other in Super Mario Bros. 2, Rad Racer, and Ice Hockey - both for glory and a U.S. National Video Game Team jacket. Apparently, this program served as inspiration for Nintendo’s own World Championship Tournament in 1990.
None of this explains, however, why Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf was chosen to receive the USNVGT’s endorsement, nor does it explain why SNK would allow them to place the endorsement right next to the game’s star.
I reached out to Patrick Scott Patterson, current curator for the USNVGT, to ask about this. He said, “I actually have original press documentation about the Endorsement seals that speaks to this… Might be a bit to get it out but when I do I’m happy to share. It won’t have any specifics for Fighting Golf but the USNVGT had a good relationship with SNK at the time, so I’m sure that played in. Jeff Peters (one of the original USNVGT members – ed.) even worked on Crystalis for the company.” If I receive any additional information from Mr. Patterson that sheds light on the Team’s endorsement of Fighting Golf, I’ll update this section at a later date.
So there you have it. The U.S. National Video Game Team had a good relationship with SNK. Presumably, the Team liked Fighting Golf well enough. Thus, the Endorsement seal.
But did the Team’s endorsement boost sales of Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf? Hard to say. No official sales figures are available for the game. That said, late 1988 and 1989 is where NES game sales were beginning to skyrocket across all genres. The NES also hadn’t seen a golf game since Nintendo’s own Golf three years prior. This leads me to believe that Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf was a success, simply because all the golf/gaming dads likely wanted something new. The USNVGT endorsement, while very noticeable and welcome, might have just been a bonus.
The Game
Now that we’ve sorta solved that mystery, how is Fighting Golf, really? Do golfers bash each over the head with nine irons until Lee Trevino appears to put them in their place? Or is Fighting Golf just another golf game?
You select one of four characters – Pretty Amy, Miracle Chosuke, Super Mex, or Big Jumbo – each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For example: Pretty Amy has the least amount of power, but excellent control, while Miracle Chosuke’s power is also limited, but his putting skills are fantastic. And yes, their names are hilarious. Super Mex is Lee Trevino’s nickname from when he was actively golfing, but the others? Beautiful, contrived nonsense.
Don’t let the silly monikers fool you. Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf putts for keeps. The game’s two courses, USA and Japan, are absolute golf ball death traps. No course architect worth his salt would have created these. Large bodies of water next to multiple bunkers. Four levels of rough ground, including “Super” and “Deep” roughness that severely limit your swing power. Limited fairway means you have to make every shot count. If you’ve never played a golf game before, Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf will likely infuriate you.
The golf swing meter is very similar to Nintendo’s Golf. ‘A’ button to start your backswing, ‘A’ button again to set your ball’s flight distance, then ‘A’ again as the meter moves towards the arrow to release the ball. Once the ball is struck, however, you have options. You can hit a high ball by pressing ‘Up’ and a low ball by pressing ‘Down’ directly after you hit the ball. You can also curve the ball by pressing ‘A’ and ‘Left’ or ‘Right’ at the same time. Or you can just let the ball fly without any added intervention. The deeper you get into each course, though, learning the subtleties is how you’ll maintain a decent score.
In addition to being the first NES game endorsed by the U.S. National Video Game Team, Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf is the first four-player game of any kind on the NES. Yes, it’s alternating four-player, so players pass the controls around as needed. The NES wouldn’t receive a four-player adapter until the NES Four Score in 1990. But still! Four friends, some Cheeto Puffs, and some Fighting Golf huddled around a CRT, what else do you need?
That is, of course, assuming said friends are ok with Fighting Golf’s steep learning curve. Even once you get a handle on the swing meter, the hole layouts are still brutal. A six mile-per-hour breeze and one miscalculated swing later can put you in heavy rough and set you back several strokes. Fighting Golf has solid play control, whimsical music, and even some humor in the player animations, but unless you’re a seasoned golf gamer, it’s often too stinkin’ hard for its own good.
C
*image courtesy of the Golden Age Arcade Historian
The USNVGT endorsement is so random, lol. Trevino’s endorsement is understandable, from the marketing it looks like they wanted to appeal to adult golf fans (e.g. dads). This game is oddly prolific too, with arcade and PC versions as well. There was even a Tiger handheld version. Not to mention the infamous Simpsons parody Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge.
This was a fascinating read! Fighting Golf is such a strange, special artifact. I think I prefer the old arcade-hopping incarnation of esports to the modern version. There was more magic and less drama.