Golf

Golf is a sports simulation that introduced the foundational mechanics for virtually every golf video game that followed. You control a golfer (unofficially Mario, later confirmed by Nintendo in a 1991 guidebook) across 18 holes, accounting for wind direction, club selection, and terrain elevation . Gameplay modes include single stroke play or two-player doubles stroke/match play. The revolutionary power bar system—press once to start the swing, again for power, a third time for precision—became the genre standard . A top-down course view appears on the right, while the golfer sprite and club info display on the left. The game features no background music, only minimal sound effects (ball strikes, landings), possibly an intentional design choice reflecting golf's quiet nature .

NES

Released by Nintendo in Japan on May 1, 1984, in North America on October 18, 1985, and in Europe on November 15, 1986 . Developed by Nintendo R&D2 and HAL Laboratory, directed by Kenji Miki, designed by Miki and Shigeru Miyamoto, programmed by future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, with music by Koji Kondo . Golf became the best-selling sports game on the NES/Famicom . Contemporary and retrospective reviews praise its genre-defining innovations but note significant flaws: 16-direction aiming (not smooth 360 degrees), choppy course navigation, trees counting as out of bounds, and O.B. penalties resetting the shot to the original tee . The game was hidden as an Easter egg in Nintendo Switch firmware as a tribute to Iwata after his passing .