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The quality golf simulation is something that has failed to appear on the various console gaming systems. While many attempts have been made at producing a golf simulation for the console, none of these attempts has been able to remotely compete with PC golf games such as Golden Bear Challenge, Links LS, or PGA Championship. Therefore, the anime-style arcade golf games have been the only real salvation for consolers looking for a worthy golf outing. Tee Off, from Acclaim, is the first golf game for the Sega Dreamcast. It is clearly designed in the spirit of Hot Shots Golf for the Sony PlayStation.

The graphics of Tee Off are average. I expected more from a Dreamcast golf title. While the game sports vibrant colors and cute characters, I kept getting the sense that, by and large, the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation could almost handle this level of graphical prowess, or lack thereof. The course graphics are a mixed bag. The grass has a flat, photo-realistic quality about it, but this effect does not work well with the ball. When the ball hits the grass, it appears as though there is a thin sheet of glass between the ball and the grass. The distant background graphics look very nice, but the trees and the like are 2D and do not look that special. The characters are the typical anime fare. They have a clean appearance and animate well. Unfortunately they lack personality. There is little variety in the arsenal of each character's reactions to shots. Given the large amount of storage space with the disc format, it is sad that the developer did not include a wider variety of reactions to add personality to the golfers.

The camera angles utilized in Tee Off suffer from some problems. While the in-flight camera is acceptable, the camera work before the shot is frustrating. In many instances, the user has no way of viewing the green due to obstructions. No amount of zooming in and out is able to remedy this problem. This issue takes much of the strategy of the approach shots out of the game.

The sound in Tee Off excels on the course, but is otherwise average. The sound of the driver blasting the ball is spot-on. The character phrasing is pitiful. First, the characters do not have much variety in their phrases. Second, the phrases they do use are boring and cliché. The music has a definite Japanese flavor to it and is appropriate for this style of game. However, it gets quickly annoying when playing during the actual gameplay. A word of warning: The music must be adjusted before entering the game, so be sure to turn it off before starting a round. Otherwise, you will have to play three holes, save the game, exit the game, reload the game, and get back to playing - arghhh!

While the graphics and sound in Tee Off are average, the gameplay is below average. The traditional clicking interface is used to hit the ball. A circular gauge serves as the power indicator, and the user can adjust the placement of the club hitting the ball with the joystick. The gameplay offers nothing new to video golfing. On a real down note, the games take forever to play. The delay in between shots is lengthy. This long length of time between shots is a showstopper. Playing 18 holes takes at least an hour, even when the user is not taking much time to line up shots. On a positive note, the game can be saved every three holes.

The biggest problem with the gameplay of Tee Off is in the putting. It is horrible! Putting successfully is not overly difficult, but it is just no fun. First, anime characters have huge heads. These characters flash on and off while on the green. It is distracting to try to read the grid while a big-ol' noggin is flashing on the green. Second, it is tough to read the slope of the green. The greens do not exhibit the major slopes of the greens on the better golf courses of the real world. Third, the grid moves when lining up a putt, as opposed to the use of an arrow system. In other words, the green rotates as opposed to an aiming marker. I found this design choice to be absolutely annoying. Finally, the grid only extends for 30 feet. It is darn near impossible to read the green on putts longer than this distance. What the hell? I know that this is an arcade game and not a simulation, but for goodness sake, let me at least try to read the green.

Tee Off only offers five courses - America, Scotland, Australia, Japan, and Africa. While each of these courses has some interesting locale-specific landmarks, there is not enough variety in the holes. Take away the landmarks, and the user will have a tough time feeling much difference from hole to hole. The varying conditions of the courses add a little longevity to the game, but a few more courses, and better variety from course to course would have been nice.

Gate Ball Mode is a mode of play that is unlike anything I have ever seen in a golf game. It is actually a game unto itself that really has little to do with golf. Gate Ball is set on a futuristic grid, and plays somewhat like croquet. This mode has a fully selectable set of options and is backed by fairly cool music. I played around in this mode for a couple hours and decided it should have probably been left out of Tee Off. I applaud the developer for adding something extra to the package, but I would have much rather seen some extra courses in place of the Gate Ball Mode. Or perhaps decent stat tracking could have been worked on. One of the features of golf games that I always enjoy is the tracking of statistics. Tee Off does a poor job of stat tracking.

Tee Off is currently the only option for Dreamcast golfing. Given the potential for superb graphics and the high quality of golf games already available on the PC, it is ashamed that a better golf title is not an option for Dreamcast owners. Ultimately, Tee Off fails to capture the same golfing excitement that Hot Shots Golf 2 brings to the table. It quickly becomes an exercise in monotony with its slow pace and miserable putting experience. There are definitely some things to like about this title, but it feels poorly conceived in too many areas to justify its purchase. My advice is to try out Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64 or Hot Shots Golf 2 for the PlayStation in place of purchasing Tee Off.