This review covers Golden Tee Arcade Classics on Xbox Series X/S. Priced at $29.99 US (€25), it is available digitally on Nintendo Switch (and Switch 2), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. A physical edition for PlayStation 5 and Switch arrives October 24.
Golden Tee Arcade Classics gathers six Golden Tee Golf arcade classics from 1995 to 2001, Golden Tee 3D Golf, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2K and the original Golden Tee Classic. Alongside these golf games both hardware derived World Class Bowling and Shuffleshot were added for variety. This collection marks the 49th Golden Tee release since its 1989 debut and counting all spin-off bowling and shuffleboard titles brings the total near 55.
Digital Eclipse, Atari, and Incredible Technologies
Digital Eclipse is known as one of the best retro and remaster developers in the industry, with its first titles appearing in 1992. Their work has earned praise across many outlets and their pedigree speaks for itself. Their large portfolio includes releases such as The Disney Afternoon Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection and definitive editions of classic Capcom arcade games. They also took on the remasters of Atari’s Asteroids and Centipede for the Atari Flashback Classics series, and played a key role in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, which preserved over a hundred vintage titles.
Atari itself is often called the grandfather of North American gaming; after years of ups and downs it has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence bringing the company back to the fore front with the new ownership fully embracing its legacy and willing to use its dormant licenses. Incredible Technologies, formed in 1985, celebrates forty years of arcade innovation. Beyond Golden Tee Golf, they’re responsible for arcade classics like Time Killers, BloodStorm and Arlington Horse Racing, a gambling simulator I remember from the arcades and my late father’s clubhouse in 1990. Early in their history they released these titles under the Strata name, so you might recognize that branding on older cabinets.
Golf Gameplay
With this collection eight titles let up to four players compete at home without worrying about last-call bar closures, as most of these arcade cabinets were placed back in the day. Each game retains its distinct character: 3D Golf offers vivid 3D course design, ’97 emphasizes strategic doglegs, ’98 and ’99 add bonus holes, 2K ramps up complexity and realism, while Classic is in here just for pure nostalgia.
Control Schemes
Recreating the arcade trackball on a console controller is no small feat, and the developers provide two distinct options. Professional mode lets you hold down the B button while spinning the right stick to simulate the original trackball, an approach that feels immediately familiar to anyone who played the Golden Tee Home Version in 2012, since the swing mechanics are identical. Powerful drives and delicate putts respond to your stick speed, but light taps either dribble a few yards or explode into a full‑distance swing.
Aim Assist mode takes a different tack: you use the stick to align direction and power, then press to execute. It delivers more consistency inside 30 yards yet can still ignore feather‑light inputs. Both methods suffer dead zones around that 15‑ to 30‑yard range. Practically, this means tiny input changes can send a Sand Wedge shot 60 yards past the pin or fail to register at all and turning simple putts into surprising gambles. To soften this frustration, the game adds mulligans: you have a split second after a poor stroke to confirm a do‑over, with as many as eighteen mulligans available per round. Newcomers may find this mechanic essential, while seasoned players can treat it as a safety net they rarely need.
Display and Options
You can toggle CRT filters, screen curvature, borders and resolution to recreate classic arcade visuals. Enabling the original aspect ratio with borders on not only shows on-screen swing guides but also integrates authentic cabinet artwork into the frame, reminding players of the arcade origins. Disabling filters and using full-screen mode offers a crisp, modern presentation.
Bowling and Shuffleboard
World Class Bowling and Shuffleshot hail from IT’s Strata-era lineup and add welcome variety. In World Class Bowling, Professional mode lets you impart spin by spinning the right stick, but controlling the ball’s path can be tricky. Misaligned releases often lead to frustrating fouls or gutterballs. Aim Assist steadies your roll by fixing direction, yet the increased linearity sacrifices the nuance needed to consistently pick up strikes. Shuffleshot brings these same control quirks to bocce, shuffleboard, croquet and cue events. In bocce, a perfectly straight throw can nearly guarantee a perfect score, while slight angles see your ball drifting unpredictably. Across all these events, the balance between slipperiness in Professional mode and over-straightening in Aim Assist creates both moments of triumph and head-shaking exasperation.
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For under $30 you receive eight full arcade titles. The selection is impressive, but the lack of a true trackball control and the persistent dead-zone issues can diminish the fun. With minor tweaks to stick sensitivity and dead-zone handling, this collection could surpass the classic 2000 PlayStation release. A few updates, perhaps adding the original 1989 Golden Tee or Live-series online courses, could lift the score into the mid-8s and cement its place as the definitive home experience.
The good
- Excellent selection of classic Golden Tee versions
- Greatly emulated
- Finally a home version other than the Arcade1Up
The bad
- Dead zones in either control methods makes some shots impossible
- Extreme short time window to call a 'Mulligan'
- The two first Golden Tee games missing
