In the footsteps of Tiger Woods

Links LS 99
Access Software
PC $109.95

Every so often, along comes a killer game which expands the boundary.

Links 386, one of the first games designed to take advantage of Intel's then-revolutionary 386 processor, did that in 1991 by taking sporting simulators to a new level of realism.

And since then the Links series has left its competitors in the rough with a string of awards. Links LS 97 and Links 98 both won Sports Game of the Year in a category crowded with excellent titles.

Having played most golf games down the years, I don't think there's a lot between them in terms of gameplay.

The interface is fairly similar: click the mouse to load up with that power coil and click again at the right time to release that stored power into a 300m drive a la Tiger Woods.

It isn't easy on the course and it's almost as hard on the PC.

But the real beauty of golf games is that they let you play those famed courses you may get to visit once in a lifetime, if you're lucky.

This is where Links really scores, with around 25 courses available as add-on extras.

Courses are mapped to almost 100 per cent accuracy and, given the high quality of graphics available with Pentium systems, the experience can seem startlingly realistic.

Screen grabs taken from a top-end system are hard to distinguish from photographs.

The latest addition is St Andrews' old course, which surely would top the wishlist of most weekend hackers.

I got a real thrill out of playing it on the PC. It was just like it was on television, with the historic town in the background and the links stretching out across the moors.

And yes, my first drive was pushed out to the right, and I splashed down in the infamous Swilkie Burn which has been the downfall of much better players than me.

St Andrews apart, I suspect there's not much that's too revolutionary in Links 99, although there are some nice new touches.

The 3D modelling has been improved to take advantage of better video cards, and the graphics have been given a tweak all round.

Real-time voice chat is included in the Internet play option, and you can play Internet tournaments on Access' LS Tour Website.

Golf, according to Metro magazine, is hot with generation X. But Links' featured big name, Arnold Palmer, is a bit tame for the body-piercing brigade.

Tiger Woods has been snapped up by electronic arts but how about John Daly?

Now there's a thought. Mind you, he may be more at home in Access' darkly funny LS Extreme where a bunch of teenagers play a death match with atomic balls on a haunted course in the Caribbean.

It's just not cricket, is it?

Links LS 99 requires a Pentium 150 with 32Mb Ram and a video card capable of 800x600 resolution.

-- Peter Eley

Caption: A photograph-quality screen shot from Links LS 99.