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I’ve been waiting for this one for a while. It was way back in June of 2022 I posted my first impressions of the Turbo Golf Racing Beta. I enjoyed myself, but was left wondering how the experience could be developed to keep players hooked, ensuring they would be found coming back for more. Well, after an impressive eleven updates and nearly two years later, Turbo Golf Racing is out of Xbox Game Preview and the full release is ready to roll (if you’ll excuse the pun).
Development duties sit solely with Hugecalf Studios these days, and I’m happy to report they have brought a fair bit of new content out to celebrate version 1.0 of Turbo Golf Racing. However, before we dive into all of that, let’s hit pause and recap for those just joining the party.
Turbo Golf Racing provides a quick fire burst of competitive driving mayhem against up to seven other players in a Grand-Prix style competition. However, instead of simply racing to the finish line, you need to putt your oversized golf ball before your opponents do instead.
The action takes place on a track which resembles a hole on a classic style golf course. However the racers are miniaturised, so need to skilfully guide the ball along with them. The most straightforward way to do this is simply to drive, full pelt, into it. The angle that you make contact with your ball will determine where it travels, and I must say the physics work really well. It’s easy enough to aim your shot, but not so easy as to mean you’ll nail it every time.
Of course, it’s not as straightforward as that. Akin to Mario Kart, mysterious boxes dotted around each track will give players all sorts of items such as missiles, boosts and shields to dial up the chaos. It’s pretty standard fare for this sort of game, but good fun nonetheless. Your car also has the option to glide, which is handy for avoiding obstacles and rough patches. It can even jump too, which will help you pass through boost rings, as well as hit your ball with a little extra welly.
My only real criticism here is that the races are very short, even on longer tracks. Each competition is made up of three events meaning as exciting as it is, the action is over pretty quickly. During a race, this can leave little room for manoeuvre if you make a mistake, because you may not have time to drag yourself back into contention.
This can happen pretty easily too, simply by mishitting or driving straight past your ball completely (believe me, it happens). The turning circle is still pretty fiddly to get a hold of, and the controls seem to struggle when you are trying to act with precision in those perilous mistake moments. However, a quick tap of the view button will reset your car’s position and probably cost you less time.
Turbo Golf Racing also allows you to equip a couple of Power Cores to your vehicle, which have a variety of effects. These are split into either the active or passive category, and can be used to complement your play style. For example, one core will make your ball bigger (therefore easier to hit) and another will magnetise your car for a short time, pulling your ball in, allowing you to show off some fancy trick shots. There are loads to choose from, and make for some interesting combinations.
The full release of Turbo Golf Racing also kicks off Season 4, and the biggest addition is the launch of an eight player version of the Golf Mode. This works just like classic golf, but instead of using a club or putter, it’s all about how you control your car. It’s an enjoyable addition but – for me – racing will always be more thrilling than a round of golf.
There are also time trials to complete, for which you will be rewarded. You can also compete against your friends and post your results to the online leaderboards.
Season 4 also brings ten new tracks across the existing biomes, such as urban, wild and industrial. As you would expect, lots of new customisation items land with the new season too. This translates to forty rewards, which you earn in a season pass style by levelling up with points you earn from racing.
There are numerous elements of your car you can customise, including your spoiler, wheels, bodywork and even boost trail. However, my favourite has to be the different styles you can apply to the ball itself. Whether that’s turning it into a beach ball or disco ball, there’s something irresistibly ludicrous about it all. You’ll earn trophies and cogs with which you can purchase new gear from the shop by completing various missions. This is how you unlock a good proportion of the achievements too.
The matchmaking in Turbo Golf Racing is speedy and smooth, partly thanks to the game launching on Xbox Game Pass. Shot of the match replays are fun for when you are spectating, and you can communicate via emojis by using the D-Pad.
Season 4 aims to uphold the promise of regular, free content updates which will include new items, missions, timed events, level updates and more. It’s a good job too, because the quality and quantity of what is added will be crucial to determining if Turbo Golf Racing can keep its current player base on board.
You’ll really enjoy what Turbo Golf Racing offers, and it is perfect for shorter gaming sessions. However, I’m not fully convinced it will carve itself out a place as a permanent fixture in everyone’s game library. My advice? Enjoy the ride while it lasts, however long that may be.