Spectrum Games - World Class Leaderboard - Classic ZX Spectrum Game

World Class Leaderboard
Ahh the Leaderboard games - the first 'proper' golf computer games that I ever played.

Here I am looking at World Class Leaderboard which was released in 1987 by US Gold. A great game coded by a great coder; Jim Bagley who will be known to Spectrum fans for the excellent conversion of the classic arcade games Midnight Resistance and Cabal.

For fans of golf back in the 1980s the leaderboard games really were something; at last there was a decent simulation of golf as an 'arcade game' that was pretty realistic and included elements of the real sport.

Let's go Happy Gilmore in 8-bits

The game took a nice 3D view of each hole you were playing and included some nice scenery such as trees aligning the fairway as well as course hazards such as bunkers.

Of course the aim of the game was to reach the green in as few shots as possible before putting out and moving on to the next hole.

'Real' golf features were in there including being able to 'hook' or 'slice' your shots, the use of a proper full set of clubs and depending on which difficulty level chosen varying gusts of winds could buffet you as you played your shots.

What was good about this game is the fact that you really could vary your shots and the game did match golf quite accurately.

1 Wood to the green? It can be done....

Even (at the time) the relatively slow screen re-draw rate was acceptable as we knew that the computer was working out where your ball was and how the course would look from that position.

These games must go down as the first proper simulations of the sport and their influence on modern games such as Nintendo Wii golf can not be underestimated.

For me this is a classic sporting game for the ZX Spectrum that pleased fans of the sport as well as fans of arcade games. Even the price of £8.99 was reasonable for a title as well put together as this.

We recommend getting hold of the real hardware - but if not then download a  ZX Spectrum emulator and download World Class Leaderboard. Alternatively you could try and play it online.

GENRE: Arcade Game (Sports Simulation)
RELEASE DATE: 1987
RELEASED BY: US Gold
DEVELOPER(S): Jim Bagley
PRICE: £8.99 - UK

All we need now is Peter Allis....

Classic Games, Arcade Games and ZX Spectrum Games