Early Access Review | Turbo Golf Racing – Waving Green(way) Flags
Turbo Golf Racing’s similarities with Rocket League aren’t easily missed. Swapping Psyonix’s football stadiums for the fairways, TGR places you onto a massive golf course, driving your car into a huge golf ball until you reach the end. Try as you might, there’s no getting around that comparison. Yet I’d argue summarising this as just “Rocket League for golf” does the game a disservice. Developer Hugecalf Studios has brought us a frantic 8-player multiplayer experience that feels considerably different and though it’s fun for a time, it feels lacking in content in its current state.
For this early access release, Turbo Golf Racing comes with two modes, an offline single player option and online multiplayer. If you’re opting for solo play, that holds three areas with ten courses each, all packing a vibrant sportsy aesthetic. Once your ball’s reached the green and you’ve landed it inside the cup, you’ll earn up to 3 stars depending on your time. Stars unlock further courses, so I’ve got bad news for the consistently slow, and reaching the end is never straightforward.
Football is basically human foosball, which makes Rocket League car foosball, which makes this game… better than normal golf?
Learning the different paths and obstacle locations is key to securing 3 stars, one misplaced shot really can make all the difference, as your ball gets slowed down in the rough. Every car’s equipped with a boost meter and similar to F-Zero’s approach, driving across boost pads recharges them. Should you completely whiff your shot, Turbo Golf Racing lets you quickly reset your position and get the oversized golf ball back directly in front of you. This is an ideal option when you’ve messed up like someone new to the links and elevates the potential for frustrating circling back around, fighting with the camera locked onto a ball behind you, only to be out of speed and boost and by time you get to a second approach.
Solo play is a good introduction for new players yet on its own, this isn’t that exhilarating, assuming you don’t plan on chasing those high scores. Fortunately, multiplayer is significantly more enjoyable. The game's current multiplayer offering is perfect if you’re after a quick online fix. Seeing 8 players racing to score first, this tallies points between three rounds and, that doesn’t usually take longer than 5 minutes. You can’t hit another player’s golf ball, which rules out direct intervention, though items are present across the field and some can hinder your fellow golfers. Whether you’re looking to shield yourself from misfortune or fire missiles at other players, players have a few options.
Are these golf balls huge or are these cars tiny?
How big are those trees compared to human trees?
How does the economy work in this work in this world?
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before this game leaves early access.
In its current state, Turbo Golf Racing is frantic arcade-style action and if you’re playing with friends (which is the ideal way to play while it is currently on Game Pass), that’s certainly entertaining. I’m disappointed that there’s no offline split-screen option for those playing locally – at least, not yet – and the lack of content and modes will leave you in very little doubt of the game's Early Access nature. However despite all that, you feel a rush landing every shot just where you want it on a course and clinching those victories, given that it’s so easy to accidentally mess up a shot. Winners receive trophies that remain permanently tallied, alongside badges that'll provide additional XP and currency for the item shop.
The progression isn't entirely barebones as XP goes towards a free battle pass with 40 reward levels, unlocking cosmetic rewards for your car and important upgrades called power cores. Limited to two equipped cores at once, this grants new abilities like hitting the golf ball from range, using a ground stomp, or driving through bunkers without a speed penalty. This is a fun differentiator from more stockcar balancing of Rocket League but crucially, Turbo Golf Racing feels balanced even with power cores, giving players good variety to keep things interesting. With no microtransactions in sight, even in the item shop, it doesn’t fall into traditional pay-to-win trappings, either.
Supersonic Acrobatic Turbo-Powered Golfing-Cars.
Undoubtedly, that progression system will keep some players coming back but in its current state, I really wish there was more to do. Turbo Golf Racing only has these two modes and when you’re playing the same thing repeatedly, my interest waned in longer sessions. Hugecalf Studios has promised more modes, features, and car abilities will be added on its Steam page, which is reassuring, but I personally think the team should’ve waited slightly longer before launching it. As with any early access release, tempering expectations and patience is important.
Still, I had good fun with Turbo Golf Racing overall. While single player didn’t exactly capture my attention, racing against others in multiplayer proved thrilling and I had a great time with friends. Despite making little secret of its inspirations, Hugecalf Studios has put considerable effort into forging Turbo Golf Racing’s own identity away from Rocket League. There's certainly potential here and I'm keen to see where it goes next.
