Ever since the days of the NES, video game developers have realized something that should be be considered common knowledge: the fact that regular sports can be boring at times. That’s why they’ve found new ways to put twists on them, such as the addition of violent mutants to football or robots with enhanced abilities to baseball. And this extends to golf as well, ever since the days of Zany Golf. But how does one continue to put a notable twist on a the sport decades later? Well, Chuhai Labs has at least one answer: turn the game of golf into a roguelike game with puzzle elements where you navigate mazelike courses, as seen in their new game, Cursed to Golf. But does this particular twist score a hole in one or does it wind up at the bottom of a water hazard?

Appropriately enough considering its name, Cursed to Golf places you in the role of The Cursed Golfer, a pro golfer who was the best of the best and about to sink the winning shot of an international tournament…at least, up until a bolt of lightning from a freak storm killed them. Now they find themselves in Golf Purgatory, and the only way out is to ascend by completing a whole round of eighteen holes. And with each failure, they become the Sisyphus of golf, cursed to golf for all of eternity as they try to complete the course again and again. It doesn’t help that the evil Greenskeeper keeps rearranging the course to their liking, making thing more difficult. But with help from a few long-dead old pros and aces they can place up their sleeve, our golfer just might stand a chance at making it out…

The main gameplay in Cursed to Golf involves having to navigate a 2D golf course full of twists and turns (sometimes more literally than others), maneuvering around the various hazards in order to sink the ball into the hole, using either the driver, iron or wedge (for long, mid, and close-range shots, respectively). Of course, this being Golf Purgatory, the hazards here are more extreme, consisting of graves that snatch your ball if it lands there, fake holes, spikes that can destroy the ball on contact and more. And this isn’t even getting into the optional Cursed versions of these holes that you can tackle for extra rewards, which every few turns add additional challenges for the next couple of shots like high winds, being forced to shoot in one direction, and flipping the screen upside down. Each of the four worlds has its own unique obstacles and they’re nicely implemented and fun to overcome.

The various course hazards are the least of your worries, though. The real challenge comes from trying to avoid having your Par counter drop to zero. At the beginning of each hole, you start with a Par counter of five, meaning you get five strokes until it drops to zero, resulting in a game over and the end of your run (known as a Round here). Thankfully, a series of silver and gold idols are scattered around each course, which add additional shots to the Par counter if your shots shatter them. Naturally, getting to some of them requires riskier, out-of-the-way shots, which requires you to scope out the area using an easy-to-control tool, then carefully plan each shot and time it just right (especially since you can’t scope around while shooting) in order to try and find a route that gets you the idols you need while still efficiently getting you to the hole, which is always a satisfying task to compete.

Of course, what makes things even more satisfying is when you successfully pull of even trickier maneuvers with the help of Ace Cards, which you can earn along the way or purchase at Eterni-Tee pro shops with money gained after each hole. These are cards you can deploy before each shot to give you an extra edge, sometimes simply adding more strokes or allowing for a practice shot, and some turning your balls into rockets, fireballs or drills, among other things, all fun to try out. And this is where a game that was already all about strategy piles on an additional lair of strategic elements, as you now have the tools to hunt for possible shortcuts, like being able to get to out-of-reach teleporters or detonate TNT boxes blocking small paths or even allowing for shots that can alter hazards.

All of this is where the puzzle elements in Cursed to Golf come into play, and where the game becomes a true joy. There’s nothing better here than feeling like you’ve reached a state of golfing nirvana after using the Ace Cards, a study of the hole layout, and your own skill to discover a route that shaves off several shots. During one of the boss fights (a highly-enjoyable race to the hole against one of the pros needed to access the next section), I realized that a drill shot through the ground would take me to the section underneath, putting be several shots ahead. On another boss, I saw that a perfectly-time wedge shot with an ice ball down a small hole lands it on a water trap that would instantly freeze now. Fireballs can burn through vines that normally entangle you and can take you straight to the hole if lucky. Portals can access a teleporter that’s entirely blocked off. All insanely fun hunts for the winning edge.

Basically, when it’s at the top of its game, Cursed to Golf is a game that perfectly rewards skill and clever thinking. Well, and luck, if you can get the best Ace cards from each pack. And while the random selection of holes in each Round can repeat, they’re all still well-designed, encouraging players to master the most difficult shots or find potential ways around them. It basically combines the simple-yet-elegant gameplay of an 8-bit golf game with more complex tricks, and the end result is a game that you can easily get into that’s easy to learn and tricky to master, as it should be.

Speaking of older games, though, the retro pixel art visuals in the game are a delight as well. Not only does everything look nicely crisp and vibrant, but details like the parallax backgrounds showcasing each new world, the little bouncing animation of the Cursed Golfer’s cart or the way their chibi-esque design is more simplified compared to the massive pros and their more intricate designs are all welcome. Speaking of which, the interaction with the pros also provide a nice sense of humor, with a simple-yet-fun story told along the way. Finally, the 8-bit tunes make for ear-pleasing music to golf to, with nicely bouncy stuff…even if the same songs play over several holes. Great music, but it could have used more variety.

There are other little flaws with Cursed to Golf as well. There’s a driving range where you can try out the new Ace Cards you’ve unlocked, but you can’t access it until after a Round is ended, leaving you in the dark about some cards at first. The boss fights, great as they are, don’t seem to have a way to replay them. And then there are the occasional glitches, like instructions for an Ace Card that refused to leave a screen for the duration of the shot, something that actually blocked a crucial hazard on the final hole in this reviewer’s playthrough.

But the only big problem that truly gets in the way of Cursed to Golf becoming a true classic, be it in the category of golf, roguelikes or otherwise, is how annoyingly long it can be. Now, you may be thinking “oh, so the roguelike game is long? Yeah, and breaking news: water is wet.” Well, let it be known that I’m not referring to the overall length of the game. In fact, a skilled player who easily catches on would be able to beat it in under eight hours. No, the problem is that each Round just feels way too long, with courses getting more lengthy and twisty as things progress, and each one can last a good two hours or so.

This might not be a problem in a more traditional roguelike action game like Hades, for example, where the action is lightning fast, but this is golf, a sport that involves a lot more planning and patience. As such, things feel like they slow down after a while, especially with certain animations that take longer than they should. And as mentioned in the premise, fail and it’s back to the very first hole. There’s a Comeback you can that you can drop as a checkpoint to return to after a hole, a Gimmie that essentially acts as an extra life and a Recovery that lets you bring remaining Ace Cards into the next round, all of which you unlock along the way, but you only get to use one of each per round, and they feel like too little. Honestly, outside of the randomized assortments of holes, Cursed to Golf feel like it might be better without its roguelike elements at times. Still, they do make for a good challenge and don’t impact the overall enjoyability too much, and as such, Cursed to Golf might not get a hole in one, but it lands its shot right on the green.

Pacing issues aside, Cursed to Golf is a unique and terrific blend of different genres that makes for a highly enjoyable and fresh spin on the classic sport. Be it through golfing skills, puzzle-solving skills, luck or a mix of all three, each hole presents a multitude of options to try out and paths to take, with each perfect shot providing a sort of golfing high as you soar through a passageway filled with spikes and vines. Throw in charming old-school style and aesthetics, and you get one challenging course that’s a blast to play through.