When the smash-hit Rocket League released, many were taken aback. The game offered a simple concept; race cars driving into huge metallic spheres in a game of soccer. Something so simple was inviting to millions of players. It was only a matter of time before other developers looked at that and asked, ‘How can we elevate this?’. That is where Hugecalf Studios‘ Turbo Golf Racing races into the track.

Changing gears to the sport of golf, does this indie title land a hole-in-one? Or is it a boogie? After my time with the game, it makes me consider picking up the wheel and reeving the engine.

Developer & Publisher // Hugecalf Studios

Platforms // Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass, PC, PlayStation 5

MSRP & Release Date // $9.99, August 4th, 2022 (Early Access), April 4, 2024 (Full Release)

Reviewed On // Xbox Series X

Set up the Course – General Gameplay of Turbo Golf Racing

Going behind the wheel, you press the shoulder buttons to accelerate and brake/reverse. Leveraging the Xbox controller’s analog triggers, you have plenty of control over your movement speed. Other actions, such as drifting and jumping/air-dashing, are responsive as well.

A surprising ability is gliding. You can enable this anytime in the air by a press of the X button. Controls for gliding are responsive and help a lot when playing on more advanced tracks.

However, you aren’t just racing across the 80 massive courses. You have to hit your large golf ball into a hole across every track. Helping you accomplish this feat, you can equip various ‘Cores’. There are Passive Cores, which affect how the ball and/or the player reacts to the tracks. But the more exciting ones, are the ‘Active’ Cores.

These range from allowing the player to pull their car toward the ball, making said ball sick to your car for a short while, to even emitting a pulse wave that can push your ball without hitting it directly. I personally only stuck with specific set-ups due to them working the best for my play style. But seeing how other players play, it’s clear this system encourages solid player expression.

Helping the game balance is the fact the Active Core runs on a timer, with it resetting after a few seconds. It ensures players are not spamming moves too often and are engaging with other gameplay elements to be successful.

But you got other racers set to slow you down during the heated races. Taking a note from Mario Kart, you can use various power-ups to fend off other racers or protect yourself from attacks. They are well-balanced, ensuring races are fair.

And if you are struggling to land those hole-in-ones, you could re-set your car and ball on the track. This will respawn you and your ball, ensuring you aren’t overly punished for a bad shot.

Hole in One – Game Modes

Housing the enjoyable gameplay are three game modes: Racing, Golf, and Time Trials. Each one allows the player to complete various achievements, which can earn you Gears and Trophies, letting you buy cosmetic items in the shop. Said currency can only be earned in-game, with the only DLC available being a few cosmetic bundles on the Xbox and PlayStation storefronts. Pricing for the cosmetic DLC bundles is fairly priced, ranging between $2.99 to $4.99 on the Xbox and PlayStation storefronts.

Racing

Testing your skills against friends and foes alike, players race across the 80 tracks. The raw chaos of up to eight players, rushing to get their golf ball into the goal, is a blast. The quality track design is on full display in this mode, with the more complex tracks being particular highlights when playing online.

Out of all the tracks, the later-game courses that focus on the game’s more futuristic theming were the most effective. They lean harder on the ‘gimmicks’ throughout the races and the curvy nature makes nailing goal-shots all the more enjoyable.

The Core and Power-Up systems in the game always make matches interesting. I never had a bad time playing a match, even when I lost some games.

There is also a great emote system, where you can press the D-Pad in any direction to send a player a quick message.

Out of all the game’s three core modes, I personally enjoyed the Racing mode the most. It tested my skills with the core mechanics the most and engaging with completely unique Core set-ups was quite enjoyable.

Golf

If you want to have a chill, power-up-free session, you can play standard golf. In this mode, players take turns to hit their Golf Ball.

Controls are the same as in the ‘Racing’ Mode, so the skills you’ve learned playing the game carry over into this mode. What makes this mode feel unique is how it changes things up. Taking away the power-ups and having a simple one-on-one match with a friend or random player online, makes matches feel different.

It also puts a major focus on players mastering different Core abilities/load-outs and how you angle hits. Channeling some of the same energy of Rocket League, pushing players to be more careful with how you drive adds a new layer to the experience.

However, if any of the game’s modes felt half-baked, it was this one. Stripping the racing element away does remove some of the frantic energy you experience in the other modes.

Time Trials

The last major mode and one only for single-player, is the Time Trial. Players have to get the ball into the goal in a specific amount of time. The times required for three-star rankings are both challenging and fair, having a meter showing the player the required time in-game needed for specific rankings.

Any Core Load-Out is usable for these Time Trials and they have online leaderboards. Being able to fully tackle any of the courses offline is great practice for online matches.

The time trials also highlight the more unique aspects of the track ‘gimmicks’. Boost pads, hoops to shoot your ball into to launch it in a specific direction, and the more curvy nature in later courses; it trains the player to pay attention to their surroundings. By mastering the courses in the Time Trials, they can dominate races.

Pit Crew – Progression

Game Progression for Turbo Golf Racing is centered around an achievement system. Across every game mode, the player can complete them and even track specific ones, pinning them to the screen when in matches. Completing them unlocks either Gears, Cosmetics for your car, and most importantly, the Cores.

Completing achievements felt organic, and I completed a sizable number of them during this review process. It is worth noting that the Core-focused Achievements are the only way to unlock them.

Fresh Paint Job – Presentation/Performance

Turbo Golf Racing nails its futuristic look quite well. The cars themselves look cool, having quality animation work and effects when speeding across the grassy roads. Effects also pop off the screen as you boost, jump, and glide across the tracks.

The courses themselves stick out, even if a fair number of them share a similar look. I personally enjoyed the track designs visually later in the game, fully embracing the futuristic look.

Helping nail the presentation is a rock-solid frame rate. On Series X, Turbo Golf Racing runs at a smooth 6o FPS at a native 4K.

Maybe Change the Station – Music/Audio

Musically, Turbo Golf Racing is lacking. In many ways, the music is present as background noise to complement you talking with other players online. That being said, the music is not bad at all. It matches the tone well and is enjoyable to listen to, even if nothing is particularly memorable.

The audio quality for sound effects is strong, with sound effects matching the impact of hitting the ball and using power-ups. The boost sound effect or when interacting with specific ‘gimmick’ portions of the course are standouts. It reminds me of the energy paths players could drive across in games like Wipeout or F-Zero.

Overall Thoughts on Turbo Golf Racing

Spending many hours speeding through raceways, I can safely say this is more of a hole-in-one than a boogie. Strong game feel, enjoyable mechanics, and well-designed raceways give Turbo Golf Racing a firm place in the ball-focused racing genre.

Note – Game code was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

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