What is Links LS?

Golf sims are few and far between on the Mac. Sure, they abound for the PC, but only Access Software consistently ports its strong Links series. And while this Links LS trails a year behind the PC version, it’s still the best golf action on the Mac today.

Links LS is as real as it gets without a tee time. First off, the players are video-captured 3D golfers. Just choose one of four likenesses: two males, one female, and one golfing legend — Arnold Palmer (no minority players, unfortunately). The players even make comments, albeit lame ones, during play, and you can record your own colorful interjections.

The game’s shining feature is the courses. Links LS highlights three new championship rounds, all of which have video flybys, histories, and even 3D tours of select holes. Start with the tour of Kapalua Village in Maui, Hawaii. It’s a forgiving course where the holes are wide and the par 4s short. Once you’ve mastered ARNIE narrates the description of his the Village, load Kapalua home course, Latrobe Country Club. Plantation, where accuracy is key, or the Latrobe Country Club, Palmer’s home green near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both courses offer challenge and play very well.

The last Mac version — Links Pro — looked good, but links LS looks outstanding. Gaze on lush, green trees; soft, puffy clouds; richly textured mountains; varying degrees of shadows; and even the stripes created by lawn mowers. These details can be seen at many screen resolutions, including a whopping 1,600 x 1,200 pixels with 16.7 million colors. View the courses from a variety of camera angles, including customized views, to get the perfect perspective.

The downside to all these stellar graphics is redraw time. With the details set to high, it takes an average of nine seconds to redraw the screen after every shot. Turning the detailing to low cuts this time in half, but the wait still adds up. And anyone lacking the 150MB of hard disk space needed for a full install of Link LS faces an even longer delay as the game accesses the CD-ROM drive.

Don’t be deterred; Links LS is worth the wait. The gameplay is improved from earlier versions, with more accurate ball dynamics (although still not perfect) and better swing meters. Plus, you now can play one of four different golf games: stroke, match, best ball, and skins. It’s a fun game with a firm place atop the golf sim leader board.

Renninger, Dean. (December 1997). Links LS. MacAddict. (pg. 72).

Download Links LS for Mac

Architecture

IBM PowerPC

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

• PPC601 @ 66 MHz
• 16 MB RAM
• 40 MB hard disk available
• 800 x 600 display
• System 7.5.1

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver