Sidebar Games’ Golf Story is in my top 10 games of all-time. This quaint little indie game about a aspiring golfer stole my heart with its solid golf mechanics, gorgeous art style, and its classic Aussie humour. It was also the first game I ever reviewed for The Boar, and so I can say with relative ease that I am incredibly excited for the upcoming de facto sequel, Sports Story.
I first had hope for a sequel earlier this year when Sidebar Games tweeted they were working on something else and also announced they were looking for a pixel artist. Whilst this could have been a full-length version of Galf, or porting Golf Story over to other consoles, I was always hoping for a sequel.
Nindies Showcases are often overlooked by most fans, as they rarely show off much new aside from the announcement of indie games that have been on Steam for five years, and for half the price. Granted, there is the occasional hidden gem in Untitled Goose Game or Celeste, but I never go into the presentations with high hopes or expectations.
In fact, I’m willing to admit that I didn’t even watch the Nindies Showcase- it wasn’t until I received a notification on Twitter from Sidebar Games (yes, I’m that fan) announcing the trailer that I even knew it existed.
The trailer showed that this new game has gone far beyond what I ever expected this small Australian studio to produce. Indie studios will usually seek to gradually expand their games, or look for more outside help (in the form of an AAA publisher) to revolutionise their game. Not Sidebar. In just two years, they have multiplied the amount of sports available to play at least three-fold (yes, I’m counting disc golf as a separate sport).
The first thing I noticed about Sports Story from the trailer was the interaction between sports and almost sandbox-like aspect of the game. In the original Golf Story, players could drop the golf ball anywhere and play from there. This new title appears to expand on the freedoms it offers players, allowing them to use all sporting equipment or techniques for any sport, making for some hilarious combinations. Due to my love for cricket and football, I’m especially excited these sports are involved, and I’m interested to see how they work with each other and other sports.
Given the name of my blog, Games & Googlies, it is quite obvious that I would enjoy sports video games. Whilst this is true, the genre has become fairly stagnant and boring, with most AAA publishers focusing on licensing players and improving graphics to make the game more realistic rather than fun. This is why I particular enjoyed Golf Story, as it flipped the genre on its head, adding RPG and story elements to what some would describe as a fairly mundane sport.
Sports Story releases in mid-2020, solely on the Nintendo Switch (sorry guys!)- if there’s ever an incentive to purchase a Switch, this is it. With Animal Crossing likely coming out at a similar time, it’s going to be a great (and expensive) year for Nintendo fans.
Games and Googlies 