If the golfing bug doesn't catch you when you are young, it'll get you when you are old and married and need an excuse to get out of the house. Whichever applies to you, a couch potato version of the sport is obviously appealing to lots of gamers out there, judging by the popularity of previous titles.

The distinct advantages of not having to trudge around a sodden golf course, not having to fork out for a big set of clubs and waterproofs (it will always rain when you go to play), and not having to wear a big pair of stripy blue and white socks are obvious.

The downside, however, is that you don't stand to make any money through lucrative "play golf my way" videos, and you don't get to cheat on your wife with your blonde 22 year old caddy.

World Cup Golf is the second 'attempt' at cracking the 'little white balls and big green fields' sport of Golf on the Saturn. The only other game was Pebble Beach Golf, which was OK, but didn't break any boundaries. This latest game is US Gold's version of events and is set around the picturesque Hyatt Dorado Beach course in Puerto Rico.

It's all a bit lush, and a far cry from the courses that you find here in Blighty - there are no overflowing rubbish bins or burnt patches of grass set on fire by annoying kids. But even the best simulations can't give you everything.

Golf games appear from all over the shop, and this is the Saturn's second after Pebble Beach.

Play in a variety of game styles, always aiming to get the ball into the hole. Simple.

There are a lot of possible pre-shot options to be had, and this game makes full use of those. By pressing B before every shot a number of icons will appear from the side of the screen for you to fiddle about with. Take a gander at these:

1. Feet
   By moving these around, the feet will move to either the F or D, indicating the draw or fade the ball will have. If you manage to move the ball accidentally by stopping the meter before or after the indicator, you will be informed by the commentator that you've hooked or sliced it. Lovely.
2. Spin On Ball
   This is much the same as the Feet icon, except that this time, by moving the arrow up or down the ball will have topspin or backspin. This is best used for when you are attempting to hit the green, especially if you can overshoot so it rolls back towards the hole.
3. Flag
   This is fairly simple in that it will indicate where the flag is from your current position when you press the button on it. It is useful if you are playing a fairly straight hole, but if the hole veers off in all directions it will cut across whatever is in the way to show you where the hole is.
4. Target
   This is meant to show you the direction of the slope on the fairway or the green, but frankly, it doesn't really cut the mustard. The putting slopes hardly ever have any adverse effect on the shot, so you will do just as well hitting the putt straight.
5. Go Back
   For practice rounds only. This one lets you take the previous shot again if you made a cock up of the last one.
6. View Hole
   If you fancy locating exactly where you are on the hole, or where to aim, what's in the way and such like, then select this to view any part of the hole. You can also zoom to any part of the hole you want as well.

The number of actual games you can play is pretty good, with all sorts of single and multi-player needs catered for. The more adventurous players out there can try the one club and putter option. It is a simple as it sounds, with the player having one club and putter to go around the whole course.

This is surprisingly easy if you choose the correct club. A driver is rubbish because it is so difficult to use it on the fairways, and likewise the sand wedge is crap because you don't get any distance with it. Other options include the standard Matchplay and Medal (professional tees) competitions, and for a bit of combined action you can have Fourballs in either the normal or medal tees. And of course, as seems to be the norm with all the golf games nowadays, the skins option is there, where you play for a set amount of money per hole.

As well as the other game styles mentioned elsewhere, the practice option goes into a little more depth. Not only can you have a whole round to get used to the controls but you can also have a go at more specific things. Due to there being only the one course, any hole can be selected to play, and you can also have a bash at your chipping on any hole.

Quite why is a little bizarre, considering that you would probably have a bit of a struggle even getting near the green at first. And to finish it off, every green is available to putt on to get used to roll and all that.

Of all the golf games I've seen, this comes the closest to the cliche of "a good walk ruined" - birds sing, and a polite clap accompanies your more successful moments as the sun beats down on your picture-postcard afternoon.

Sadly, when it comes to actual gameplay, this is rather less impressive. Only having one course is too limiting, the actual game engine itself doesn't rival the improved set-up of the latest Megadrive PGA and everything is just a bit too leisurely.

This is an improvement over Pebble Beach Golf, but with superior games still appearing on inferior systems, it's surely just a matter of time before gameplay and visuals come together in a better Saturn game.

I've wasted many hours through playing the PGA series so much. Not to mention the money I've lost playing a four player skins match. So when the souped-up powers of the Saturn arrived, the prospect of a flashy golf game got me quite excited.

But sadly, this isn't it. Sure, the graphics are good, and convey the golfing paradise well. The sounds are suitably corny, with chirpy birds and the spectator's (there's just one) clap along with the speech from the mild mannered commentator.

But the problem with the game is that it is a little slow. The holes load onto the screen quite quickly, but the process for taking a shot and the amount of time it takes to set up the game in the first place is very protracted, even with the quick start.

Then, when you do actually play the club, selection and distance can prove really annoying when you work out the exact distance percentage, and the shot goes only half that distance. This isn't a bad game, it's just badly flawed.

Graphics 79%
P. The course looks really nice, is quite detailed and loads really quickly.
N. The intro is rough and grainy.

Animation 72%
P. The golfers' moves are pretty fluid, but there's nothing ground-breaking here.

Music 70%
P. The cheesy golf tunes pass the time.
N. There are only a couple of tracks.

Effects 77%
P. The speech is clear and appears regularly, and the chirps are good.
N. The number of phrases is limited.

Playability 65%
P. The controls are fairly simple, which makes playing easier.
N. But it takes too long to get going.

Lastability 69%
P. Multi-player games will last for a while.
N. With only one course, single player games are restricted.

Overall 68%
A nice-looking game that falls short of the green with dodgy controls and gameplay. One for desperate golf fans.