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I don't think that I've ever seen anything quite as silly as Zany Golf (except perhaps a Brosette). The latest release for the Amiga from Electronic Arts is a crazy golf simulator with a difference - it's playable.

The introduction screen is an impressive 3D scrolling picture of a nasty-looking course, this is backed by a jaunty piece of music and, from this screen, you can choose the number of players, between one and four.

Each hole is 3D and features normal, everyday obstacles to negotiate, like bouncing hamburger, giant ketchup bottles and magic carpets. The mouse is used to control your putter and also to scroll the screen about. Many holes feature special puzzles that must be worked out before progress can be made. Hints on how to do so can be found on the preview screen.

The graphics are excellent all the way through, shading and perspective are used to a standard that I haven't seen since Marble Madness. Each hole has a different piece of music which partly makes up for the lack of spot effects.

With many other golf games you simply putt around the whole course trying to better your previous best - not so with Zany Golf. You start with three spare shots and each time you play a stroke you lose one of them. Should you get to the next hole the par for it is added onto your spare shots counter. It is also possible to gain extra shots by squashing fairies with the ball or completing a hole quickly on a bonus timer level. This system means that you're going to need a lot of practice to see all the holes, which makes the game all the more playable. Overall, it's rough.

Zany Golf is an outstanding piece of software. Graphics, sound and presentation are all excellent. You'll never want to play another game of clock, golf on a miserable day of the seaside again.