With the exception of the hardcore Links series for PC, Tiger Woods PGA Tour remains the most in-depth and involving golf sim around. It deliberately avoids the quirkiness of Mario Golf and Everybody’s Golf in a solid attempt to deliver something more realistic to the player. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is the next in the ever-growing series and it’s a simulator through and through. On the face of things, Tiger Woods 2004 is simply a case of more of the same, but that’s no bad thing. Something of a benchmark for other golf sims to follow, Tiger Woods 2004 boasts a huge 19 courses, each with a full 18 holes, including famous venues such as St Andrews and Pebble Beach. In addition, there are nearly 30 playable golfers to tee off with. There’s Tiger himself of course, as well as Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Justin Rose to name a few. There are also plenty of new features in this 2004 update. New golf modes include LongDrive Shootout, Best Ball, Alternate Shot and Battle Golf. These are fun games that are best played with two or more, and they pose obvious competition to Mario Golf’s mini-offerings. A new World Tour mode allows players to travel the virtual globe and challenges them to unlock additional characters and earn cash and new equipment along the way. Players can also create a golfer of their own and specify visual aspects of their new characters in alarming detail. Naturally, the Tiger Woods game world looks as spectacular as it ever did, again boasting gorgeous environments, and the GameCube version looks just as solid as the other console offerings. With the analogue swing control method still in effect, the console’s ergonomic controller comes into its own. On the whole, this is the finest Tiger Woods update that Electronic Arts has come up with…so far!