Remember that Super NES mini-golf game from Nintendo? The one with the whimsical little character as the ball and the isometric checkerboard landscape? Where ball speed and course are all set with little onscreen guides and inflating power meters? And the whimsical little character who was the ball could use special powers to pull off neat maneuvers? Kirby's Dream Course, right? Wrong. Special Tee Shot.
Kirby's Dream Course used to be known as Special Tee Shot in it's earlier stage of development but both games are more or less the same. The control of the games are similar but in Kirby's Dream Course, all enemies have to be killed to make the hole appear. Special Tee Shot is more like a mini golf game, you only have to put the little red ball in the hole. The game was never released as Special Tee Shot but I don't know why because it is one of the best SNES games I've played. It was also never released on cartridge but only on a system to be used with the Super Famicom called the Broadcast Satellaview X (BS-X).
I'm a big fan of Kirby's Dream Course and I've had the chance to play the original unreleased Special Tee Shot. It's quite fun and feels kind of like a semi-sequel to Dream Course. That's certainly understandable because of the game(s')'s development history, but Special is its own game with its own rules and its own unique style. I'd love to see it make a proper return someday. Until then if you ever get the chance to play it, I highly recommend it.
