frills." Brian R. Fitzgerald of The Wall Street Journal considered it a good game for beginners. The game uses DirectDraw for graphics rendering. Some critics considered the graphics to be average. McDonald believed that the courses were "detailed and finely rendered" but not as good as those featured in the Links and Jack Nicklaus games. He stated that the golfers "appear smoother, more realistic, and more fluid than ever." Sports Gaming Network praised the graphics but considered those of Links LS 1999 to be superior, while mentioning that the golfers had "more fluidity" than any other golf game. Ward considered the graphics good but average, while stating that objects in the game suffered from "cardboard cutout syndrome." Goble praised the graphics but believed that the game felt "stagnant" in some way: "Perhaps it's the hardened flags, static water, and spray-less sand traps, or the animation-free background and muted colors. Maybe it's the lack of viewing options--three in all, only two of which are available at any one time. Whatever it is, it's not easy to decipher wind direction or judge distances--all in all a disconcerting feel." House considered the graphics to be very good for the most part, but he stated that they had an artificial feel. He further wrote, "It's disconcerting to see the flag on the green point one way when the wind meter is showing a strong breeze coming from the other direction." The ball physics received some criticism. Lackey felt that the physics were acceptable but not as good as rival golf games. Sports Gaming Network considered the physics above average and realistic, but also not entirely convincing. Fitzgerald praised the club and ball physics, calling them "remarkably realistic, a tough feat for a lot of golf games." For the swing methods, Ward felt that the Sim Swing was too complex but wrote that the Natural Swing "proved to be very cool indeed." Goble considered the click-swing methods unnatural and frustrating, but called the Natural Swing "intriguing." PC Accelerator felt that the swing meter was difficult to use. Snider called it a good game for beginners because of its Sim Swing feature. Sports Gaming Network considered the Sim Swing method boring, but praised the Natural Swing as an "easy to learn/tough to master" option. McDonald was disappointed that the game, unlike earlier Microsoft Golf games, is not compatible with courses from Links add-on disks. Sports Gaming