79 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
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ARNOLD PALMER TOURNAMENT GOLF
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Here it is...the 18th hole. You're a few strokes away from
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finishing in first place (and walking away $100,000 richer). The
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plush green is 185 yards in the distance. Your ball sits motionless
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on the fairway. Which club should you go with? The five wood? The
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one iron? The two iron? Welcome to the world of ARNOLD PALMER
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TOURNAMENT GOLF! (This review is based on the Sega Genesis
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version.)
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I'm sure many of you have played golf simulations before. They're
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fun, but they don't give you the actual _feel_ of a golf course.
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Most games with poor graphics have realistic action; games with
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wonderful, animated graphics always fall short on game play. Well,
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all this has changed. TOURNAMENT GOLF is the first game I've
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encountered that mixes colorful, 3-D graphics with the play action
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every golfer desires.
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When you start the game, you're allowed to select either Tournament
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Mode or Practice. In Tournament Mode, you pit yourself against 15
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"computer-controlled" golfers in an 18-hole game. If you have what
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it takes, you'll end up in first place and win a new set of clubs
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-- along with power, skill, and a better caddy. (All of this can be
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retained by writing down a password that lets you continue the
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tournament at a later time). Don't think this will be easy; the
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Non-Player Golfers are always on your tail.
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Before you decide to take on the top 15 golfers in "Segaland,"
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you'll probably want to practice for a while and get the feel of the
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game. After selecting practice mode, you'll pick the club material
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(Carbon, Fiberglass, or Super Ceramic), and the type of clubs you'll
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take to the course. Other options include your level of expertise,
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hole number, wind conditions, and the course (United States, Japan,
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or Great Britain) you want to tackle.
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The actual game screen comprises two large windows and various
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pop-up information boxes. On the left quarter of the screen, there's
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an overhead view of the course. The remaining display provides a
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first-person view of your current situation. By pressing various
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buttons (as shown in the manual), you can obtain data regarding the
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distance from the hole, your club, wind direction, and even a
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close-up indication of the ball's location. When you finish
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assimilating these details, it's time to tee off.
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Hitting the ball in this game is quite easy. On the right side of
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the screen, you'll find a power gauge. To hit the ball, you must
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press the "A" button one time to begin the backswing. You'll see two
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markers on the gauge rising (the higher they are, the more powerful
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your swing will be). When you think the strength is right, you press
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the button again. This causes the left marker to stop and the right
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one to descend. Finally, when the right marker falls into "hitting
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range," you push the button once more and your ball should go
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soaring. The entire action takes little more than a second and can
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easily be mastered after a few tries.
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As I mentioned above, the game comes with a "password saving
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option." This is the only major aspect of the game that falls short
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of perfect. First, the password is very long: 36 characters. Many of
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the characters are difficult to read, so errors in the code are not
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uncommon. In fact, don't be surprised if four out of five codes that
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you write don't allow you to continue. This is especially
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frustrating if you're the tournament leader, because you'll have to
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start over and lose a possibly great round.
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Nevertheless, ARNOLD PALMER TOURNAMENT GOLF is an excellent golf
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simulation with many unique features and options. If you feel that
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great action, wonderful sound effects, incredible realism, and
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superb variety outweigh the inconvenience of frequent password
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errors, then you'll consider this game a sure hole-in-one.
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ARNOLD PALMER TOURNAMENT GOLF is published and distributed by
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Sega.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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