Golfamania

From Sega Retro

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Golfamania title.png

Golfamania
System(s): Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR)
Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit
Genre: Sports[1] (golf)

















Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Master System
EU
7502
Sega Master System
FR
299F299[4] 7502
Sega Master System
PT
MSJ7502
Sega Master System
UK
£32.9932.99[3] 7502
Sega Master System
CA
MK-7502
Sega Master System
BR

Golfamania is a sports game developed by Sanritsu and published by Sega for the Sega Master System.

A North American release was planned and advertised as Super Golf[5], but did not materialise.

Gameplay

Golfamania, Driving, Direction.png

Golfamania, Driving, Power.png

Driving

Golfamania, Putting, Direction.png

Golfamania, Putting, Power.png

Putting

The game is a golf game with an overhead perspective that can be played by one to four players (taking turns with two control pads). There is one course with 18 holes.

Before each round, players choose their clubs by removing at least three clubs from the complete set. The sand wedge and putter must always remain in the bag.

On each hole, the interface shows the wind speed and direction, the par and distance of the hole, the shot number, and the distance remaining. Performing a shot is done in stages, with 2 confirming and 1 canceling. The player first uses Left and Right to determine the direction of the swing. Canceling here allows the player to pan the hole with Up and Down. In the Stroke Play and Tournament modes, the player is also given advice for the current hole before being allowed to pan the course. After confirming the direction, the player selects a club. The maximum distance in yards is shown for each club. The player then selects the point on the ball to hit using the D-Pad. Higher points create more roll after the ball lands; lower points cause the ball to travel higher (necessary for chipping) and to backspin more (back toward the golfer) after landing. Hitting on the left side causes a slice (curve to the right); hitting on the right side causes a hook (curve to the left). Finally, the player determines the power of the hit using a power meter. A cursor moves up and down the meter, and the player must stop the cursor within the marked area for an optimal shot (with the power being of the shot being greatest in the center and smallest part of the meter). When putting, the player does not need to choose the club or the point on the ball to hit.

Golfers are rated on three categories: Power, Accuracy, and Luck. The golfer's Power rating increases the distance when driving, the Accuracy rating increases the size of the marked area on the power meter (to make hitting an optimal shot easier), and the Luck rating decreases the golfer's odds of hitting a ball into a hazard or bouncing off a tree.

Modes

The following modes are available:

  • Practice: A single-player mode where the player picks one hole at a time to play. The player has a complete selection of clubs in this mode.
  • Match Play: A one-to-two-player mode where players take turns and try to complete each hole in the fewest number of strokes. After the first shot, the player who is furthest from the hole hits until landing a shot beyond the other player. The winner of the round is the player who has scored the lowest on the most holes. If played by one player, the player competes against a computer-controlled opponent (whose turns are shown).
  • Stroke Play: A one-to-four-player mode where players take turns and try to complete each hole in the fewest number of strokes. The winner of the round is the player who has the lowest overall score for all 18 holes. In the event of a tie, the game starts over from the first hole in a sudden death play-off, where the players with the lowest score moving on to the next hole until a winner is declared. If played by one player, the player can choose to play alone or against a computer-controlled opponent.
  • Pro Tournament: A single-player mode where the player competes in three tournaments (the Western Tournament, Eastern Tournament, and Sega Tournament), each comprising a round of golf. The player competes against 30 computer-controlled opponents (whose play is not shown but whose results appear on the scorecard after each hole). The player must finish a tournament in first place to move on to the next; a second-place finish stays in the same tournament, and any finish after that ends the game. Ties are resolved in a sudden death play-off starting from the first hole where the computer opponent always scores par; the player must score a birdie or eagle to win.

Leveling

Golfamania, Golfers, Stroke Play.png

Golfer selection

In the Stroke Play and Tournament modes, golfers acquire experience points from performing well. One experience point is awarded for scoring par, with an additional point awarded for each stroke under par. There are special prizes that award experience points:

  • Longest drive: The golfer must hit a drive of 220 yards or longer (with every 10 yards over awarding an experience point, up to 5 points) on the hole with the longest drive prize. Any drive over 260 yards also awards 5 experience points.
  • Near pin: The golfer must hit the first shot on the hole with the near pin prize within 4 yards of the cup (with each yard closer than 4 yards awarding an additional experience point). Landing a shot within a yard of the cup awards 4 experience points.
  • Hole-in-one: Shooting a hole-in-one on the hole with the hole-in-one-prize awards 10 experience points. A hole-in-one on any other hole is worth 5 experience points.

When enough experience points been obtained, the golfer gains a skill point, which can be spent on improving the golfer's Power, Accuracy, or Luck. Each category can be leveled up six times, so the player must obtain 18 skill points to attain the maximum level in every category.

The game cartridge has a battery backup, which saves the player's progress and up to six golfers in Stroke Play mode and the player's progress and golfer in Tournament mode. In Match Play mode, players instead choose from four golfers with predetermined statistics (Powerful, Accurate, Lucky, and Average).

Production credits

Source:
In-game credits
Golfamania SMS credits.pdf
[7]


Magazine articles

Main article: Golfamania/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in Guida Video Giochi (IT) #13: "Luglio/Agosto 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #107: "October 1990" (1990-09-16)
also published in:
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Print advert in Guida Video Giochi (IT) #15: "Ottobre 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
92
[10]
Ação Games (BR)
75
[11]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
85
[12]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
89
[13]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
88
[14]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL
83
[15]
Console XS (UK) PAL
82
[16]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
89
[17]
Game Mania (UK)
83
[18]
Joystick (FR)
92
[19]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
80
[20]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
83
[21]
Player One (FR)
90
[22]
Power Play (DE)
71
[23]
S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
87
[24]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
75
[25]
Sega Pro (UK)
85
[26]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
82
[27]
Sega Master System
84
Based on
18 reviews

Golfamania

Master System, EU
Golfamania EU cover.jpg
Cover
Golfamania EU cart.jpg
Cart
Master System, EU (Sega®)
Golfamania EU R cover.jpg
Cover
GolfamaniaSMSEUManual.pdf
Manual
Master System, PT

Master System, CA
Golfamania CA cover.jpg
Cover
GolfamaniaSMSEUManual.pdf
Manual
Master System, BR
Golfamania SMS BR Box.jpg
Cover
Golfamania SMS BR Cart.jpg
Cart
GolfamaniaSMSBRManual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

Main article: Golfamania/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Master System
CRC32 48651325
MD5 5554f9f67103e0d5b1a4075a2d26d15b
SHA-1 d0b964dd7cd8ccdd730de4d8e4bb2e87bea7686e
256kB Cartridge (EU/BR) 8kB backup
Sega Master System
 ?
CRC32 5dabfdc3
MD5 1fa330a17df19820f4c8e0230d3cfbe2
SHA-1 da88dc3e84daa2f8b8d803b00a13b5fb3185d8c5
256kB EPROM cartridge Page

References

  1. File:Golfamania EU cover.jpg
  2. File:BristolEveningPost UK 1990-10-04 Page 81.jpg
  3. Computer & Video Games, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-16), page 117
  4. Player One, "Novembre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 31
  5. File:1989SummerCES SMS US Catalog.pdf, page 2
  6. The Cutting Room Floor: Golfamania
  7. File:Golfamania SMS credits.pdf
  8. Computer & Video Games, "November 1990" (UK; 1990-10-16), page 58
  9. ACE, "November 1990" (UK; 1990-10-xx), page 92
  10. ACE, "July 1990" (UK; 1990-06-xx), page 58
  11. Ação Games, "Setembro 1991" (BR; 1991-09-xx), page 30
  12. Aktueller Software Markt, "Avril 1990" (DE; 1990-03-30), page 76
  13. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume Two" (UK; 1990-04-xx), page 83
  14. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 98
  15. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 57
  16. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 141
  17. Computer & Video Games, "July 1990" (UK; 1990-06-16), page 104
  18. Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 81
  19. Joystick, "Juillet/Août 1990" (FR; 1990-06-25), page 120
  20. Micromanía (segunda época), "Noviembre 1990" (ES; 1990-1x-xx), page 58
  21. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 133
  22. Player One, "Novembre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 30
  23. Power Play, "4/90" (DE; 1990-03-16), page 123
  24. S: The Sega Magazine, "July 1990" (UK; 1990-06-07), page 4
  25. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 57
  26. Sega Pro, "September 1992" (UK; 1992-08-13), page 20
  27. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 71


Golfamania

Golfamania title.png

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Sega Master System
Prototypes: Prototype