Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

n/a

NTSC-U NTSC-J Amiga Atari ST
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Amiga, Atari ST
Publisher: Sega Elite Systems
Developer: Sega R&D 6 Motivetime
Sound driver: early SMPS Z80 (banked)
Genre: Sports (golf)
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1989-09-09 ¥6,0006,000 G-4014 US 1989-10 $59.9959.99 1203 US (Classic) 1992 $29.9529.95 1203C EU 1991-01 1203 PT 199x UK 1991-01 £34.9934.99 1203 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x CA 199x BR 199x UK 19xx £? ? UK 1990 UK 1990 £19.9919.99

Ozaki Naomichi no Super Masters (尾崎直道のスーパーマスターズ), known outside of Japan as Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (or simply Arnold Palmer Golf in manuals), and on home computers as the even more simple Tournament Golf, is a Sega Mega Drive golf game developed by Sega R&D 6 and published by Sega. Sponsored by professional golfer Naomichi Ozaki in Japan, and Arnold Palmer elsewhere, the game was first released in Japan in September 1989, later localized and brought to the United States the next month, and eventually saw a European release in January 1991.

In 1990, the game was ported to Amiga and Atari ST personal computers, courtesy of developer Motivetime and publisher Elite Systems, and with Palmer's celebrity endorsement notably removed.

A special version of the game designed for use with the Sega Mega Play arcade system was also produced.

Gameplay

Driving and putting

Club selection

The game is a golf game using a pseudo-3D perspective where the goal is to complete each hole in the fewest strokes. It features two play modes, tournament and practice.

Tournament mode consists of 12 rounds, each with 18 holes of golf. There are three different golf courses, one each in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain (although the background and the scenery does not vary). There are 15 computer-controlled opponents, who play their games separately. Most rounds are played as stroke play (where every contestant competes to have the lowest total score for all holes), but the seventh and eleventh rounds are played as match games (where two contestants compete to have the lowest score on each hole, with the winner being the contestant who wins the most holes). Finishing a round in the top eight increases the player's skill level (up to level 12), allowing the player to hit the ball farther and with greater control. Finishing a round in first place upgrades the player's golf club set from the initial black carbon club set to glass fiber and eventually ceramic clubs. This also increases the distance that the player is able to hit the ball. The game provides a password after each round of the tournament for continuing.

In practice mode, one or two players can play a complete 18 rounds of golf on one of the three courses. Players can set a skill level and use any of the three golf club sets available in the game. In two-player games, players take turns and compete to complete the course in the fewest strokes; in a single-player game, the player competes against par. There is also a two-player match play mode where players compete hole for hole (with the player who wins the most holes winning the round). Finally, one player can play a non-competitive practice game on any individual hole from the three available courses. These games have additional options for setting the wind direction and strength.

Before every match, the player selects 14 clubs (with the putter always being mandatory). Before each turn, the player's caddie gives advice based on her skill level. At first, the caddie can only give the distance from the ball's current position to the tee. As the game progresses, more skilled caddies can give distances to various landmarks and information about how the ball is lying. Before swinging, the game also shows a weather vane indicating the direction and intensity of the wind and a close-up picture of the ball's position. The player then selects which club to use during the shot (the caddie makes a default recommendation). After this, the player can adjust the golfer's stance with and in order to shank the ball in one particular direction based on the direction of the wind (all golfers in the game are right-handed).

To control the swing, the player uses a power gauge to select the strength and height of the shot with . When the player first presses the shot button, a marker moves upwards to the top of the gauge. This range controls the strength of the shot. If the player presses the shot button again before it reaches the top, the marker moves back down towards the starting position. The player then must hit the button a third time inside of a green area on the power gauge. This range controls the height of the shot in the air. Hitting outside of the green range results in a missed shot. If the player fails to hit the shot button before it reaches the top or bottom of the gauge, the sequence starts over from the beginning.

When the ball reaches the putting green, the perspective changes to an overhead view of the green. The game first shows the distance from the ball to the tee and then a simple diagram of the lie on the green. The player can select the direction of the putt with and . Putting uses a similar power gauge but with only the blue range to determine how hard to hit the ball.

History

Sponsorships

Arnold Palmer

Sega of America sought to continue Tonka's use of celebrity sports game endorsements from the Sega Master System era by launching their new 16-bit hardware with a number of recognizable celebrities endorsing its library (such as Joe Montana's endorsement of Joe Montana Football.) Their efforts were largely successful, and the system's strong showing of early sports titles is considered one of the more significant reasons for its success.

One of these notable celebrity endorsements was from the renowned professional golfer Arnold Palmer. Having won a number of PGA Tour championships, and having long been associated with the iced tea-lemonade beverage the Arnold Palmer, the athlete was considered the biggest name in professional golf, and despite his age would have still been a household name in American families.

Despite its Western name, the late Arnold Palmer does not appear in the game, save for a cameo on the title screen. While the Western box art suggests the player is competing in the "Arnold Palmer Tournament," there is no reference to this in-game nor in the manual. The Japanese version devotes a section of its manual to Ozaki Naomichi, but likewise, the golfer is largely absent from the game.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf	Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
English (US)	Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf	Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf
Japanese	尾崎直道のスーパーマスターズ	Ozaki Naomichi no Super Masters
French	Le golf d'Arnold Palmer	Arnold Palmer's Golf
German	Arnold Palmer Golf
Spanish	Golf Arnold Palmer	Arnold Palmer Golf
Italian	Il golf di Arnold Palmer	Arnold Palmer's Golf
Norwegian	Arnold Palmer golfspel	Arnold Palmer Golf Game

Production credits

Main article: Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

SE advert

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1989-09: "September 1989" (1989-XX-XX)

Mega Drive print advert in GamePro (US) #11: "June 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #12: "July 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer Games (GR) #3: "Ioúnios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Mega Drive print advert in Sega Visions (US) #1: "June/July 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #13: "August 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
• GamePro (US) #12: "July 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
• VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) #18: "July 1990" (1990-0x-xx)

Home computers print advert in ACE (UK) #37: "October 1990" (1990-09-xx)
also published in:

• Computer & Video Games (UK) #107: "October 1990" (1990-09-16)
• ACE (UK) #38: "November 1990" (1990-10-xx)
• Computer & Video Games (UK) #108: "November 1990" (1990-10-16)

Home computers print advert in Power Play (DE) #1990-10: "10/90" (1990-09-14)

Home computers print advert in Megazone (AU) #10: "November 1990" (1990-11-xx)

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 50 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 70 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 60 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 85 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 85 Console XS (UK) PAL 82 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 50 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 72 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 73 Joystick (FR) 91 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 84 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 84 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 72 Mega Action (UK) 84 MegaTech (UK) 85 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 80 Mean Machines (UK) 83 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 85 Player One (FR) 70 Raze (UK) PAL 87 Sega Power (UK) 83 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 82 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 81 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 68 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 70 Video Games (DE) 70

	75
Based on 27 reviews

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Sega Classic)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, PT

Mega Drive, SE Rental (Kanal10)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, CA
Cover

Amiga version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score CU Amiga (UK) 73 Tilt (FR) 90

	82
Based on 2 reviews

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

Amiga, UK

Atari ST version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Joystick (FR) 72 ST Action (UK) 80 ST Format (UK) 73 Tilt (FR) 90

	79
Based on 4 reviews

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf

Atari ST, UK
Cover
Disk 1 Disk 2

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf/Technical information.