Ernie Els Golf

n/a

Ernie Els Golf
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Codemasters
Genre: Sports (golf)
Number of players: 1-4
Official in-game languages: English Français Deutsch Italiano Español
Release Date RRP Code EU 1994-07 T-120098-50 UK 1994-07 £29.9929.99 T-120098-50 AU 1994

Ernie Els Golf is a golf game for the Sega Game Gear released exclusively in Europe. The game features an endorsement by South African professional golfer Ernie Els.

Gameplay

Driving and putting

The game is a golf game, which uses a perspective from behind the golfer for taking shots. It supports between one and four players (taking turns). There are four courses: St. Davids (Britain, 18 holes), Hokkaido (Japan, 18 holes), Sydney (Australia, 9 holes), and Sunny Lakes (USA, 9 holes). Each golfer chooses a name and a flag (South Africa, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, USA, Japan, or Australia). Players can choose the number of mulligans (2, 4, 6, 8, or unlimited) for human players or the handicap for computer players. Games have varied weather and wind conditions, or they can be set manually.

Before each shot, the player is shown the distance to the hole, the wind speed and direction, the lie of the ball, and the current stroke. The player can aim the shot with or . A flag on the top of the screen shows the direction of the cup. Pressing brings up the club selection (the game automatically chooses a club for each shot, but the player can change it), or pressing brings up an inset to adjust the golfer's stance (which affects the draw or fade of the shot). The player can bring up an overhead view of the hole by pressing .

The player can start the shot by pressing . This brings up the power meter, which fills and empties between 0% and 100% repeatedly until the player presses again at the desired power level. The slice meter then sweeps between left and right, which affects how much the shot hooks, and the player can press to stop it. After the shot, the player can watch a replay from one of three perspectives (from behind the golfer, from above, or from the location that the shot landed), take a mulligan (undo the shot), or continue the game. When putting, the game lays a grid over the green to show the contours.

Rules

Players can choose from the following rules for a new game:

• Practice: A single-player game where the player plays a full round of golf on any course.
• Stroke Play: A game for one to four players. Players take turns and try to complete each hole in the fewest number of strokes. At the end of the round, the player who has the lowest score for every hole combined wins.
• Match Play: A game for two to four players. 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 player with the fewest strokes on each hole wins the hole. At the end of the round, the player who has won the most holes wins.
• Threesome: A game for three players, in two teams. These rules play two players against one, with the team of two playing one ball and alternating shots.
• Foursome: A game for four players, in two teams. These rules play two teams of two against each other, with team members alternating shots.
• Stableford: A game for one to four players. Instead of counting strokes, Stableford scoring awards points depending on the number of strokes taken on each hole. The rules award 6 points for four strokes under, 5 points for three strokes under, 4 points for two strokes under, 3 points for one stroke under, 2 points for par, 1 point for one stroke over, and no points for two or more strokes. At the end of the round, the player with the highest score wins. These rules are considerably more forgiving since they limit the amount that a player can be penalized for performing badly on a single hole.
• Skins Game: A game for two to four players. Each hole has a cash prize (called a "skin") that is awarded to the golfer with the lowest score on that hole. If two or more players tie, the money for that hole is carried over to the next hole. At the end of the round, the player with the most money wins.

In multiplayer games, each player can be set to human or computer (with human players sharing the same Game Gear).

There is also a separate Training mode where the player can choose any hole on any course to practice. The player can choose to practice driving (starts at the teeing area, as normal), putting (starts on the putting green), or chipping (starts in a bunker).

History

Development

Global Golf title screen

It is thought that before this game was sponsored by Ernie Els, it was known as Global Golf.

A Master System version and Mega Drive version of Ernie Els Golf were also planned for release around the same time, but ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons.

Production credits

• Designed and Written by: Andrew Perkins
• Graphics: Mark Neesam
• Music SFX: Tim Bartlett

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Ernie Els Golf/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Sega Magazine (UK) #11: "November 1994" (1994-10-15)
also published in:

• Mean Machines Sega (UK) #26: "December 1994" (1994-10-28)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 88 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 75 Player One (FR) 75 Play Time (DE) PAL 84 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 91 Sega Power (UK) PAL 91 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 79 Sega Megazone (AU) 91 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 90 Todo Sega (ES) 74 Video Games (DE) PAL 84

	84
Based on 11 reviews

Ernie Els Golf

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, UK
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, AU
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 5e53c7f7 MD5 e97c20b86ea73248cc7aed602d46c3a4 SHA-1 a8d75c2af514dc81ba4dc66a508384d730a77ce4	256kB	1994-08-26	Cartridge (EU)	8kB backup
?	CRC32 abbd0222 MD5 022cfa638256560c60b4bcb292c63246 SHA-1 b80e3d931c437b94bb5ef535df59cdb4cfa09400	256kB	1994-06-20	EPROM cartridge	8kB backup			Page