Links: The Challenge of Golf

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Links: The Challenge of Golf
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Virgin Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Access Software, Papyrus
Peripherals supported: Sega Mouse, TeeVGolf
Genre: Sports
Number of players: 1-6
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-09 T-70095
Non-Sega versions Amiga IBM PC

Links: The Challenge of Golf is a golf game for the Sega Mega-CD released as part of the Links series. It was only released in North America.

It derives from a 1990 DOS game of the same name but features a number of enhancements. It was originally developed by Access Software and can be seen as an evolution of World Class Leader Board, though both games were adjusted from their source material to better suit the console market.

Gameplay

Club selection and gameplay

Links is a golf game featuring one course, the Torrey Pines South Course in San Diego, California. The goal is to hit the ball into the hole at the end of the course in the fewest strokes possible.

The game uses a cursor to navigate its menus and supports the Sega Mouse. Like most golf games, it uses a C-shaped swing meter. When the cursor has selected the swing button, the player swings by holding or , releasing the button to determine the power of the swing, then pressing the button again to determine the spin. The top of the meter has a mark for indicating the maximum safe power for the swing. If the player goes beyond that mark, it greatly increases the chance of a snap hook (a shot that veers off in an undesired direction). The bottom of the meter has a mark for the ideal amount of spin. Missing this mark causes the ball to slice or fade. The player can replay the shot from two different perspectives (the angle of the golfer or the angle of where the ball came to rest) or take a mulligan and redo the shot. The player is not penalized for mulligans, though the number of mulligans taken is recorded on the score card.

The game indicates the wind direction, which can affect the trajectory of the shot. Players can rotate the direction in which the golfer faces. Players can set the direction of the shot to avoid obstacles such as trees. There are chip and putt options that select the proper club automatically and change the swing. Players can also drop the ball into a new position if it is hit into an unplayable position (such as out of bounds or into a water hazard). Players can overlay a contour grid onto the course to help read the terrain or pull up a map of the course and measure distances.

Players can choose 13 clubs to carry into the game out of a selection of 20 different clubs. Woods have large heads and are used to hit the ball long distances. Drivers are woods with low loft (angle of the head) that are specifically used for hitting the ball off the tee. Irons are good for long distances, shorter than woods but more accurate. Wedges are irons with high loft that are used for chipping the ball out of hazards. Players always have a putter, which is used for hitting the ball short distances, specifically on the putting green.

The game supports up to six players taking turns on the same course and sharing the same control pad. Each player provides a name, a gender, and a skill level. Higher skill levels require more accurate timing for the swing but also have greater drive distances. The lowest difficulty is immune to the effect of wind, and the game automatically selects the best club for each situation. Players can choose to play the front nine, the back nine, or the full eighteen holes. Players can also play a tournament, which consists of three rounds of eighteen holes. The game can be saved at any point and loaded at a later time. Players can also choose a specific hole on which to practice rather than playing a full game. There is also a driving mode where players play the same hole five times and can compete with each other to get the best average yardage.

The game supports the TeeVGolf peripheral and includes a tutorial on how to use it.

Versions

The Mega-CD version features full-motion video and a commentator, as well as a different set of graphics to better suit the Mega-CD hardware. Like the PC versions, the game lacks any sort of in-game music. Strokes are separated by noticeable load times.

Several add-on courses were released for the PC version, but the Mega-CD version only supports one course. The game has an option on the main menu for inserting a disc for a different course, but no other courses were ever released for this version of the game.

Magazine articles

Main article: Links: The Challenge of Golf/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• EGM² (US) #5: "November 1994" (1994-1x-xx)
• Game Players (US) #0710: "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #22: "December/January 1994/1995" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) 77 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 70 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 69 MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-U 84 Mega Force (FR) PAL 70 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U 20 Player One (FR) NTSC-U 65 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 84 Sega Megazone (AU) 79 Top Consoles (FR) 40

	66
Based on 10 reviews

Links: The Challenge of Golf

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual Reg Card

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	572,512,080	1994-11	CD (US)	T-70095