Valora Valley Golf

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Valora Valley Golf
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: VIC Tokai (JP), VIC Tokai Inc. (US), VIC Tokai Europe (EU)
Developer: T&E Soft
Distributor: Virgin Interactive Entertainment (EU), Ecofilmes (PT)
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (2 tracks)
Peripherals supported: 6Player, Saturn Backup Memory
Genre: Sports (golf)
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-12-15 ¥5,8005,800 T-2301G US 1995-12 T-2303H EU 1996 T-2303H-50 DE 1996 T-2303H-50 PT 199x UK 1996-04-12 £44.9944.99 T-2303H-50 PL 1996
Non-Sega versions 3DO

Valora Valley Golf, known in Japan as The Hyper Golf: Devil's Course (ザ・ハイパーゴルフ ～デビルズコース～), is a golf game developed by T&E Soft and published by VIC Tokai for the Sega Saturn. It is a remake of New 3D Golf Simulation: Devil's Course.

Gameplay

Driving and putting

The game is a golf game where the object is to complete each hole in the fewest strokes possible. It is similar to Pebble Beach Golf Links but takes place on the Devil's Course, a fictional 18-hole course filled with unusual and sometimes supernatural hazards such as lava, statues, steep hills and mountains, huge sand traps and water hazards, deep gorges, and floating islands.

The game saves progress and statistics for up to ten separate players to the Saturn's internal memory. Each player's club selections are also saved. Up to 14 clubs can be selected from a set of 17 (with the putter being mandatory). Players can choose from four different digitized golfers to depict them as well as from four caddies (both golfers and caddies have three male and one female options). The caddie occasionally provides commentary in a video overlay.

On each shot, the game shows the current player, the stroke, the distance to the hole, and the wind direction and speed in the top-left corner, the current hole and the par and total length of the hole in the top-right corner, and the lie of the ball in the bottom-left corner. A digitized depiction of the golfer and the caddie appear on the course, though the caddie can be toggled off to show a map of the hole instead. The player starts the shot or confirms a choice with or goes back with . Selections are made with and or and . At the beginning of each hole, the player can place the tee anywhere in the starting area.

The player first chooses the direction of the shot by rotating a ring that appears on the ground (with the shoulder buttons rotating it in larger increments). The golfer always faces toward the green, and a red marker indicates the direction to the cup, though the player must also take into account the effect of the wind and the position of hazards. After choosing a direction, the player chooses a club. The caddie makes a suggestion for each shot. The player then sets the stance: moving the left foot forward causes the ball to draw (hook slightly to the left), while moving the right foot forward causes the ball to fade (slice slightly to the right). An indicator appears over the ball to illustrate the path that it will take with the current stance. Pressing the shoulder buttons moves the left or right foot all the way forward, while pressing or resets the stance.

Finally, a swing meter appears around the golfer (as a semicircle depicting the path of the backswing). The meter fills to the end with red, then empties again, until the player presses , which determines the power and distance of the swing. Then the meter fills back to the start with green. When it reaches the brightly colored segment at the end, the player can press to take the shot. Hitting the marker in the orange area (in the middle) results in the most accurate shot; hitting in the yellow or green area causes the shot to draw or fade, while failing to press to confirm the shot before the entire meter fills results in a whiffed shot. The width of the orange area varies depending on the club used (with short irons, wedges, and putters having wider areas, making it easier to make accurate shots). When putting or when the "Easy Shot" option is enabled, the player only needs to confirm the power of the shot without the second part that determines its accuracy.

During gameplay, the player can bring up the leaderboard with , change to a view of the green with , or overlay a contour grid with . The player can open a menu with that provides access to the options screen, an in-game tutorial, the "Cart View" (a movable, 3D view of the hole) or a replay of the last shot or putt (which can be saved to the Saturn's internal memory for later viewing).

In the Cart View, the player can inspect the hole from inside a golf cart. The player can move in any direction using the D-Pad or move sideways with and . The player can jump to the position of the ball with , to the tee ground with , or to the green with . Any other button exits the view and returns to the game.

The weather can affect the player's shots. Besides the wind, rain reduces the amount that balls bounce and roll on the fairway and adds resistance to putts. The weather can change during a game.

Hyper Shots

Hyper Shots

When determining the power of the swing using the swing meter, pressing at the peak power (at the end of the meter) causes multiple highlighted segments to appear as the meter fills back to the start (to determine the accuracy of the shot). Stopping the meter in one of these areas performs a Hyper Shot, a powerful swing with special characteristics:

• Cyclone Shot: Hits the ball low, along the ground, while propelled by a gust of air. This lets the ball roll through under trees and through hazards such as ponds and bunkers. This shot can only be done when hitting with a driver off the tee.
• Warp Shot: Warps the ball directly onto the green. This shot has the narrowest segment, so it is the most difficult to land. Warped shots are not recorded as the longest drive. This shot can only be done when hitting with a driver off the tee.
• Fire Shot: Rockets the ball through the air while engulfed in flames, which allows it to pass through trees and rocks. This shot can be done with any club except the putter.
• Psycho Shot: Allows the player to "psychically" control the ball during its flight by pressing or . This shot can be done with any club except the putter.

Hyper Shots cannot be used when the "Easy Shot" option is enabled.

Modes

The game has a Quick Start menu item that starts a single-player game in the Devil's Open mode with a computer-controlled player, or a mode can be selected through the Select Game menu item.

In all modes, the golfers can be human or computer-controlled, but at least one player must be human (with the exception of the Watch a Game mode, which is always played solely by the computer). The game shows the gameplay of the computer-controlled golfers.

• Devil's Open: Two golfers participate in the Devil's Open, a four-day tournament. The first two days of the tournament consist of qualifying rounds. The top players go on to compete against each other in the final two days.
• Tournament Play: This mode is identical to the Devil's Open mode, except it skips the qualifying rounds and goes straight to the last day of the tournament.
• Stroke Play: One to four golfers compete to complete all holes in the fewest number of strokes. Players can set a handicap (between 1 and 36 strokes, or set to "DP" to allow the game to determine the handicap at the end of the round).
• Skins Play: Two to four golfers compete for prize money. 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 is the winner. The prize money for each hole can be adjusted.
• Match Play: Two golfers compete to see who can win the lowest score on each hole. If both players tie on a hole, neither player wins the hole and the game moves on to the next one. At the end of the round, the player who won the most holes is the winner. The winner is declared early if a player has won more holes than remain in the round.
• Practice Mode: One golfer can choose any hole to play.
• Demo Mode: The player can watch a game of the Devil's Open mode played by three computer-controlled golfers.

In the Stroke Play, Skins Play, Match Play, and Practice Mode modes, players are asked whether to start at the Champion (back) or Members (middle) tee, which affects the distance of each hole. The Devil's Open and Tournament Play modes are always played from the Champion tee.

There is a Course Guide menu item that allows the player to watch any of the 18 hole introductions.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Valora Valley Golf	Valora Valley Golf
English (US)	Valora Valley Golf	Valora Valley Golf
Japanese	ザ・ハイパーゴルフ ～デビルズコース～	The Hyper Golf: Devil's Course

Magazine articles

Main article: Valora Valley Golf/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #tce: "The Cutting Edge: Spring 1996" (1996-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Computer & Video Games (UK) 50 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 63 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 75 Joypad (FR) 80 Maximum (UK) 25 Mega Force (FR) PAL 89 Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U 78 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 84 neXt Level (DE) PAL 65 Player One (FR) 80 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 66 Sega Magazin (DE) 76 Sega Power (UK) PAL 32 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 88 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 74 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 73 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 85 Video Games (DE) PAL 74

	70
Based on 18 reviews

Valora Valley Golf

Saturn, JP
Cover
Disc

Saturn, US
Cover
Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover
Disc

Saturn, PT
Cover
Disc

Technical information

Main article: Valora Valley Golf/Technical information.

References

T&E Soft's Golf Simulation series
Pebble Beach	Pebble Beach Golf Links (1993) | Pebble Beach Golf Links (1995) | Pebble Beach: The Great Shot (1996)
Augusta	New 3D Golf Simulation: Harukanaru Augusta (1993) | Masters: Harukanaru Augusta 3 (1995)
Waialae Country Club	New 3D Golf Simulation: Waialae no Kiseki (1994) | Waialae no Kiseki: Extra 36 Holes (1997)
Others	New 3D Golf Simulation: Devil's Course (1994) | Valora Valley Golf (1995) | Jun Classic C.C. & Rope Club (1997)