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What's the 7800 community's view on MEAN 18 ULTIMATE GOLF?


martianboy04

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Howzit! I recently obtained a very cheap, new/old stock copy of the 7800's golf sim, MEAN 18 ULTIMATE GOLF. I was expecting to find all of the entertainment in the nostalgic joy of carefully peeling the destructive, box-crushing cellophane off of the box and inventorising it on my shelf in a shiny, new box-protector. I live in Australia but I am a native African of the Afrikaner tribe. Golf is played by the wealthy, English Whites but we Afrikaners are best at three sports. Boxing, "jagter" (sportsmenship) and of course, our national passion, Rugby. According to many of "my volk", the only good thing the English gave us! Nevertheless, I ran the program and found myself becoming really involved and though I knew nothing of golf, was enchanted by the beautifully-drawn landscapes and a freedom from the time constraints which exist in most other 7800 titles. The physics for a game published in 1989 are nice and the use of colour is very attractive.

         Has anyone got an opinion on this? And I only admit my admiration for this game now I am safely in Australia!  

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The mechanics have held up well and it's definitely a competent game of golf.  The three press swing is familiar to anybody who's played other golf games.  As you play you can choose to start picking your own clubs in advance mode which helps to add to the challenge.  I wish you could see the lie of the ball after it's hit but you have to wait until your next shot to find out where the ball landed exactly. 

 

The putting is simple but good too. As stated before another course or two would make it a longer experience but it will take a while to master all 18 holes of what is provided. 

 

Overall it's a good game!

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1 hour ago, martianboy04 said:

Howzit! I recently obtained a very cheap, new/old stock copy of the 7800's golf sim, MEAN 18 ULTIMATE GOLF. I was expecting to find all of the entertainment in the nostalgic joy of carefully peeling the destructive, box-crushing cellophane off of the box and inventorising it on my shelf in a shiny, new box-protector. I live in Australia but I am a native African of the Afrikaner tribe. Golf is played by the wealthy, English Whites but we Afrikaners are best at three sports. Boxing, "jagter" (sportsmenship) and of course, our national passion, Rugby. According to many of "my volk", the only good thing the English gave us! Nevertheless, I ran the program and found myself becoming really involved and though I knew nothing of golf, was enchanted by the beautifully-drawn landscapes and a freedom from the time constraints which exist in most other 7800 titles. The physics for a game published in 1989 are nice and the use of colour is very attractive.

         Has anyone got an opinion on this? And I only admit my admiration for this game now I am safely in Australia!  

Link?

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I love the game but I also have a huge sentimental soft spot for it. I used to play Mean 18 with my grandpa on (I believe) an IBM PC Jr in the 80s. He had tons of course disks that of course the 7800 can't use but the 7800 version scratches my itch fine (and is WAY easier than setting up a PC Jr.!)

 

I do think it is a very solid, if somewhat unspectacular game. It does what it should reliably mechanics wise. And once you learn your clubs pretty well, you can throw out/ignore the damn yardage chart.

 

Biggest drawback IMO is the putting. I wish your player sprite rotated WITH your putt line....some of the extreme angle putts look kind of ridiculous.

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48 minutes ago, martianboy04 said:

My apologies, Ecernosoft, but I do not comprehend your query. My English is good but colloquialisms are as hard for me as Afrikaans to you. And if not, opthou ons Taal, my bruder! 

I think he's asking for a link to download and play it maybe?  Idk but it was a retail releases from back in the day so either get a cart or download trebors pack. 

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Agree with GoldenWheels that the putting is kind of goofy but it is more than sufficiently adequate once figured out.  Personally, I wish the game had a variable wind factor.  Otherwise, Mean 18 is a very solid 1980's golf game.

 

Not that I'm any good at it but my personal best game did include my first-ever hole in one....but I'm a computer golf hack at best.

 

 

mean.jpg

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  • 8 months later...

Kind of a PSA but for all fans of Mean 18 I would recommend checking out Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes for the NES.  It is very similar to Mean 18 in regards to graphics, play mechanics (swing meter), has wind AND the putting is way better.  Apologies for plugging a Nintendo game here but I have been comparing these two and if you enjoy Mean, you'll probably like Jack a little more.  And the cart is quite cheap.

 

Having owned the meh C-64 game, I had no idea that this version was made for the NES until the Video Game Critic reviewed it a few months ago and I'm glad he did.

 

https://videogamecritic.com/nesjj.htm?e=48980#rev5806

 

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I would like to like/love it.

 

Just don’t get the concept of timing as the bar moves up and down in its rate, while the graphics of the golf-player seems to move in a somewhat unsynchronized pace.

 

To get to push at the correct time ss to both, may be the entire point, but all that happens to me is that the golf-player sends off and away the ball really before I plan to push the last time (which I take to be as close to starting point as possible).

 

I have played Awesome Golf for Lynx, and even though I’m not very good, I ‘understand’ why or what I did wrong.

 

On Mean 18, I just don’t get how to ‘plan’ or ‘see’ the timing to get things right.

 

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58 minutes ago, Giles N said:

I would like to like/love it.

 

Just don’t get the concept of timing as the bar moves up and down in its rate, while the graphics of the golf-player seems to move in a somewhat unsynchronized pace.

 

To get to push at the correct time ss to both, may be the entire point, but all that happens to me is that the golf-player sends off and away the ball really before I plan to push the last time (which I take to be as close to starting point as possible).

 

I have played Awesome Golf for Lynx, and even though I’m not very good, I ‘understand’ why or what I did wrong.

 

On Mean 18, I just don’t get how to ‘plan’ or ‘see’ the timing to get things right.

 

@Giles N Read "Making a Shot" in the manual.  mean_18.pdf  If you press the button too soon, the ball will hook left.  If you press too late, it will slice right.  

Edited by Living Room Arcade
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24 minutes ago, Living Room Arcade said:

If you press the button too soon, the ball will hook left.  If you press too late, it will slice right.  

I know the theory, but often, while I watch for the moving point to close in on the starting point, the player anyway just fires off…

… so I feel its like too soon/too late… according to … the frames of golf-player movement or according to the pointer moving up and down the energy bar…?

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1 hour ago, Giles N said:

...according to the pointer moving up and down the energy bar…?

As shown in the manual posted:

image.png.40850dac8ef5cdd0a6f45728189f4cd1.png

-Pressing the button the first time sends the meter in motion, going upward. 

-Pressing the button the second time will determine the strength of the swing relative to distance potential of the club being utilized*, going over 100% overswings causing a wilder shot.  The second button press also sends the meter downward.

-Pressing the button a third time will determine how much of a Hook (left), Slice (right), or Straight direction the ball will lean towards.

 

*Clubs:

image.png.49256e81276803d79e6b7f7f4d1e4743.png

 

Of course, see the manual for further details, including strategy tips, but that's the gist of it.

 

Here's a couple of screenshots to drive home the points:

 

Starting out, just prior to pressing the button for the first time, planning how much strength I'm going to utilize...

image.thumb.png.f221fca23b8a1607b41a148ee1dc7d5f.png

 

The button has just been pressed for a second time, right at the 100% mark (note the white marker towards the top), as the meter is about to fall, I am preparing myself to press the button for a third time, which will determine the direction of the ball...

image.thumb.png.e4e094d316e888b511b6b69d73a46088.png

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5 minutes ago, Trebor said:

As shown in the manual just posted:

image.png.40850dac8ef5cdd0a6f45728189f4cd1.png

Pressing the button the first time sends the meter in motion, going upward. 

Pressing the button the second time will determine the strength of the swing and then send the meter going downward. 

Pressing the button a third time, will determine how much of a Hook, Slice, or Straight direction the ball will head.

Thanks @Trebor I can now enjoy this game.

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19 minutes ago, Trebor said:

The second button press also sends the meter downward.

-Pressing the button a third time will determine how much of a Hook, Slice, or Straight direction the ball will head into.

Yes, and as the meter moves downwards, it just often doesn’t make it to 0% Start before the player hits it.

 

Is that because I have let it go too far above 100%…?

 
- - -

 

Somehow, - when I only look at the meter-bar, I could press (fairly) precisely (and more so with more training), but often I find something that appears to be difference between the meter-bar lever snd the graphics/movement of the player.

 

So, what depends on what?
 

I get this fairly right on Awesome Golf for Lynx, where it seems to be only about hitting the at the right spot on the strenght-bar.

 

It somehow feels like theres more to account for/follow on Mean 18.

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17 minutes ago, Giles N said:

So, what depends on what?

Hopefully the below captures illustrates it more clearly.  After the button has been pressed the second time, strength has been determined (Each screenshot shows 100% strength - top white marker), here are examples of a third button press (lower white marker) for determining ball direction:

 

HOOK (Left):

image.thumb.png.614e3a14e98d1aca8d0590f8cb16532b.png

 

SLICE (Right):

image.thumb.png.93ebc289abe44440d96f084ad791e72a.png

 

STRAIGHT:

image.thumb.png.a52e008e8c5a8db1a1ea960edc732276.png

 

Quote

Is that because I have let it go too far above 100%…?

Anything above 100% (White marker in the red area) will result in a "wilder" shot with likely less control over the ball, and behavior that may not align with the typical experience explained above.

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8 minutes ago, Trebor said:

Anything above 100% will result in a "wilder" shot with likely less control over the ball, and behavior that may not align with the typical experience explained above.

Ok, I may just give it some more tries then, to see if I can get to grips with it.

 

And let me guess, if I go for less than 100% strenght I’ll need to compensate for that also …?

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16 hours ago, Giles N said:

And let me guess, if I go for less than 100% strenght I’ll need to compensate for that also …?

Compensate may not be so much the word when it comes to less than 100% strength, but maybe think strategize instead.

 

For example, hypothetically, let's say you're about to swing your "Stroke 3" for a hole, and "Distance - 132".  The 9 Iron at 100% ideally should take the ball 124 yards.  A little too shy of the hole.  The 8 Iron at 100% strength, sends the ball 136 yards.  The best play likely here is to leverage the 8 Iron, but not at 100% strength.

14 hours ago, Living Room Arcade said:

Just finished 18 holes of Mean 18 and shot an 85.  

There are four different ways to play.  Do you recall, was it Beginner or Expert setting with Regular or Pro Tees? :)

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