Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn)

For the Sega Mega Drive game, see Pebble Beach Golf Links (Mega Drive).

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Pebble Beach Golf Links
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: T&E Soft
Brand: Sega Sports (US, EU, UK, DE, PL, AU)
Distributor: Sega-Ozisoft (AU)
Licensor: Pebble Beach Company
Sound driver: SCSP (1 track)
Peripherals supported: 6Player, Saturn Backup Memory
Genre: Sports (golf)
Number of players: 1-4
Release Date RRP Code JP 1995-02-24 ¥8,8008,800 GS-9006 US 1995-05-11 $49.9949.99 81101 EU 1995-08 MK81101-50 DE 1995 MK81101-50 UK 1995-08-25 £49.9949.99 MK81101-50 PL 1996 169zł169 AU 199x FPEB00SSC
Non-Sega versions 3DO

Pebble Beach Golf Links, known as Pebble Beach Golf Links: Stadler ni Chousen (PEBBLE BEACH GOLF LINKS ～スタドラーに挑戦～) in Japan, is a Sega Saturn golf game developed by T&E Soft and published by Sega. First released in Japan in February 1995, it was brought to the United States later that May, and to Europe the following August.

The game boasts a three-dimensional engine, upbeat jazzy soundtrack, and extensive full-motion videos starring professional golfer Craig Stadler.

Gameplay

Driving and putting

The game is a golf game set at the world-renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links golf course in Pebble Beach, California. While featuring a similar polygon rendering system as previous entries, the engine runs smoother than previous entries and features new course artwork, an overhauled user interface, digitized golfers and caddies, and full-motion videos. Professional golfer Craig Stadler appears before each of the course's 18 holes to offer detailed golf advice for how to best play that hole.

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).

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 Skins Match and Match Play modes, there is additionally a "Use Stadler" option that allows the player to ask Craig Stadler to hit the next shot (which can only be done a limited number of times per round).

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.

Modes

The game has a Quick Start menu item that starts a single-player game in the Pebble Beach Open mode with Craig Stadler and another 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.

• Pebble Beach Open: Three golfers participate in the Pebble Beach 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 Pebble Beach 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 Match: 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 Play: One golfer can choose any hole to play.
• Watch a Game: The player can watch a game of the Pebble Beach Open mode played by three computer-controlled golfers.

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

In the Skins Match and Match Play modes, players can have Craig Stadler "pinch hit" shots for them. Before starting the game, the number of times Stadler can be used can be set between 0 and 18.

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

History

Legacy

A particular video clip of Stadler asking "Think you can get it inside mine?" has become the star of community parody after appearing in episode 69 of the YouTube show Game Sack. While the phrase is common golf terminology, and Stadler is simply taunting the player, it eventually grew to become one of the game's most well-remembered moments.

Production credits

T&E Soft

• Executive Producers: Toshiro Yokoyama, Eiji Yokoyama
• Directed By: Eiji Kato
• Maincode Programming: Eiji Kato
• Director of Visual Effects: Toyokazu Hattori
• Director of C.G.Modeling: Katsuhisa Ota
• Sound Effects & Music Compose: Yumi Kinoshita
• Visual Effects: Koichi Goto, Tomoko Suzuki
• C.G.Modeling: Hideaki Shinmura
• Assistant Programmers: Hiroatsu Kono, Katsuya Mizuta

Sega

• Starring: Craig Stadler, Marnie McGuire
• Starring Director: Mamoru Shigeta (Sega Enterprises)
• Special Thanks: SEGA Staff
• The Supplier for Photo: AFLO Foto Agency
• Licensed by: Pebble Beach Company

©SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. 1995

©T&E SOFT,Inc. 1989,1995

All rights reserved.

Source:

In-game credits (JP)

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• Producers: Wallace Poulter & Gerald DeYoung
• Executive Producer: Wayne Townsend
• Lead Test: Marc Dawson
• Assistant Lead: Lance Nelson, Sean McInnes, Todd Slepian
• Testers: Todd Morgan, Armando Anguiano, Dillan Manger, David Paniagua, David Dodge, Tracy Johnson, Lorne Asuncion, Aaron Drayer, Don Carmichael, Dave Perkinson, Matt Underwood, Mark Subotnik, Wisam Saliba, Steve Bourdet, Rick Greer, Leonard Sayers, Ken Spalasso, Terry Thomas
• Marketing: Kelly Ryan & Doug Rebert
• Manual: John McClain & Mike Deininger
• Sega Sports: Mike Meischeid, Chris Smith, Scott Rohde, Chris Cutliff, Rosie Freeman, Craig Ostrander
• Special Thanks: Joe Miller, Scott Bayless, Mike Latham, Dave Albert, Michealene Christini, Brad Hogan, John Leonhardt, Katie Weathers, Max Taylor, Noel Puldio, Jef Feldman, Willie Mancero, Mike Weiner, Blair Bullock, Mark Lindstrom, Masaaki Kawamura, James Spahn, Yukimi Shimura, Stephen Patterson

Source:

US manual

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Magazine articles

Main article: Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn)/Magazine articles.

Promotional materials

Print advert in Blue Jean (TR) #12/96: "Aralik 1996" (1996-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Blue Jean (TR) #01/97: "Ocak 1997" (1997-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score CD Consoles (FR) NTSC 44 Digitiser (UK) 78 Electronic Entertainment (US) NTSC-U 75 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 70 Excalibur (CZ) 66 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 68 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 72 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 78 Games World: The Magazine (UK) NTSC 53 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 58 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 75 HiTech (ES) PAL 60 Joypad (FR) 72 MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J 76 Maximum (UK) 50 Mega Force (FR) PAL 86 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 75 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J 88 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 82 Player One (FR) 90 Power Up! (UK) 77 Power Unlimited (NL) 80 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 67 Saturn+ (UK) PAL 69 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 79 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 67 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 67 SuperGamePower (BR) 80 Sega Megazone (AU) 73 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 84 Ultimate Future Games (UK) 77 Videogame Advisor (US) NTSC-U 75 Video Games (DE) PAL 72 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 70

	72
Based on 34 reviews

Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn)

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc File:PebbleBeach-Saturn-J-Manual.pdf Manual

Saturn, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover

Saturn, DE
Cover

Saturn, AU
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Pebble Beach Golf Links (Saturn)/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of Japan catalogue pages (Japanese): Saturn

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)