84 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
84 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
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GREG NORMAN'S SHARK ATTACK! THE ULTIMATE GOLF SIMULATOR
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A golf game called SHARK ATTACK? Pro golfer Greg Norman's nickname is "The
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Great White Shark," presumably for the way he plays golf. And now he's given his
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name to a computer game that could well devour the competition. (This review is
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based on the IBM-PC version.)
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SHARK ATTACK can be played on many levels. At its simplest, it's a mere
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arcade-style sports game. But at its most complex, it becomes a rich, detailed
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simulation that requires intense concentration and thought, much like the real
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game. I'm not even sure I can describe all of its many features in this review,
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but I'll give it a shot.
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Let's talk about players. The game comes with a database of ten pre-defined
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players, each rated on factors such as experience, skill, grip, stance, swing,
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fitness, and handicap. You can add more players to the database; up to 50 can be
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saved. Depending on the type of game you select (Practice, Strokeplay,
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Matchplay, Singles, Fourball, Foursome, Greensome, or Texas Scramble), you can
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have up to four players. Each player can be either "human" or
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computer-controlled. You can also choose whether to have a caddy. (The caddies
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make many decisions for you -- generally recommending the best option -- but you
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can override them.)
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After selecting your clubs, you'll move on to the first hole. Detailed
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information about the weather is available, including wind speed and direction,
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grass wetness, and so on. Although you're initially viewing the course from the
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tee, clicking on "MAP" on the top menu bar allows you to obtain an overhead
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view. You can choose to "WALK" the course to study it first, turning to look in
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each direction.
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Your caddy will recommend a club, and you can accept or ignore that
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recommendation. Next, you can adjust backspin, sidespin, and swing arc. An
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information menu on the right-hand side of the screen keeps you updated on
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distance to the hole, par for the hole, number of strokes already taken, wind
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speed, and weather. (It also lets you restart the hole, replay the shot, and
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change to another hole.)
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Finally, you're ready to take the shot. Press the fire button once to start a
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line ascending on the "power bar." Your second press will determine how much
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power is used -- anywhere from 0 to 112%. Now your eye should quickly jump to
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the meter, beneath which is a direction indicator. Your third press of the
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button "aligns" the shot: Will it go straight, hook, or slice?
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I know; if you're a novice or armchair golfer, all of this sounds a bit
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daunting. But you can always opt to accept the caddy's recommendations and just
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concentrate on the shot itself. Almost anyone can play a complete round within
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minutes of opening the instruction manual. However, the golf expert is sure to
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revel in the way each parameter of each shot can be so precisely adjusted.
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About the only thing SHARK ATTACK seems to lack is the ability to design your
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own courses. The game comes with two complete 18-hole courses, and the
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capability to load in others. Presumably Virgin plans to offer more courses
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(purchased separately) in the future. The manual says nothing about importing
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courses created by other golf games, so there's apparently no compatability with
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such programs.
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The IBM-PC version of SHARK ATTACK comes on two 5-1/4" floppies that can be
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installed on your hard disk. A manual copy-protection method is used, but I
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should state that I often found it difficult to match up the color view of the
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course shown on my screen with the tiny little gray drawings in the booklet.
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The simulation can be played from the keyboard, with a joystick, or with a
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mouse. Graphics support is provided for CGA, EGA, and Tandy 16-color modes. No
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support is provided for any soundboards; audio is limited to sound effects when
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the ball is hit or items on the menus are tagged.
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The EGA graphics were slightly disappointing. The course has a graph-like
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appearance to it, which occasionally obscures details. (I once found myself
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gaining only one yard per stroke, until I finally realized I was on the side of
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a hill and needed to adjust my stroke to make it over the top. It was also
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occasionally disconcerting to be lining up a shot, with the ball positioned just
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_off_ the bottom of the screen.)
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Still, GREG NORMAN'S SHARK ATTACK! THE ULTIMATE GOLF SIMULATOR is a rich,
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multi-leveled experience that should appeal to both casual and diehard golf fans
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alike.
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GREG NORMAN'S SHARK ATTACK! THE ULTIMATE GOLF SIMULATOR is published by
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Melbourne House and distributed by Virgin Mastertronic.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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