Mean 18
| Mean 18 | |
|---|---|
Amiga cover art
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| Developer(s) | Microsmiths |
| Publisher(s) | Accolade |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari 7800, Atari ST, MS-DOS |
| Release | 1986 |
| Genre(s) | Golf |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Mean 18 is the name of a series of computer golf games released by Accolade in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is also the name of the first game in the series. In the early 1990s, the series was phased out by Accolade's Jack Nicklaus series of golf games, which arrived in 1990. The game was designed by Rex Bradford with graphics by George Karalias, both of the small game development company Microsmiths.
Mean 18 is notable for two reasons: it was the first computer golf game to give the golfer's point of view of the course, and it was the first golf game to come with a course editor that allowed players to create their own courses.
Mean 18 featured the Augusta National and Pebble Beach and St. Andrews courses. It used the soon popular 3-click control system, whereby the first click starts the swing, the second sets the power, and the third sets draw or fade.
The game features Beginner and Expert difficulty options. The Expert mode has more pronounced draw and fade effects, making the timing of the third click more crucial. The player can also choose between regular and professional tees. For the regular mode, the tees are shorter and the computer automatically recommends the best club. Using the professional tees, the computer still recommends clubs, but not necessarily the best ones for the shot.
The course editor was also a big feature of the game, a first for many games of any genre of the day. With practice, it was very versatile and new courses could be traded freely. Many BBSs hosted course files created by other players.
Released first for MS-DOS in 1986, it was quickly ported to other popular home computer platforms of the era. It was eventually ported to the Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari 7800 and Atari ST. Despite some of the other systems superior graphics abilities (notably, the Amiga, Atari ST and Apple IIGS), the graphics for all the games were similar to the MS-DOS versions.
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