How to play Mean 18 Ultimate Golf online
- Change club: up and down arrow keys
- Aim left or right: left and right arrow keys
- Swing: press Z three times (start the backswing, start the downswing, snap the wrists)
- Look at the whole hole from above: F2 (Select)
- Show the scorecard: F4 (Pause)
- Restart and choose new options: F3 (Reset)
Both the USA (NTSC) and Europe (PAL) releases are on this page; use the switch to pick one.
Gameplay
You play a round of golf at Pebble Beach, alone or with a friend. Before teeing off you pick your options: one or two players, Beginner or Expert skill, Regular or Pro tees, and stroke play or match play. Match play is for two players only. On Beginner the margin for error is smaller, although you can still slice and shank the ball. Expert golfers have to choose every club themselves and hit more precise shots. The Pro tees make each hole longer.
Every shot takes three presses of the button. The first starts the backswing, and a power gauge fills up: each line on it adds 10% of the club’s full distance. The second press starts the downswing. The third snaps your wrists, and its timing decides the direction. Snap early, above the line where the swing began, and the ball hooks to the left. Snap late, below that line, and it slices to the right. Once every player is on the green, the view switches to an overhead look at the green showing all the balls, and you putt from there.
| Club | Distance (yards) |
|---|---|
| Driver | 250 |
| 3 wood | 230 |
| 4 wood | 215 |
| 2 iron | 207 |
| 3 iron | 197 |
| 4 iron | 184 |
| 5 iron | 172 |
| 6 iron | 159 |
| 7 iron | 148 |
| 8 iron | 136 |
| 9 iron | 124 |
| Pitching wedge | 112 |
| Sand wedge | 100 |
Tips
- Start on Beginner and the regular tees. Learn the swing timing before the Pro tees add distance.
- Use the table. Check the distance to the hole, then pick the club whose full distance is closest. Stopping the power gauge early gives you a shorter shot with the same club.
- Treat the third press as the important one. Power is easy to judge; a mistimed wrist snap is what sends the ball into trouble. Aim to snap right on the starting line.
- Press F2 before teeing off. The overhead view shows where the hole bends and where the hazards are.
The story behind Mean 18
Mean 18 was designed by Rex Bradford, with graphics by George Karalias, both of Microsmiths, and Accolade released it for MS-DOS computers in 1986. Versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIGS and Macintosh followed. The computer game included Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St Andrews, plus an editor for building your own courses. It was well reviewed, Computer Gaming World preferred it to Leader Board, and it sold more than 200,000 copies.
Atari Corporation published the 7800 version in 1989. It is a much smaller game than the computer original: there is only one course, but the three-press swing is all there. Collectors know it as one of the hardest 7800 cartridges to find, and AtariAge ranks it the second rarest title in the console’s library.
