Battle Golfer Yui (Mega Drive) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
350A playthrough of Sega's 1991 adventure/golf game for the Sega Mega Drive, Battle Golfer Yui (バトルゴルファー唯).
In this video I play through the entire "adventure mode."
Battle Golfer Yui is a Japanese-exclusive game for the 16-bit Mega Drive (Genesis). The version I am playing here, however, is completely in English thanks to the efforts of fan-translator Filler. If you'd like to check it out for yourself, information and the translation patch can be found at https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3364/
The early 90s were a great time for creativity in video games. Though the 8-bit machines all saw their share of quirky stuff, the power afforded by the new 16-bit machines paved the way for a whole generation of genre-defying experiments in game design. And we have Sega to thank for a large part of that.
Battle Golfer Yui is a hybrid of a few distinct gametypes. It's a visual novel-style adventure game (like Shadowgate, Snatcher, or Princess Tomato) combined with a fantasy-style golf game (like Wicked 18, Valora Valley Golf, or Mario Golf), and your character's abilities are all determined by a JRPG-style stat system. It's bold, it's hella weird, and I loved it.
It takes the genre-mixing ideas that we saw in Sword of Hope, Tombs & Treasure, Rent A Hero, and World Court Tennis, and its careful refinement and balancing of the individual pieces make Battle Golfer Yui a more streamlined, more engaging game than most similarly minded hybrids tended to be.
The story is absolutely insane, even for its time. You play as Yui, a high schooler with exceptionally memorable hair, a short temper, and killer golf swing. Yui and her friend Ran (also a golfer) have been kidnapped Professor G, the leader of Dark Hazard, a group of terrorists that plan to take over the world.
So how is this relevant at all to the game? Well, Professor G's plan for total domination involves creating an army of "Battle Golfers," which are essentially military-grade golfing cyborgs made from naturally talented golfers. In order to find out the truth, Yui has to battle golf her way through several opponents that would stand in her way, interrogating them for new leads as she goes.
(Anyone else ever notice how much 100ft Robot Golf ripped off this one's story?)
The golf is probably the most conventional part of the game. It features several odd course layouts, a nice range of limited-use power shots to help out in rough situations, and a clean, easy-to-read interface. It plays well, but the simplistic overhead graphics rob it of some of the personality that shines through so well in the adventure portions.
The adventure scenes are really what drive the game, and they're far better done than you might expect from a four megabit cart. The art is fantastic (especially if you like late 80s sci-fi anime), and there is a lot of it. The big panels filled with bold lines and brilliant colors are impressive to look at and often give the game a legitimate "digital comic" feel.
The music also adds a lot to the tone in the adventure scenes - the tracks are classic Genesis fare, and there are even a few earworms in there. The golfing tunes aren't so hot though, and they grate before too long.
Battle Golfer Yui is an excellent way to spend a few hours, regardless of if you like golf or not. It feels like a ton of passion and sweat went into making this one, and in my humble opinion, that is what makes it such memorable, one-of-a-kind experience.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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