Minna No Golf 2 (Hot Shots 2)
Japanese Playstation Import
General FAQ, v2.0
August 19, 1999
Brian Youn <[email protected]>


**********************
** Revision History **
**********************

v2.0, August 19, 1999.  Added a lot of info about the STATUS menu
and the stat-tracking categories.  Also fixed most of the players
names, as I found the English spellings in the HOMEPAGE menu
("HOKU" turned out to be HAWK!)
v1.1, August 15, 1999.  Fixed small error about clubs and balls
(forgot the STRAIGHT ball!)
v1.0, August 14, 1999.  First run, general info and menu
translations.  More to come...?


******************
** General Info **
******************

"Minna No Golf 2" is the sequel to the popular golf game that was
released in the U.S. as "Hotshots Golf." ["Minna No Golf"
actually means "Everybody's Golf"]  After playing this game non-
stop for the past week with my friends, I decided to put together
a general information FAQ, specifically to translate some of the
menu options, etc.  (Please not I am **not** a native speaker of
Japanese, but I do know enough to read the basic options)

The mechanics of the actual game are similar; however the
gameplay is a bit smoother, especially when controlling the
distance bar when hitting.  In Hotshots 1, there was a red
"concentration" bar under the "0" on the distance meter, which,
if you hit dead center, would give you the most accurate shot
(likewise, if you missed to either side, the ball would go off in
the respective direction).  In Minna no Golf 2, there is a
smaller purple section within the red bar, and hitting anywhere
in the purple section gives you almost just as good a hit as if
you were to hit in the dead center.  Hitting outside of the
purple section, but still in the red section, gives you a
slightly less accurate hit, just like in Hotshots 1.  This makes
for driving shots **much** easier.

Putting is a bit more difficult, as there is no longer a grid on
the green to help you calculate the angle to putt at.  There is
only an arrow on the top right of the screen which points in the
direction of the slope, along with the indication of whether the
green "SLICES" or "HOOKS".  Putting definitely takes a bit to get
used to, but this is probably more realistic (since there are no
grids in real life ^_^).

There is still wind and rain, as well as snow.  In some of the
later holes in each course, the sky will turn twilight to
indicate that it is late in the evening.  If you are playing with
multiple players, there are a lot more voices that you can use to
distract the hitter with.  (all four buttons, as well as the four
directions of the control pad... different sets of voices for tee
shots, green shots, and when the ball is in mid-air)  About the
wind: it seems that the wind in Minna 2 has about 1/3rd the
effect it had in the first game.  For instance, the strongest
wind I ever saw in Hotshots 1 was about 20m, where in Minna 2 the
strongest wind we've seen is 8m... which was about the same
strength as 20m in Hotshots 1.

There are 13 total golfers, 7 courses plus one "mini golf"
course, which is a course full of Par 3's, each about 150 yards
or so ("Minigolf" is not a putting course as it was in the first
game).  There are also 5 sets of clubs and 6 sets of golf balls
that you can use, which alter your stats in different ways.  You
start with 3 golfers, and the rest are acquired by beating the
CPU in VS mode, much like Hot Shots 1.  There are a couple of
cool FMV's after the 10th and 13th opponents... after getting all
of the golfers, you get to play each opponent again, but they use
special clubs and balls and are **very, very** difficult.  And
like the rumors in HotShots 1, it is now possible to hit birds
and animals out of the trees!!! ^_^

This game is chock full of features, and is very very cool.  I
only hope Sony keeps all of the bonuses intact if/when they bring
it to the U.S.


******************************
** Gameshark Lockout codes: **
******************************

First thing's first...

If you are playing this game on a North American Playstation
console with a mod-chip installed, you will need to use a Pro-
Action Replay or GameShark with the following code(s) to get past
the mod-chip lockout (which is being used on most of the new
Japanese imports):

D0050E3A 1040
80050E3A 1000

or

D0016194 4340
80016196 2400
D0016194 4340
8001619E 2400

Apparently, the 2-line code works on GameShark v2.4, but if you
are using a GameShark 1.99 (as I am), you need to use the 4-line
code.  If you are using a GameShark Pro 3.1, you might be out of
luck.  I tried using both codes on my Pro 3.1, and neither one
worked right--the game would still give me the lockout message.
I contacted NCS (the internet import dealer) and they told me
that I might have luck entering the code **twice**, but that
didn't work for me either.  Strange that the GS Pro doesn't
work...

I have no further info about the lockout codes/devices than what
I have written here, so if you have any other questions about
this, you might wanna contact NCS.  Their email is somewhere on
their website, http://www.ncsx.com.


************************************
** Menu translations/explanations **
************************************

After the opening FMV, you will be given two choices:

NEW GAME
CONTINUE

(Please note that generally, the O button will move you forward,
and the X button will cancel/move backwards.)

The game will not automatically load your save file, as in the
first game, instead you have to select CONTINUE and load your
file.  But you can keep more than one save file in Minna No Golf
2, which is convenient if you're sharing the game with some
friends... (like me ^_^)

If you select NEW GAME, you will be asked to input a name for the
save file.  You can choose Hiragana, Katakana, and ABC's ^_^.
The name can be up to 6 characters long BTW.


***************
** Main Menu **
***************

Afterwards you will be taken to the MAIN MENU, which reads as
follows:
[each menu will be explained in their respective sections]

               -MAIN MENU-

               GAME
       DATA            HOMEPAGE
       CONTINUE        OPTIONS


***************
** Game Menu **
***************

Selecting GAME will take you to the GAME MENU, which reads as
follows:

               -GAME-

       STROKE          MATCH
       TOUR            VS
       MINIGOLF        TRAINING

STROKE is your basic stroke mode, lowest number of strokes wins.
MATCH is scored by number of holes won, regardless of stroke
count.  TOUR mode is new in Minna 2, and is where you unlock
courses 3-7, as well as other bonuses.  VS mode is one player VS
the computer, match play, to unlock the last 10 golfers.  You
must beat the computer golfer to gain access to that character.
MINIGOLF is 18 holes of short par 3's--NOT a putting range--and
features a Great Wall of China backdrop in the distance ^_^.
TRAINING is your basic practice mode, where you can practice on
any hole of any course that you have unlocked.

--Selecting a golfer--
First you need to select a golfer.  You will have 3 golfers to
choose from initially, the last 10 are won through VS mode.
Their names are displayed in the bar across the top of the
character info box, along with an arrow in the top right to
indicate whether the character hits straight, draw, or fade.  The
names of all the characters are:

       KUMI (The "Mary" of this game)
       RYO (the "Taku" of this game... ^_^)
       SUZUKI
       HITOMI
       TAKUYA
       SILVIA
       CHARLES
       BEN
       LEON (Tiger Woods, anybody? ^_^)
       HAWK (A cowboy)
       LEILA
       COUGAR
       VADER

Pressing SELECT will change the color of the player's outfit.
There are initially three colors for each character, but after
you get all 13 characters, you will get to play them each again,
this time with special balls and clubs... after beating each
character a second time around (which is very difficult), you
will win a special 4th color outfit for each player.

I won't give each player's stats, cuz that's part of the fun...
^_^  But just like Hotshots 1, there are no "perfect" players.
The four attributes for each character are (from top to botton):

POWER (Driving distance)
CONTROL (How well you hit if you "miss" the center of the
impact bar)
IMPACT (Affects the size of the purple bar, which is within
the red bar)
SPIN (degree of spin... with a "B" you can burn skidmarks
on fire!)

Each stat is graded from "A" thru "E", "A" being the higher end,
"E" being the lowest.  Once you have access to the special clubs
and balls, it is possible to get an "S" rating on certain
attributes, which is the highest.  Initially you only have
STANDARD clubs and balls, but eventually you will have 5 sets of
each, plus a 6th set of balls:

       STANDARD (Clubs and balls)
       PINHOLE (Raises control, lowers impact)
       TURBO SPIN (Raises spin, lowers power and impact)
       BIG AIR (raises power, lowers control and impact)
       BEGINNERS (clubs only; lowers power, but raises impact)
       STRAIGHT (balls only; makes a fade/draw player hit
straight, but lowers power)
       COMICAL (balls only... these balls do weird things, is all
I'll say...)

Pressing L1 and R1 change the clubs, L2 and R2 the balls.  I
apologize for not having any way of typing out the Japanese
equivalents for the clubs and balls...

--Tour Mode--

To unlock the different courses, clubs, and balls, you will have
to play through Tour Mode and build up points. [This is the ONLY
mode of play where you earn points; you don't earn points by
playing against friends, like you do in Hotshots 1.]  There are 5
tour classes: AMATEUR, SEMIPRO, PRO, TOUR PRO, TOP PRO.  In each
class there are 4 seasons to play, 18 holes each.  You are
rewarded a certain number of points depending on your finish in
each season, and you need a certain number of TOUR POINTS to
advance to the next class.  There is a second set of points,
which are COURSE POINTS.  Reaching the set number of COURSE
POINTS will unlock the next course after finishing the fourth
course of each class.  If you don't reach the necessary number of
TOUR POINTS, you need to redo the class until you do... ^_^  And
if you reach the number of points needed to advance in the first
3 courses, you can opt to skip the fourth (of you can skip the
first and play the last three... and so on)  Winning a course
will give you a trophy and a special bonus, such as a new set of
clubs, balls, HOMEPAGE specials (which are useless if you can't
read Japanese), Pocketstation minigames (which are useless if you
don't have a Pocketstation ^_^), caddy voices, menu background
wallpapers, and other cool goods.

--Saving the game--

Minna no Golf 2 can be saved in any of the major game modes
(stroke, match, tour, and VS).  All you need to do is press
select between holes on the screen where the score is displayed.
DO NOT PRESS CIRCLE on this screen if you want to save, or else
you will have to wait until after the next hole.  If you push
select, the dialog box will ask you if you want to save the game,
so select YES (the first choice).  You will be taken to a
different screen, just keep selecting YES.  After saving, the
game will quit and you will be taken back to the MAIN MENU.  To
resume the game you just saved, just select CONTINUE on the
bottom left, and select the game to continue (you can select more
than one).


***************
** Data Menu **
***************

The Data Menu looks like:

               DATA
       STATUS          VTR
       HISTORY         PROFILE
       VS HISTORY(?)   SPECIAL(?)

The STATUS menu shows what class you are in, tour points
earned/needed, and course points earned/needed.  It also shows
the best overall score and driving/putting statistics from each
course (cool ^_^), as well as the best ranking in all of the tour
mode contests, which courses you have opened up and which
characters you have access to.

--STATUS SUBSCREENS--
If you press the circle button in the status screen, you will be
taken to your status data files... while shows data compiled from
all of your games played in tour mode and stroke mode.  Pressing
left and right on the control pad will take you through 10
different data screens: TOUR RANKINGS, TOTAL, COURSES 1 - 7, and
SCORE TALLY.

TOUR RANKINGS shows your best finish in each of the 4 seasons of
each of the 5 tour classes.

TOTAL gives a statistical breakdown of 9 categories, compiled
over all of your STROKE and TOUR games.  The stats are:

       -TOTAL GAMES
       -BEST SCORE (-14 [58] for us)
       -AVERAGE SCORE (-6.9 for us)
       -AVERAGE PUTTS ON GREEN (1.33 here)
       -"FAIRWAY KEEP" (? I'm pretty sure this is % of fairways
hit... 84.8% for us)
       -"PAR ON KEEP" (? I think % of greens hit on par... 71%)
       -BEST DRIVE (longest drive... duh ^_^  290.8, although I
hit 322y in practice)
       -BEST PUTT (longest putt ^_^ Ours is only 11.2m)
       -"JUST IMPACT" (% of times you hit the exact center of
impact bar... 37.7% for us)

For everything except TOTAL GAMES, you are given a numerical
score and a letter grade... I'm not sure how the numerical scores
are scaled, but the highest grade we have is 70.5, which is an
"A" and our lowest is 51.6, which is a "C".  You are also given a
total overall score/grade, which appears to be an average of all
8 categories... I guess this tells you how good of a golfer you
are! (Just for reference, we have a 61.2 rating, which is a
"B"... but that also has data compiled for all my friends that
play this, and they're not as good as I am ^_^!)

The data screens for each of the seven courses give all of the
same statistics as the TOTAL screen, except for JUST IMPACT, and
you don't get numerical ratings/letter grades for any of the
categories, nor do you get an OVERALL RATING/GRADE.  But for each
course, you get a breakdown of the average number of strokes on
*EACH HOLE* (!!!)

SCORE TALLY shows you the breakdown of each type of score
(birdie, par, bogie, etc...), number of times this each was
accomplished, and the percentage breakdown:

       HOLE-IN-ONE
       ALBATROSS
       EAGLE
       BIRDIE
       PAR
       BOGIE
       DOUBLE-BOGIE
       +3 (TRIPLE BOGIE)

This is some really cool stat-tracking stuff... but unfortunately
the stats are not kept for VS mode matches... which makes up a
majority of your games before you get all of the characters.  Of
course, this is since the score is not really kept in VS mode.

--(back to the rest of the DATA menu... )
VTR is the Video Tape Recorder, which is like a highlight reel
(just like in Hotshots 1).  It will record chip-in birdies and
eagles, as well as hole-in-ones and albatrosses.  We haven't
actually gotten an albatross yet, although we did get two of them
on the first Hotshots...

HISTORY is a log of tour mode, showing tour level, points earned,
and finishing rank in each season of each tour played.

PROFILE shows information on each of the characters, including
name, age, country of origin and other information... which is
all in Japanese ^_^.

VS HISTORY(?)... I put a question mark there because the word(s)
after VS is written in Kanji, which is like Greek to me.  But
this shows a history of your VS mode matches against the
computer, who played against whom, etc...

WINNINGS(?): This was written in Kanji as well, so I don't know
if it actually says "WINNINGS", but it shows you all the
CLUBS&BALLS, ITEMS, and TROPHIES that you have won.  The twelve
special ITEMS that can be won are:

-Soundtrack CD, which lets you do a soundtest of all the music,
in the options menu.
-Two TV Cameras, which add special camera angles for replays...
-Three volumes of some kind of book... I think these might be the
wallpaper backgrounds, but I'm not too sure about this...
-Two Pocketstation minigames... don't know what these are, as I
don't have a Pocketstation and I can't really read the
descriptions, but one of them is some sort of "Near Pin" game...
-"Arisu Mirror"... Alice mirror maybe? This lets you play in a
mirror image course by holding the select button when choosing
your course.
-Two special caddy voices.  One is an additional female voice,
and the second is a "DJ" voice, which is the only voice that
speaks English. ^_^
-Pinch Hitter Tickets... These can be used in VS mode against the
CPU, and will make the computer control both your player and the
CPU player.  To use these, you must select the appropriate mode
on the screen where you select your course. (note: I've never
watched the CPU play all 18 holes, so I don't know how it works
if your CPU player actually "wins"...)

*******************
** Homepage Menu **
*******************

The "Minna No Golf 2 OFFICIAL HOME PAGE" is a collection of
information about the game, like a homepage about the game, only
you don't need to surf the web to reach it, it is actually in the
game.  Really cool stuff, if only I could really read Japanese...
This is where you download the Pocketstation games.  There is a
lot of great stuff here, including wallpapers which show the
English name of each golfer.  There is also info on each of the
courses, where they were taken from, etc.

Basically, if you can read Japanese, the HOMEPAGE teaches you how
to play the game, acting as an electronic instruction manual,
with a **LOT** of cool bonus info.


*****************
** Option Menu **
*****************

Here is a list of the options in the option menu:

       BGM (background music)  ON/OFF
       GALLERY                 ON/OFF
       CADDY VOICE             FEMALE/MALE/CRAZY MALE
       OK PUTT                 ON/OFF
       SHOT SKIP               ON/OFF
       MENU CHARACTER          OFF/RANDOM/(choose a character)
       MENU WALLPAPER          RANDON/(choose a wallpaper)
       *MUSIC MODE             (select a song to listen to)
       MEMORY CARD LOAD
       MEMORY CARD SAVE

The BACKGROUND MUSIC is not nearly as annoying as in Hotshots 1.
The music is actually pretty decent, like some good RPG music...
but most of the time I still turn it off and listen to the
radio... ^_^

I believe GALLERY is the option to turn off the audience that
sometimes watches you play in tour mode and VS mode (The crowd is
pretty cool, they move out of your way when you aim your shot
left and right, turn around when you hit the ball to watch it fly
by, and even carry umbrellas when it rains ^_^).

There are two additional caddy voices that can be earned, which
become the 4th and 5th choices.

OK PUTT is a new feature in Minna 2... when you are over par on a
hole, and your putt misses, but is within one meter of the hole
(yes, close shots are measured in meters, not feet... although
the drives are still measured in yards... ???), the computer will
automatically putt the ball in for you, to save time.  This is
ONLY if you are above par on the hole.  (ie, on a par 3, if your
tee shot gets to within one meter of the hole, you will have to
putt it in yourself for the birdie.)  This feature doesn't seem
to work in TOUR mode...

SHOT SKIP is another new option in Minna 2.  If you push X while
a shot is in midair, you can "skip" the shot and just have the
computer figure out where the shot would have landed, to save
time.

MENU CHARA selects the character for your menu companion... Mary
was the "companion" in all of the menu screens for Hotshots 1,
for reference. [The Japanese like to shorten certain long
words/short phrases into 2 or 3 syllables... ie, CHARA =
CHARACTER, DRICON = DRIVE CONTEST, REMOCON = REMOTE CONTROLLER...
you get the picture]

MENU WALLPAPER is the background, and there are some really cool
ones.

MUSIC MODE must be unlocked in tour mode.  And memory card
load/save... well, those don't need an explanation, I hope.


********************
** Final comments **
********************

Whew, that's about it for now... I know I missed a few things
here and there, but much of that is because my Japanese is far
from perfect.  If anyone else out there has this game and can
help me with some of the stuff I missed, I would really
appreciate it.  If you have any other questions feel free to
email me. <[email protected]>  Also any comments and
suggestions to make this FAQ more readable are more than welcome.

This FAQ is copyright August 1999, by Brian Youn.  All rights
reserved, if you wish to use the FAQ anywhere, I would prefer you
notify me, and give me credit.  Otherwise I don't mind this being
used.  But don't sell it for money... and if you do, I want a cut
of the share... ^_^  (Just kidding, don't you dare sell it.)

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