Tiger Woods PGA Golf

Tiger roars onto Sony's handheld...

Ah, the PSP, lovely.

While it may be unfortunate that I start my coverage of the new handheld sensation with an almost direct console port, I was hoping for an original masterpiece, it's pleasing to find that we're in relatively good hands. EA have been fine-tuning their PGA series for over a decade and, unlike the Fifa series, the PGA golf games are considered to be at the forefront of their respective genre. The only real question is does it translate itself into portable form?

The answer is yes, but not in the resounding, emphatic way you would like to hear. While Tiger Woods PGA Golf (TWPG) is a beautiful thing to look at, full of seemingly limitless options and crammed with an exhaustive number of gameplay modes, it lacks one of the key traits of portable gaming: instant accessibility.

It's something you tend not to realise at first but the PSP's UMD format is a double-edged sword. While on the one hand it paves the way for gorgeous looking games with improved A.I. and more gameplay, it handicaps itself with loading times. Not so much of a problem when it comes to home consoles, but in a market where the average game-playing time is likely to be less then 10 minutes it's an absolute killer.

Sadly, TWPG only succeeds in exacerbating this fact. Loading times at almost every point in the game are long, but during a round of golf, the loading of each hole is agonising - sometimes up to 30 seconds. Even if you have the luxury of time, it still feels like ages. This is definitely not a good thing and one hopes it doesn't continue to spread throughout the PSP range.

But to brush aside TWPG purely on the basis of some technological impairment would be incredibly harsh, and besides TWPG is a very fine golf game. There is a temptation here to call TWPG a 'Lite edition' of Tiger Woods 2005, but again that would be unfair since it carries pretty much all the features the console game has. And when you consider how much the console version included it's even more astonishing to find most of it crammed into the PSP version. There are 12 (yes 12) courses, dozens of professional golfers to choose from and play against, and a million and one of those awards, challenges, items of clothing and player enhancements (that have become synonymous with the Tiger Woods series) to gain. If you were ever looking for a complete game, TWPG would be it.

The game mechanics remain faithful too, with the patented 'swish-swash' analogue control style now employed by the PSP's thumb stick. I'm still to be convinced by the thumb stick which isn't positioned in the most comfortable of spots on the PSP and its minute size makes accuracy especially tricky in TWPG. But since one of the Tiger Wood's primary features is this analogue style golf swing, it's more down to some of the failings of the PSP design, and you do eventually get used to it.

For Tiger virgins (best not to try and read anything into this) there's a helpful tutorial to get you into the swing (oh dear) of things, but be warned that this game can get tricky, especially in the Legend Tour. Carrying on with the theme of customisation, the Legend Tour lets you create a new player in the same style as a wrestling game (giving you the option to choose physical appearance, clothes, attributes etc.) before you're whisked onto the gold course for tournaments and head-to-heads. For almost everything you do, whether it be par putts, greens-in-regulation or tournament wins, you'll be awarded dosh which you can use to buy new clothes, clubs and increase character attributes. With so much to see and do TWPG is a game you can easily become engrossed in.

Launch titles for new platforms usually enjoy a period of unchallenged superiority, which means we usually buy them - this explains the continued popularity of the Ridge Racer series: get a driving game out on the console before anybody else does. Unfortunately for TWPG it just so happens that it has an immediate rival, and a bloody good one at that. While Hot Shots Golf Open Tee might be cartoony, simple and smaller in comparison to TWPG it is more vibrant, enjoyable and, most importantly, instant. TWPG demands a certain amount of effort on the gamer's part which is something that can't always be a achieved in a portable situation. Hot Shots Golf offers instant loading times, little thought, three button presses and hey presto you're on the green looking for a birdie.

There's no doubt that Tiger Woods PGA Golf is a fine game, especially if you like your golf. It has the players, the courses, the intuitive control system, the amusing commentary and loads and loads and loads of options. But, to put it in simple terms, Hot Shots Golf is better.

70%

By Rob Wilson