Hot Shots Golf

Are you a hot-shotter on the green?

It's difficult to comprehend how a console (in this case a portable one) can possess a saturated genre after just a couple of months out on the shelves (that's American shelves of course) but the PSP's managed it by arming itself with two golf games.

Fortunately for us these two golf games target the opposite spectrums of the gaming public. Tiger Woods focuses on licenses, brands, real life players, real life courses and an intriguing, complex control system to supplement its realistic physics. In fact in replicates the real game so accurately that one can only assume that the hefty loading times are there to give the feel of walking endlessly about a course.

On the other hand we have Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (HSGOT). A simplistic game full of zany characters, exaggerated courses, frying pans for golf clubs and seamless loading times. It is a golf game for all, even hardened golf fans because, believe it or not, Hot Shots Golf does require some skill.

We'll get to that later but for now let's just marvel at some of the wonderful screenshots. Hot Shots Golf, with all its rich colour, superbly detailed golfers and exquisite scenery looks beautiful. Perhaps not in a mind-blowing manner that leaves you wondering whether the PSP is actually capable of doing more but in a way that makes you accept that the PSP really is just a portable PS2. And when you're done admiring its looks - and relatively harmless melodies and noises - you then get to enjoy just how simple yet engrossing HSGOT is.

Once you've selected a golfer and his or her outfit and equipment you'll face your first hole. The first thing you'll notice is the rather gaping gorge you're striking your ball into. It's a 50 yard drop onto the first fairway which means your first drive will be longer than usual and because there's bunkers around that area you need to make sure you don't hit your drive with full power into those bunkers. But you're probably not quite prepared for such intricacies so you select your driver and begin. X to start your swing, X to set the power and X to set your impact: bish-bash-bosh and you're away. HSGOT is that easy to play and that's what makes it so appealing to the masses.

When it comes to the short game you might have to take into account wind speed, the gradient of the green and the amount of spin you want to put on the ball. Again it's simple to do all this: move your marker to where you want to hit the ball and then press a direction button while you do your bish-bash-bosh and you'll create a bit of spin. And then for putting it's all about reading the left and right breaks of the green in conjunction with whether the hole is above or below you. It all takes no more than a single 18-hole round to master HSGOT and that shouldn't take any longer than twenty minutes. HSGOT is like a loyal dog, it just wants to be played with and you can't help but oblige because it's just so lovable.

The two main gameplay modes are the tournament, where you play a normal round of golf looking for the lowest score possible in order to win the competition, and head to head mode, where you take on the computer trying to win as many holes as possible. For each victory you'll be awarded new items to customise your golfer, new clubs and balls to improve your golfer's technique and unlock new courses and characters to play with. In this instance HSGOT does have some slight RPG undertones. Although you can chose any character you like to play a round of golf, sticking with a single golfer increases their loyalty and eventually allows them to level up giving you even more abilities. In comparison to Tiger Woods, these offerings of incentives are quite meagre but are still well above the national average when it comes to unlockable goods in a game. There's also a putting challenge and a practice mode but HSGOT isn't about practice and preparation. It's about getting stuck in and enjoying it.

And for those worried about it lasting the distance if you take it on a two week holiday, HSGOT has six 18 hole courses and a fiendish difficulty level once you get past the opening pleasantries. On later stages you're trying to chip over mountains to reach the green and flash your ball through five-metre wide gaps. And this is one the many things that makes HSGOT so great. It'll never have the expansive options and courses that Tiger Woods has, but it's still got a lot to it and even though it may appear simple on the surface HSGOT requires a little bit of thought, a little bit of skill and a little bit of reflex. The delightful thing is you can do it all in ten seconds and then get on with the next shot.

HSGOT is everybody's golf game (an apt description since, in its PSone days it used to be called Everybody's Golf). It might be a completely different golf game to Tiger Woods but, overall, it's a better golf game.

If we were to level one criticism at HSGOT it would be the mediocre multiplayer support. Not so much with several PSPs on the go, but for a single machine there is no two player mode which seems a trifle daft when golf is a turn-based game. Don't let that minor hiccup detract you, however. If you have an interest in golf but aren't too bothered about realism and are after a challenge then Hot Shots Golf Open Tee is one PSP launch title you must get.

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By Rob Wilson