2- person matches, 8-person tournaments, and 2-person miniature golf rounds
Reviews (11)
going to golf and not getting too frustrated.
I love the game's simple game play.Line up, adjust swing for yardage, and hit for sweet spot - make the ball fly.Putting on the green is made simple if you follow the lines on the grid.Challenge mode lets you unlock various Golf courses.Overall, worth every single penny.Love the game, love the characters.
A great port of a great game
I'll start by saying that I love the Hot Shots franchise. I've purchased every title on PS and PS2. It's the reason I bought this before Tiger Woods for the PSP. That said, this version has drawbacks. It's great to play Hot Shots on the go and gameplay is a lot of fun. Nice graphics, sound, etc. The downsides are multiple but in the end don't ruin the game.
1. You can't play multiple players without multiple PSP's. While I appreciate that Sony wants to sell units, this is a basic feature of video golf that should have been included.
2. Lack of training mini-games. If you've played HS before you'll pick up the subtleties quickly but c'mon, the one mini-game is a putting challenge? Weak.
3. The road to unlocking all courses, players is loooong. Sure, most of the tournaments are nine hole which makes the game move quickly but you have to win so many that I literally played 130 games before I got all the courses and players. God forbid you accidentally overwrite your data and have to start over.
4. Some variants of the courses (long tees, mirror courses) are so difficult that you can get frustrated. The CPU players ability (at the upper ranks) to chip in from deep bunkers a hundred yards out can be annoying as well. There are several times where "miracle shots" on the CPU's part will make you want to throw the game across the room.
O.K. I'm done. Yes, I mentioned a lot of issues but all in all it's a fun game. I can't compare it to Tiger Woods 'cuz I haven't played that one. It's worth your time if you love golf games and doubly so if you're a Hot Shots afficianado.
Addictively fun with awesome graphics
I'm normally not a big sports game fan. But Hot Shots is so much fun with its customizeable characters and challenge modes that our entire family is now addicted to the game.
First, the basics. You have a cartoon-style character that moves from hole to hole on a golf course, with the traditional line up, swing and putt golfing moves. When you win, you earn character customizations, new players, new courses, and more. You can then change your character's hairstyle, outfit, clubs, balls, and even accessories. Many items give you bonusses and penalties. As you develop a playing style, you might work on gaining items that give you control, for example, at the expense of power.
Maybe you've done this sort of game before on a console - but you haven't seen this on a handheld! The graphics are simply gorgeous. Each course has its own look and feel, from Japanese pagodas to misty mountains. The detail of the trees and surroundings is incredible.
You might worry that the fine movements are hard to master - but actually they do a really good job with this and it becomes quite intuitive to power the main drive and to gently tap the ball into the hole.
There are little quirks with the game. In most golf games, if you are too quick on hitting the ball, you "hook" (the ball curves left) and if you're too late, you "slice" (the ball curves right). But in this game, it seems that when you miss a perfect impact, it's sort of random exactly what the ball does.
There are a few graphic issues. If you hit your ball into a tree (by accident of course), you can see that the ball hits the tree. When you move in close to do your next shot, it appears that the tree has vanished. But when you swing, POOF the tree appears again to block you :)
Luckily for you, the computer opponents have the same issues. Sometimes a computer character will hit into a tree and feel stuck - so they hit back and forth in the woods until they give up (after 9 shots).
But these are really pretty minor issues that rarely come up. Like I said, we don't normally play a lot of sports games - but this one is really rather addictive. I wish you earned new courses more quickly, but the lure of getting them gets you to perfect the courses you have available and to build up your score. You're always earning more items, more bonusses, so even your small victories still give you a reward. The little cut-scenes are cute and add personality to the game.
Highly recommended!
4.5/5
You got the whole world in your hands!
I will admit, I didn't have a PSP until I heard this was on the shelf. I'm a Hot Shots Golf freak! So knowing I could take this anywhere, the bathroom, my car, the kitchen, my bed and even in church (just kidding) I bought myself a PSP and picked up Hot Shots Golf Open Tee! I'm not a big expert on this system, but I was not expecting a little handheld to compare to the likes of Hot Shots Golf 3 or ""fore"" on the PS2, but to my surprise, this game is like having the actual big games in the palm of your hand, and in some respects, it's better. The big plus with this game is the easeand quickness of play. There are virtually no load times between holes and the gameplay is fast and responsive and looks pretty to boot. I can't believe how bright the game is.
The game plays terrific and I have to say "If it's not broke, why fix it" came into play with Hot Shots Golf Open Tee as the control scheme is identical to Hot Shots Golf 3 and Fore.
So if you have played 3 or Fore, you'll be right at home. The differences are in the courses and the new characters. You only have 6 courses to choose (in total) from this time, (which is pretty good for a handheld...) The characters are all new. I think there are at least 15 golfers and some secret ones too. The problem is that you only start out with 2 golfers and 1 course. Kind of the bare minimum especially if you don't want to take the time to earn the new ones, but you'll have to. That said, the game is substantially longer and grueling, but I like this aspect, because people with handhelds can kill some serious time. It takes about 5-7 matches to earn a new character. Most are only 9 holes in the beginning, but it still takes an eternity to earn new characters. Some might like this aspect, some may not. Along the way you earn new threads (wardrobes) hats, shirts, jewelery, shoes, etc. It took me about an hour to just earn the first secret character and a new course to play on!
The courses are all new and gives new freshness to the series. No more "Sakura" from past games which was one of my favorite courses, but these are very good too, and challenging to boot, Don't let the cheesy graphics fool you. Speaking of graphics...
The game is extremely fast pace and control for your swin is right on. You only press the X button in multiple sessions in Hot Shots Golf 3. It may still seem like old school control and maybe they should have given us more options, but even without the analog stick to control your swing, I still feel right at home with Hot Shots and you will too. For people that simply cannot line up your "impact meter" they offer an automatic swing too for people who can't do it so you could hand this over to your uncle John to play! Although this easier, they do punish people who use it by taking away power from your swing.
Wow, I never knew the PSP could look this good. Hot Shots Golf Open Tee looks amazing. Sure the zany characters are still annoying at times, but the overall look of Open Tee is a lot sharper and the backgrounds are very picturesque to boot! There are some magnificent use of photo backdrops that mesh with the golfing environments perfectly. After you play a game, "while not important to the gameplay, you get doused with some full motion video of moving clouds and ocean tides running up along a beach,wow! As you progress through a round of golf, you'll notice little added touches like day turning into dusk and dusk turning into day. Clouds move through the sky and rain starts to pour. The water holes, ponds, lakes etc...looks pretty darn real and it might want to make you want to take a swim.
So how is the sound? Well. They totally redid the music and it's all new stuff, and I have to say it meshes with the action perfectly and your headphones are a must! Cheesy comments from characters after crazy shots and good enviromental effects, but a bit skimpier than it's PS2 cousin. I need more birds "a chirpin".Your caddies, while included, they never seem to make an appearance in the actual game, so I'm not sure why they are even a choice in the game? They don't even help you? Hmmm..
I don't know much about the technical aspects of the game, I have not tried to play it over a "network" as you are offered the option to play with 8 other golfers over a network "LAN" line. The game is "NOT ONLINE" which will be a disappointment to many, but never threat, as a single player experience and the massive "challenge mode" you will be happy as this is one of the best PSP games and a must own for golfing fans.
**Final Call** A must have PSP game.
Better than Hot Shots Fore!
Gameplay if great, fast, easy to learn, and the graphics are superb!This game really shows you what the PSP is capable of when it comes to graphics.I honestly cannot tell the difference between the grapics on this and the graphics on the PS2 version.
Each time you win a game in the challenge mode, you unlock something new, which keeps the game exciting.Also, as long as you do not remove the game from the PSP, you can pick up right where you left off, which means you can get through a round quickly just by playing for a few minutes here and there.There are no long load times.Well worth the money and so far, one of the best PSP games currently available.
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