Hot Shots Golf

If you can live without the pro licenses, and the idea of fast, fun, accessible golf intrigues you, schedule a tee time with this impressive game.

Lacking name recognition or even normal-sized players, Hot Shots Golf may at first seem destined for the bin marked "mediocre." But this fun, challenging golf game has an engine that the pros would be proud of and all the makings of a legendary link-splitter.

It's a Small World At first glance, it's hard to take Hot Shots Golf seriously. The players are squat and cartoony with a clean, anime-ish 3D rendering that makes them look almost rubbery, while the sound effects are straight from Saturday morning kids' shows.

Before you turn up your nose at the game's youthful approach, play a round or two. You'll be amazed to find a very powerful game that contains precise golf physics, demands an expert's touch, and could even some teach diehard pros a thing or two. The course graphics are simply the best in PlayStation golf, racking up eagles with beautiful terrain and phenomenally fast load times.

That's not to say the game is without flaws. It'll take you a solid hour or two of practice to get into the swing of things, and even then you'll discover looney effects, like air drafts that lift the ball and place it randomly on the course.

The sounds could have used some adult supervision. Scoring a birdie will get you a cuckoo, and the audience moan when you miss a close shot sounds orgasmic at best. But the solid sound of a ball being hammered or the thud of it hitting the green will make up for those shortcomings.

A Hole in Fun Sony also added a few fun options to attract fence-sitters who've never played a golf game before. There's a miniature golf course, a few lessons on topspin and bottomspin techniques, and hidden characters and courses-along with the normal match, tournament, and stroke options.

But Hot Shots doesn't shoot for the moon. The game's depth lands a few courses short of a full golf game, delivering a respectable five courses, but none of the pro players or other niceties of PGA Tour '98. And once you figure out how to compensate for variables like wind physics, bunkers, and the rough, you'll find yourself wanting more. If you can live without the pro licenses, and the idea of fast, fun, accessible golf intrigues you, schedule a tee time with this impressive game.

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