Let me state up front: I've not played Hot Shots Golf on any other platform. However, I was a fan of computer golf from Leader Board through various versions of Links. Each newer version brought better graphics and physics. At some point, though, these games lost something. They just weren't fun. They were too real and I guess I wasn't looking for a simulator. The magic of Hot Shots Golf is that you have a reason to play beyond the excellent graphics and what I judge to be good physics. You play rounds (of 9 or 18 holes) and earn all types of items to enhance your golfer, which has multiple statistics like Power, Control, and Impact. Win a match and earn better clubs, balls, and various clothing items. Some matches let you earn a star. Earn enough stars and you unlock courses. Defeat certain players and you can play as them. What I thought would be a trivial feature of the game turns out to be the reason why I keep going back. Watching your player increase in skill is a blast and your golf scores reflect those improvements. Beyond this the graphics are great. For example, if you click the Start button an overhead view of the hole displayed. You would think it would be a simple 2D overhead. Nope. You can use the D-Pad on the controller to zoom in and out down to the level of SEEING your player on the course in 3-D. Very, very slick. The animation is cartoonish and smooth as silk. The sound is functional, but nothing special....but then again, you won't care. Unlike many other PSP games at this time, load times are virtually non-existant. Play is seamless and fun because of the smooth flow. Between Tournaments, Match Play, VS Mode, and wireless Multi-player you'll have a blast. Controls seem to be very usable. All buttons on the PSP are utilized. You can have fun simply swinging and hitting the ball. You'll have more fun if you read the wind direction and factor in slope, fade, draw, etc. If you played Hot Shots Golf in the past and you're looking for a very specific feature, I'd say check the box before playing. I was wanting for nothing. I'm having a blast with this game. It's like the sirens call. I keep picking up my PSP when I should be doing other things. The fact that I can rip off 9 holes in 20 minutes is not exactly a deterrent to playing one more round. Drawbacks: There is a lot to the game. Just reading the directions doesn't do enough to understand exactly what you get for winning and what those items do for you. Just play and you'll figure it out. Sound is adequate, but, again, not sure what I'd add to it. The fun 'win' and 'lose' animations are nice, but they could have added more for variety's sake.
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