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Addictively fun with awesome graphics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 26 / 26
Date: May 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: May 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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 ease and 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.

Hit the links again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: May 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you have a PSP, you already know what the graphics can do. Now watch it get better with Hot Shots Golf Open Tee! This is an amazing game, and a worthy addition to the franchise. Every part of this game is great. The sound effects are amazing (kill the music in the options first though). Even when you play it through the PSP's speakers instead of the headphones, you get a surround-sound sense of it all. Birds, voices in the distance, wind blowing around you...all this and more await you on the links! The character animation is good, though the faces don't do much. I miss seeing the caddy go skidding across the grass after the ball, but that's just a small thing.

The courses are different from the PS2 version too. Some are harder than others, and the weather always plays a factor in your shots. Still, the controls are easy to use (almost exactly like the PS2 version), and easy to adapt to.

Play the challenge mode to win clothing and clubs, and to unlock characters and courses. Not quite like buying in the shop like the console versions, but at least you unlock something.

All in all, fans of the franchise shouldn't be disappointed.

going to golf and not getting too frustrated.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

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.

Best Golf Game!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is why I bought a PSP. If you have enjoyed the previous Hot Shots games on the PS2 then you will like this.
The graphics are excellent quality. (Almost as good as the PS2) I have only played for about 2 hours and have only played on the first of six courses. The load times are fast unlike Tiger Woods. I find the 3 click swing meter more challenging then the popular analog stick style swing. This game is a bit different then the Hot Shots games of the past because you can collect 250 different items such as clothing and equipment for your golfer.
The gameplay is what makes Hot Shots my favorite golf game. You can get through 18 holes in less then 15 minutes. My only complaint so far is that it is too easy. Most likely it will get harder as I progress through the game. This game is highly recommended.

I M A DIK TED

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'M ADDICTED...

This game is just unbelievable. I've been a HSG fan since the original Playstation and I was pretty happy to see it was on the PSP. I was at Best Buy and I couldn't decide. This, or X-men 2? I'm damn happy I got this game. 250 unlockables, unbelievable graphics, nice sound, and ADDICTING. Oh wow.

Graphics: 9.5/10. Quite possibly the best looking PSP game ever released. Very sharp, great grass, excellent water, beautiful looking characters,it's allll good!

Sound: 9/10. The voices are pretty good, the sound of club-on-ball is great, the sound is very good, but there isn't much of it, sadly.

Control: 9.5/10. Can it get easier? ... No. Basically X.. wait.. X.. done. But you have to ( like in most/all golf games ) know geometry and what not, so you have to kinda think before you try a putt or a whack.

Fun: 9.5/10. Awesome. What's it missing? Infrastructure play. ( Online play ). That would make this game pretty much flawless. That is just about the only thing stopping me from giving this game a 10. This is a must buy. Golf fan or not, you can squeeze a lot of fun out of this game. You can even have your replays saved automatically, I got a "Chip-In Eagle", and I was wondering if I could save the replay. After wandering around the menu, I found out where I could watch it fairly easily. Pretty cool. Your stats are also recorded, and the loading times aren't bad at all for a handheld, they are in fact probably the fastest PSP loading times.

Simple, simple, simple. Awesome game, that is a must buy. It's 10 dollars cheaper originally than most PSP games, too! COME ON!! BUY IT!

Hot Shots (no not a Flaming Moe)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Have you ever played a golf game? If not this is the one for you. Well it's the one for me anyway. I don't have the ability to play real golf, so this is as good as it gets for me. Which is just fine by me. Hot Shots for PSP is an excellent cross platform game. You can't ask for better graphics, well you can always ask. Let me rephrase; you don't need better graphics than this for any golf game. You can try Tiger Woods or LPGA Tour but their graphics will leave you wanting. Hot Shots gives you "cartoony" (I don't know if cartoony is a word) style graphics that will suprise you. The game play and controls are easy enough for an 8 year old to pick up, but an older/better gamer can enjoy the fine art of the system as well. The replayability of HSG is found in building your characters via playing challenges for items like; a pair of sunglasses or a pin stripe suit. Now I know what your thinking...I won't play through a game to get a frying pan for a driver! HSG rewards you by giving you diffrent attributes for each item, whether you wear them or not. If you win a shirt or "body" article of clothing your profile, not that individual character, gains power. If you win an item for your head you gain control or spin. Let me make it clear that your profile not your individual character gain these benefits. So, any character you play gains those benefits. However you do gain a "loyalty" bonus of for using characters over and over. While serious golfers may find games like Golden Tee to their liking, even they will get enjoyment from this game. The average gamer will play it over and over just to unlock everything. The casual gamer will enjoy the fact that most rounds of play can be completed in about 10 minutes, with the ability to save in between every round. All in all (and other such cliche's as pound for pound and dollars to donuts) Hot Shots Golf is the best golf game on PSP! The only reason I gave it 4 stars for a fun rating is I haven't played the Wi-Fi or Ad-Hoc play yet, but I'm sure it's more fun than playing the cpu all the time. The cpu can be a little anoying in it's shot choices. Don't let that detour you though. This is a great buy!

Great gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Lets face it! for some people golf is a boring game, but this game adds color and makes the game fun for non-golfers and extra fun for golfers. I would recommend this game to those who are willing to get to know golf but if you absolutely hate golf then this game is not for you.

the loading time is seamless and the colors are vibrat. The framerate is fluid and the controls are easy to use.

I just wish it had online capability. Every psp game should be online capable, those who don't shows that the company is doing a half-xxx job.

Very addictive...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I cannot get enough of this game. I don't think I have ever been addicted to a golf game before, but this game is like crack; I just can't get enough of it. I've played one or two of the Mario Golf games before, but they seemed to be too complicated and RPG-ish for me. Hot Shots Golf (HSG), in contrast, feels a little more straightforward. You still have to build up your character, but you don't have to walk all over the place to find courses to play on like in the last Mario Golf game I played.

The gameplay follows the classic series of three button-presses - once to start the meter, a second time to set the distance, and a final time to set your impact (how straight you will hit the ball). The learning curve is fairly simple, so just about anybody can pick up and play this game, but you eventually learn to put spin on the ball so you can be more accurate.

I haven't played many games from the HSG series, but I understand that the six courses in this game are all brand new. There's a few holes that have some fun little obstacles that, if you can overcome them, allow you to get much closer to the green on your first hit (on holes with par greater than 3). There are tons of unlockables, including better clubs, balls, characters, and clothing items, plus you have to play through challenge mode to power up your character.

There is a putting mode where you are placed on a green with up to five holes to put for, each one with different point levels, so you can go for the easy putt for a few points or the long putt for big points. It's fun for awhile and helps you with your putting skills, but I definitely would have preferred a mini-golf game to this. My only other complaint is that there are only six courses and you don't unlock them nearly fast enough so you feel like you're playing the same holes over and over again.

Overall, a great game. I do believe I've caught it cheating a few times (my cursor is pointed to the green with a water hazard on the right and the wind blowing to the left, I hit the ball with perfect impact and land in the water - how is that physically possible, I ask you?). I definitely recommend this HSG Open tee if you're a fan of the series or a fan of golf games in general, and as you can see, it's a pretty enjoyable game even if you've never really played golf games before. It's perfect for the PSP because you can pick it up and play it anytime, even if you only have a few minutes because of the sleep function on the PSP. Even if you have to turn the PSP off completely, it will save your game data so you can finish the match later.

Ridiculously fun and addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After I finally burned out on Lumines (though not really, the addiction is just dormant), I went out looking for something with similar qualities: FUN, simple, longevity, and optional short games for those times when you have ten minutes to kill.

I chose Open Tee because I was a huge fan of Hot Shots on the original Playstation. They had all the elements I was looking for in a game. Reading good things about the game, I openned my wallet and was prepared to have a long term relationship. It's been just about a month since then and I haven't even thought about playing another game. Lumines sits quietly in it's case, silently weeping over me breaking up with it.

Now don't get me wrong, although it's highly addictive I do foresee a limit to it because there is a hard limit as to what you can achieve in the game (collect all the outfits, unlock players, etc). Lumines really feels limitless due to it's simplicity. But make no mistake this game is as perfect as it gets.

First, let's start with the most obvious, the graphics. In short, it is nothing shortly of spectacular. Instead of poorly rendered "life-like" figures like the ones in other sports titles, the characters have the distinct comic book style of the franchise with smooth fluid movements. The sceneries are breathtakingly beautiful. Like with any 3D game, when you get close to objects you begin to see pixelations, but since the screen is much smaller than a tv and you're not staring at it two inches from your nose, the effect is minimal.

The controls are very intuitive and basically the same as with it's PS1/2 counterparts. Even with the small screen it's not hard at all to get perfect shots. There are simple controls to give the ball spin, even give it degrees of strength. The screen is clean and well laid out and the only distractions are going to be from the real world. The bird chirping noises and the gusts of wind through the fairway is still present as well as the pleasant caddy's voice giving you words of encouragement such as "nice shot!".

If you're new to Hot Shots games, you can start out by practicing on one off games (as opposed to the tournaments) and the putting challenge mode. I find that the biggest challenge, as in real golf, putting is the most difficult. Here's a tip: if you're right on the edge of the green and tempted to putt, a pitch shot is much more accurate and easier to guage than pulling out the 100ft putter, especially when you become (easily) proficient with back spins.

As I've said, it's been about a month and I'm probably about 75% done with the game, having unlocked most of the characters, collecting much of the various outfits, but it's still loads of fun playing older holes as it gives me a chance to beat old scores. At this point in the game the tournaments get increasingly difficult and it's been tough to win on the first couple of tries. Still the challenge and strategy is gratifying when you sink a birdie or when you reach the green on a par 5 in two shots.

Personally, I can't find any faults with the game. As of yet, I haven't found any glitches that were not present in the previous titles (like a tree being in your way but doesn't show up since you're "inside" of it). And due to the PSP's design, you can shut it off in the middle of a tournament and turn it back on later without losing the game, picking up exactly where you left off.

There are plenty of clubs and balls and outfits and accessories to win and choose from, along with a lot of potential to expand your character's abilities. Each character has a unique set of traits, advantages and disadvantages that will give you options depending on the course you are playing. I must say now that I do wish there were a couple of more courses, but as it is, playing courses in reverse or with different rules gives them a different feel.

Eventually I'll move on (Katamari?), but not before a long gratifying run.

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