Hot Shots Golf (series)

Hot Shots Golf
European series logo
Genres	Sports
Developers	Camelot Software Planning (1997–8) Clap Hanz (1999–)
Publishers	Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms	PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4
First release	Hot Shots Golf 17 July 1997
Latest release	Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational 17 December 2011

Hot Shots Golf (Everybody's Golf (みんなのGOLF, Minna no Golf) in Japan and Europe) is a series of golf games published by Sony throughout the history of the PlayStation series of video game consoles. The series is well known for its humorous look on the game of golf (including cartoon-like caricatures) and guest characters from other games, along with modes such as miniature golf and its ability to maintain a realistic engine with precise control in tandem with the unrealistic design. The series is popular with both golf fans and non-fans alike.

Games

Hot Shots Golf (1997)

There are a variety of modes including Tournament, Training, Stroke Play, Match Play, and a Miniature Golf course. The game featured several characters; those not available from the start had to be unlocked for play by defeating them. A player could earn experience points for his character for winning tournaments and hitting a variety of shots. These points were used to open new courses. The game featured six different courses and a free moving game camera.

Hot Shots Golf 2 (1999)

While the game is very similar to the original, it does bring slight improvements. Like the game's 1997 release, there are several characters to choose from, and many more to be unlocked throughout the game. Each character has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, making character selection more than just choosing a skin. The character models themselves are more realistic looking as opposed to the big-headed anime style of the original.

Again, there are several different modes of play, from standards like Stroke, Match, and Tournament play, to the versus, through which new characters can be unlocked. Gameplay itself is a version of the standard '3 click' variety used by the majority of golf games.

This is the first game in the series to include guest characters from other games. They are Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal, Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil, and Gex from the Gex video game series. They only appeared in the American and European versions.

Hot Shots Golf 3 (2001)

The overall look and feel of the game is pretty much the same as its predecessors, though refined visuals are a given. The same '3 click' system for hitting the ball is back. There are a number of different courses, characters, clubs, and ball types to choose from. New equipment can be purchased with experience points, which your characters earn by winning matches. Better equipment will ease up the game's difficulty a bit by providing greater accuracy, distance, and control. As an additional feature, the game has an international ranking system: With a password from the game you can post your scores on a website, where you can see how you measure up against everyone else out there. It sold over one million copies worldwide.^[21]

John Daly is an unlockable golfer in this game, which makes him the first real life golfer to ever appear in the series. He only appeared in the American release.

Hot Shots Golf Fore! (2003)

The new version contains more realistic physics and better graphics. In addition, the game introduced online play with the Network Adaptor. The developers also increased the overall number of characters from 15 to 24, added more caddies (10 in all) and boosted the number of courses from 6 to 15. Of these, 10 are new, while five are returning favorites from the previous game. The game also features an online Tournament mode where up to 32 players can compete against each other. the North American and European versions included online play while Japanese did not. This game has a few guest characters from other games. Jak, from the Jak and Daxter series, is a playable character, while Daxter is a caddy. Ratchet is also playable, while Clank is a caddy.

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (2004)

The game features three modes. The single-player game offers gamers the chance to unlock characters and items by competing in tournaments or by stroke play. Training mode lets golfers practice their skills on various courses with no pressure. The wireless multiplayer mode allows up to eight players to play a course together in various head-to-head matches, real-time tournaments, or the new putting challenge.

The 10 new characters can be customized with more than 250 items of clothing, accessories, clubs, and balls for a unique style. Once players gain enough to go even further under par.

Hot Shots Tennis (2006)

The game has 14 characters, 5 umpires, and 11 tennis courts. There are 3 different modes to choose from, which are Challenge Mode, Tennis with Everybody, and Training Mode. In Challenge, you play against computer controlled opponents in order to unlock stuff like alternate costumes for characters and more courts to play on. In Tennis with Everybody, you can play matches with 1 to 4 players. The training mode lets you practice positioning and timing shots. You can choose from service, volley, smash and general practices in this mode.

Few of the characters from the previous games of the series (both American and Japanese) make cameo appearances on the courts (usually only in Singles matches). Suzuki and Gloria return as being playable characters.

Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (2007)

It sold over 150,000 copies during its first week on sale.^[22]

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 (2007)

Notably, this title came with PSP System Software version 3.96 - the only place where this firmware version can be found as it was never released online.

Hot Shots Shorties (2009)

While the game was released as a UMD and PlayStation Network download in Japan, and the rest of Asia, it was released as a PlayStation Network exclusive in North America and Europe. This release was split into four download packs based on colour with three games being included in the Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue packs.

The title is a 12-game mini game collection rather than a dedicated sports titles such as previous titles in the series. Mini games include book sorting, baseball, boxing, and vegetable fighting.^[23] Certain games can be played with Hot Shots Golf, and Hot Shots Tennis characters.

Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip (2010)

Information needed

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (2011)

World Invitational borrows courses from Out of Bounds, and downloadable content is available through the PlayStation Store. Players are able to leave each other comments through the "Live Area" system. Clap Hanz is co-developed the game with Team Ninja. Players are able to view the golf course using PlayStation Vita's augmented reality feature.^[24]

PlayStation Home

Clap Hanz has released a space for the Hot Shots Golf series in the Asian, European, and Japanese versions of the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, PlayStation Home. The space is called the "Everybody's Golf Space" (Europe), the "Minna no Golf Lounge" (Japan) and the Asian version uses the North American name, the "Hot Shots Golf Lounge". The space features a Questionnaire (in Europe called A gift from Suzuki), which is a survey that rewards an EG Lawn Sofa, a video screen, a poster, seats for the avatars, and a Full Game Launching Support feature for Everybody's Golf 5. Game Launching is a feature that lets users set up a game in Home and launch directly into the game from Home. The space was released on 11 December 2008 in the Japanese version, 18 June 2009 in the European version,^[25] and 1 October 2009 in the North American version.

References

External links

• European official site for Everybody's Golf (4) and EG on PSP
• European official site for Everybody's Tennis
• Developer Clap Hanz official site