Review: Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is a good reminder of the classic

Obviously, there's a clear improvement in the audiovisual aspect compared to the original '97 title, but unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the great potential of today's machines. Of course, an arcade-style game isn't naturally focused on extremely realistic, detailed visuals, but it's still possible to feel disappointed. I also noticed a few visual bugs, such as your club carrier teleporting during a playthrough.

Hot Shots, in terms of audio, offers a gameplay experience with ups and downs. The menu soundtrack, the sounds when navigating the interface, and the narrator and the in-game effects are clear and pleasant to the ears. However, the characters' lines are extremely repetitive; this lack of variety makes the environment more robotic and loses the sense of immersion.

A good point to conclude this topic! Despite the slight visual issues mentioned earlier, I didn't experience any crashes, frame drops, or other bugs.

Many consider gameplay to be the main focus of a game, and here you can analyze it from different angles. The three-click hitting system is still the same—along with a few other features, like adjusting your strike position, for example.

This is quite subjective. You might consider that the franchise's mechanics were respected, but you might also feel that the system failed to innovate and that the gameplay style felt stuck in time. Players of the previous game will certainly want to return for nostalgia, but they'll find that there haven't been any major changes and may abandon the game over time.

What's not subjective is the fact that Everybody's Golf Hot Shots is user-friendly. The gameplay is simple, and anyone with a basic understanding of the rules of golf will be able to hit good shots in minutes.

Another great thing is that the game can be experienced with either a conventional game controller or a keyboard and mouse. There are no major difficulties or penalties when choosing to play with a specific controller.

One factor highly praised by the community was the wide variety of modes to enjoy in Hot Shots. You can play individual tournaments against 19 bots in Challenge Mode, setting a difficulty level and earning coins based on your final ranking.

In addition to the more traditional options like Stroke Play, Match Play, and Solo Round, you can also enter the World Tour—a sort of "story mode" for each character. The biggest problem here is the depth of the story; it's quite simple.

Wacky Golf - the biggest innovation of the sequel

Exploding balls, losing one of your clubs every round, and tornadoes completely changing the trajectory of your next shots—these are just some of the crazy things Wacky Golf brings to the sport, and it's the main mode for going beyond the 1997 classic.

You can choose from a few "sub-modes" to tweak the rules more specifically. One option is Colorful, which promises to bring surprises to your game!

Online Matches

There's also the option to play with other players around the world. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any available rooms to try it and share my opinion here

Everybody's Golf Hot Shots introduces you to a cast of around 30 characters—all of whom can be upgraded—plus a few club carriers. However, you only start with two batters and a single assistant.

Unlocking new characters requires hours of gameplay, and it's somewhat repetitive and tiring. Furthermore, by spending resources on a single batter, you won't feel as motivated to enjoy the new ones—unless you spend even more time upgrading them as well.

The situation is similar with the venues; you'll spend a lot of time unlocking new courses to play. And everyone agrees that having only one venue to host matches isn't appealing.

With some changes that make progression more viable, it could become a great potential for more competitive players.

Everybody's Golf Hot Shots manages to recall its predecessor perfectly with the same arcade style and simple gameplay from 1997, but the same arguments make us see this sequel as stuck in time.

The few innovations don't justify the price, and the addition of various content isn't as enjoyable. Still, it's a fun, beginner-friendly game with good performance. For that reason, Everybody's Golf Hot Shots receives a 6 out of 10.

I hope you enjoyed this article. I'm available if you have any questions or suggestions.