Not THOSE Kind Of Hot Shots...

by Wootini

I know nothing about golf, aside from how frustrating it is to whack that ball through the damn spinning windmill blades without it bouncing back to you for the eighth time. So the greatest compliment I can pay Hot Shots: Open Tee for the PSP is that it's a heck of a lot of fun, even though it's about golf. Luckily, it's about big-headed anime-esque cartoon characters playing somewhat cartoony golf, so that helps. Though for all it's fluffiness, it's actually rather relentless with the realistic physics. (Damn those water hazards!) You pick a golfer (only 2 to choose from initially) then go to town. You can either play against a specific character, or play in a tournament. Since it's tedious to watch the PSP do better than you in a match game (even though sometimes it seems like they throw the matches just to keep it close), it's a blessing that you don't have to watch the other 19 contestants take their turns in the tournament. (Though it is odd that the CPU character's names don't match up--why is that girl named Brad?) As you play, your character's abilities increase like an RPG, so it helps to stick with one particular golfer. Since I'm not into golf, I could care less about my scores, so it's nice that the main focus of the game is collecting all the unlockables. Each match you win nets you new outfits or golfing accessories for your character, so eventually you can dress them however you choose. As soon as I unlocked the trucker hat, I was a happy camper. Eventually you can unlock new characters and courses, but those aren't as frequent. I also enjoy the weird Japanese-ness of it, especially the odd end-of-game scenes of drifting clouds in the sky, lapping waves on a beach and hippos in water at sunset with "good job!" in the corner. Hippos? But it's strangely addictive and a heck of a lot of fun, so I have no problem recommending Hot Shots: Open Tee to anyone. Even if you don't like golf! (Also impressive is that I'm able to play it and enjoy myself even though I rented it from Blockbuster without instructions! The true mark of a quality game: You don't need to read the manual.)