I've dabbled with a lot of Hot Shots games since my childhood, but never actually saw these older ones through until now.
The original Hot Shots Golf (or Everybody's Golf, depending on your region), shows its age, but I could appreciate its basis. This was the first of its kind, the only one developed by Camelot Software Planning before the IP and genre would be split off; Camelot to Mario Golf and director Masashi Muramori to found Clap Hanz, the future of the franchise set. I love the charm here for 1998, with the 2D sprites and 3D cartoon models being placed on top of flat terrain. Even gotta give props to Motoi Sakuraba (yes, the same guy who did music for Golden Sun and Dark Souls) for some of these tracks, which invoke some relaxing, nostalgic tones.
As a golfing game though, it's a mixed bag. Like I said, it's a basis from its own time, but nothing's really perfected yet. Standard tournaments to unlock courses, VS mode to unlock characters, mini-golf, there's a lot here. However, the brilliant two-click gameplay conflicts itself with some incredibly inaccurate, input-laggy physics and calculations. I'm not looking for anything precise here, but make certain shots more than just a regional approximation.
Again, old game is old, but it has its charming moments. I know the series only goes up from here.
The original Hot Shots Golf (or Everybody's Golf, depending on your region), shows its age, but I could appreciate its basis. This was the first of its kind, the only one developed by Camelot Software Planning before the IP and genre would be split off; Camelot to Mario Golf and director Masashi Muramori to found Clap Hanz, the future of the franchise set. I love the charm here for 1998, with the 2D sprites and 3D cartoon models being placed on top of flat terrain. Even gotta give props to Motoi Sakuraba (yes, the same guy who did music for Golden Sun and Dark Souls) for some of these tracks, which invoke some relaxing, nostalgic tones.
As a golfing game though, it's a mixed bag. Like I said, it's a basis from its own time, but nothing's really perfected yet. Standard tournaments to unlock courses, VS mode to unlock characters, mini-golf, there's a lot here. However, the brilliant two-click gameplay conflicts itself with some incredibly inaccurate, input-laggy physics and calculations. I'm not looking for anything precise here, but make certain shots more than just a regional approximation.
Again, old game is old, but it has its charming moments. I know the series only goes up from here.