![]() There is a loyalty system for repeat play with a character, which allows you to upgrade your favorites to be more powerful and able to use special shots. Character customization is incredibly deep, with over 250 unlockable characteristics (including hats, outfits, and accessories, plus custom balls and clubs) for your golfers. Gameplay modes on the PSP game rival Hot Shots Golf Fore! for PS2. The PSP game doesn't make much use of the PSP's analog stick, keeping most of the control on the D-Pad and the buttons, but there's still lots of control for moving the camera around and putting technique on your shots. Hot Shots maintains the tap-tap swing meter that has been a staple of the series, with complicated techniques for using the D-Pad to put spin on the ball before hitting. PSP may be smaller in stature, but it's plenty powerful to render the complicated greens of this game, and reading the undulations of the courses is a science you will have to master. ![]() Hot Shots Golf on PSP is an uncompromising version of the classic PlayStation series. Unfortunately, the import and domestic game cannot interoperate for multiplayer, since international versions of games change the code too much for the games to work together. The initial level load is also slightly sped up, and as with the original, once you are playing a round, the game runs straight the course with hardly a visible load screen to bother you. Navigating the menu is less prone to load lags that tripped up the Japanese game, making for a quicker trip to the greens. Our version of Hot Shots Golf doesn't feature any significant advancements over the Japanese game, but we did notice some improvements over the import that clean up our game ever-so-slightly. We did lose the "Lucky!" shout that became so endearing in the import (and the button layout has been changed to stay in like with the NA version of past Hot Shots), but there's still plenty of character to enjoy here. All of the overly-encouraging intro text has been translated over with big hearts and kisses on the translation, and the bizarre and calming video of floating clouds and what look to be floating hippos are still there in the American game. The pro shop gal is still the same anime'esque lady who manned the import version, and the two main characters - a spikey-haired fellow named Rio and a girl with a bob named Mika - are identical to their Japanese counterparts, and some of the voices are vets from the anime VO business. Many details are identical to the Japanese version, and the edits we have seen so far are more in keeping with Japanese whimsy than the 'fat American' style used in the past. Maybe the explosion of anime has helped convince Sony that it's all good stuff, but the slight changes we have seen so far likely won't send die-hards running to the import the way HSG 2 and 3. HSG developer Clap Hanz creates some crazy designs based on Japanese stereotypes for the Japanese version of the game (known there as Minna No Golf, or Everybody's Golf), and those characters don't always make sense for Western audiences. One of the aspects that long-time Hot Shots fans might be concerned about is how the edits SCEA made to the game for American audiences change the feel of the Japanese game. Features and modes are basically identical to the Japanese game - there is unfortunately not Intranet Mode online play, but there is a robust multiplayer mode for up to eight gamers to play wirelessly, and all of the character optimizations and swinging techniques are kept intact in the game you will find in stores next Wednesday. The import version was well worth picking up in the early days of the system, but we've now had a chance to putt our way through a few holes of the North American edition. It's a sunny game that all audiences can enjoy, with a robust multiplayer and addictive gaming that, while never playing nice and easy despite its cute looks, is easy-playing fun and a strong challenge to learn and play. Gamers have had to wait a bit longer than expected for the handheld edition - the import released in Japan with the PSP launch - but the timing couldn't be much better now that the launch has come and gone and the crowd is hungry for another big title. The PSP version of Sony Computer Entertainment's adorable-yet-accomplished golf game is finally dues out in stores next Wednesday.
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