Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
PS Vita
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Clap
Hanz
Release Date: 14
February 2012
As as
staple of Sony systems, the Hot Shots
series has always been about accessibility. The entire series takes
a casual approach to sports, and it makes for fun gaming. The golf
series features courses that are just a bit fantastical, characters
that are type-casts out of anime movies, and mechanics that everyone
can easily pick up, but that take time to master. Hot
Shots Golf: World Invitational
offers that familiar and simplistic golf action on your Vita. Those
that love the series know what they are in for, but folks on the
outside may not “get it.”
 |
| The cartoony greens are calling again! |
Each of the
characters is a stereotype of some sort: the cutesy school girl, the
stoic samurai, the fat rapper, the overly-muscled idiot. Each one
has some special skills and weaknesses for the player to contend
with. A power hitter may have issues with bunkers, or maybe someone
with good control plays poorly in rain. Playing as everyone allows
you to find your “style.” Playing with a character will build up
“Loyalty.” Higher loyalty means more “Power Shots” (which
add 10 yards to any shot) and eventually access to special shots.
These shots are great fun: adding Super Back Spin means your ball
stops dead and then rockets backward leaving a trail of flame; Super
Top Spin will send your ball forward (and even up the pin!). While
experimenting is necessary for finding the right character, it is
frustrating to start from scratch with each one. Overall, once you
have tried the archetypes out with the Novice ranked players, you'll
gravitate toward the same ones at the higher levels.
 |
| All the cutesy characters are dripping with personality |
At the Shop, you
can buy art, outfit colors and music tracks along with new equipment
and ball types. The addicting part of the game is working toward new
stuff for your character. These can be silly things like outfits, or
better equipment. Some characters have flaws in their skill sets and
these can be corrected with the proper clubs and balls. For example,
if your character has weak power, the Big Air clubs and balls can
compensate for that. Likewise, the control centered Pin-Hole set and
Top Spin set allow you to make up for weaknesses in those areas.
Along with the fluff of music and outfits, you can also buy parts out
of a vending machine for your online avatar. These are mostly silly
things, and the addiction comes from getting all the parts/colors
from a machine that delivers at random.
As you
work your way up the Challenge board, new courses become available
and the tournaments get more difficult. By the end, you should have
plenty of skills to put against the top two pros. This is the bulk
of the game. Players will spend a majority of their time earning
Stars (for winning the various challenges) and working toward Crowns
(for winning challenges after meeting special conditions).
Tournaments are usually fun and some offer special conditions. Some
make life easier, like “Mega Cup” which doubles the size of the
hole, while others make life more difficult, like “Rough +1”,
which adds a penalty stroke for landing in the rough. At the higher
levels, the other entrants (who you never see except on the leader
boards) do better. Winning is all about your skill level and not
about how you fare against the AI. It never seems like the AI is
unfair or overpowered in tournaments. That's reserved for the
face-off matches.
 |
| The only real use of the Vita touch screens |
Once
you've collected enough Stars, you can challenge the pro for that
level. Collect enough Crowns and you get to challenge a tougher
version of the pro. These one-on-one matches are a “first to
three” affairs. The lower level pros are fun to challenge and can
make a careless player pay for mistakes. However, the upper levels
(especially the final two pros) suffer from an issue that has plagued
the series for a long while. That issue is absolute cheapness of the
computer. Like Mario Kart's
rubber band AI and the infamous Blue Shell, the top tier pros are
nearly impossible to beat unless you play flawlessly. Capitalizing
on mistakes is crucial. More often than not, if the AI hits a ball
out of bounds, the next couple of shots will be unmistakably perfect.
It's not uncommon for the AI to make a 40 foot putt over rolling
terrain, or have their 200 + yard approach shot land within inches of
the hole. The AI also seems to get the benefit of the doubt on
shots. I watched the Gold Tier pro not adjust for the lie of the
ball on a slope and also flub the shot. If that happened to me, I
would have watched my ball sail a mere 10 yards or less directly
sideways. For the Gold Pro, though, that meant that the ball shot
perfectly straight and landed within 10 feet of the cup. This
happened more than once, especially if I had the advantage. It's not
game breaking, but it is really close to it. The challenge stops
being about being the better golfer, and more about being lucky that
the computer doesn't screw you over.
Though you can play
solo rounds on courses you've unlocked, the only reason to do that is
to build up Points to unlock items in the shop. Solo rounds allow
you to get to know a course without having to worry about your final
score, but they are also not as fulfilling. I've only done these
rounds to avoid doing a frustrating challenge and to build Loyalty
with a new character. You can manipulate the weather, the winds and
other aspects of the game to make it more or less difficult, too.
It's nice to have the option to just go out and golf, but it's not
going to drastically extend your enjoyment of the game.
 |
| The courses are all varied and interesting |
The
best draw for the game is a new addition to the series: online play.
Players can make rooms to have mini-tournaments or just play a round
of golf with friends. The Vita's built-in microphone does well
enough for chatting, but it isn't really any better or worse than a
headset. By far the best online offering, and the reason that even
after finishing nearly all of Challenge Mode (I've left a few undone
and I haven't earned Crowns on more than 8 overall, but I have
unlocked the characters) is the Daily Tournaments. Every day the
game offers up three tournaments to play through. Two are 9 hole
affairs and one is a full round of 18. Playing all three together
takes about 30 minutes (depending on how fast you are), and the
rewards are more Points to spend at the shop and the benefits of
playing a round (Loyalty, practice). You are ranked against all the
others playing, so you can compete against the rest of the Hot
Shots world. I have found these
to be a great way to start the day: a couple of short rounds and one
long before breakfast. Every day you enter, you are given a World
Ranking (I'm in the 840s right now) and a lot of Points. This is a
great way to keep people playing after they have exhausted the
single-player portion. These tournaments also vary the conditions
for matches. Right now, they seem to focus on things like Mega Cup,
but I have seen “Power Shot +1” (a penalty stroke for using a
Power Shot) and “Bunker/Rough +1”. I'm hoping later tournaments
will have challenging mods like “Teeny Cup” (the hole is only
half the size) or “Impossible Pin” (the hole is located in the
most inconvenient parts of the green).
 |
| The best part of golfing: sinking it |
The
time sink is back! Filled with the same cartoon visuals, vibrant
courses, and addictive Challenge mode, Hot Shots Golf:
World Invitational is everything
you have come to expect from the franchise. Sadly, this lack of
innovation holds the game back from greatness. It's fun, challenging
(not always in good ways), and great for short “pick up and play”
sessions. However, it does not do anything to push the formula
established back in the PS2 days. That and the fact that the game
doesn't use the Vita in any novel ways means that the game is fun,
but ultimately nothing new. While the Daily Tournaments will keep
the game in rotation, the single player portion doesn't have a lot of
replayability. I love this series and playing off-and-on is great
fun, but I would like to see some shake up in future installments.
Score:
7 out of 10
Bottom
Line:
It's a super fun game, but there isn't anything new here
Check
it out if you like:
Casual golf games, fashion, cutesy characters with over the top
personalities
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