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As Fun As Fun Can Get

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 37 / 41
Date: March 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Let's get one thing straight: I've never given two shakes about golf, either in real-life or video game form. I'd never played a golf game until Hot Shots Golf 3. This review will show my lack of knowledge about the sport, and will contain no comparisons to Swing Away Golf, Tiger Woods 2002, Tee Off Golf, or even the first two Hot Shots games, because I've never spent one second playing any of them. In fact, being Golf Ignoramus #1, I may seem like the least qualified person in the universe to review this game.

However, HSG3 is not a golf game just for golf-heads. It is fun, pure and simple - in fact, it's the most fun I've had with a game since Samba de Amigo and Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast. HSG3 is one of only two games I've ever pre-ordered; even now I'm really perplexed about what attracted me to it. I was positive the game would be a winner.

Lucky for me, I was right. HSG3 makes golf fun and easy to play, yet contains enough depth to keep it from being silly. It's a fantastic multiplayer game as well - my similarly golf-ignorant friends got involved immediately. We now consider it a multiplayer classic.

First off, the game is gorgeous to look at. The characters have goofy, oversized heads, and behave in bizarre, endearing ways. They'll do backflips when you get a birdy, and will even line-dance with some frogs. The game is full of visual whimsy: a rainbow trail follows the ball on an accurate stroke, your caddy kicks up a puff of dust as he takes off after the ball, and the golf ball will even burst into flames on certain occasions. The true stars of the game are the courses: lush, detail-filled marvels that are just magnificent. I was actually disappointed my character couldn't hop in the golf cart and take a leisurely tour of the course, drinking in the grassy, rolling hills, the swaying trees, butterflies, falling leaves, rippling pools, and the glorious sunset. You might see a windmill turning lazily in the distance, or a train chugging along a winding track. You'll hear buzzing insects, soft gusts of wind...and your caddie's grating comments when you launch one into the rough. The courses vary from a tropical island to a desert canyon, and each has its own treasures and obstacles. You can play each course in any season, at different times of day, or with different weather conditions. Not only does each detail provide an additional feast for the eyes, but each affects the gameplay directly.

Ah, the gameplay. HSG3 uses a three-click and meter system to measure your swing: hit the button once to start the meter, again to measure power, and once more for timing. You can also used the d-pad to target your swing for slice purposes. It's ridiculously easy to do, but can get very complex, as you'll have to pay attention to the slope of the course, the wind condition, which club would be best, and of course you'll have to avoid sand traps and water. Putting is also easy: a grid appears over the green showing slope and speed, and you tap the button once to start the meter and again to measure power. A randomly placed pin practically guarantees you won't play the same hole twice. "Easy to get into, difficult to master" is a gaming cliche, but it fits HSG3 perfectly.

There are several single-player modes to choose from, including Practice, Stroke, Tournament, and Vs. You accumulate Hot Shots Points in these modes, which can then be used in the Shop to buy items ranging from new clubs and balls to caddies. Trust me - you'll revisit the courses many times in order to rack up additional points. You play against the CPU in Vs. mode, and if you win, you unlock additional characters with improved performance stats. There's also an interesting internet mode, which ranks your best games against players nationwide.

Multiplayer is a joy. One of the best features is that you can use one controller for up to four people - no multitap needed! You can play one hole or compare your scores over a series. Fiendishly addictive, and it can get pretty competitive!!

Hot Shots is golf for the anti-golfer. Despite having a total lack of interest in the sport, I got into the game right away. It takes the somewhat slow-paced and dry game of golf and makes it appealing and fun. HSG3 is a game you and your friends will replay many times, whether to improve your scores, purchase all the items, bask in the beauty of the courses, or to have a simple good time. Ignore the golf-ish exterior and give it a chance. I think you'll get hooked, unless you're dead-set against having fun.

More of the same from 1 and (I guess)2... more, so MUCH more

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: May 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I don't understand myself. I've never played golf on a course, and I don't really care to start, but I'm a sucker for video game golf. So, many moons ago, I happily tucked Hot Shots Golf (the PSX original) into my collection of epileptic-seizure-inducing-titanic-explosion-giant-robot-espionage-assault-blast-fests and played the heck out of it. I never got #2 but I really dug #1. I truly loved gathering points to unlock all the courses, and prided myself on my eventual learned ability to beat each computer player. It was a unique video game experience in that I wasn't just figuring out how to use the program's quirks against it, how to cheat some line of AI code into trapping itself into a no-win situation and then blasting away at it, no-- I was learning the ins, outs, ups and downs of How to Play Golf. I learned how to read the lie of the green, how to play with or against the wind for a few more yards or a little less roll. I felt like I was actually accomplishing something while I sat ...in my living room. As if I was somehow preparing myself for the original white-man retirement inevitability-- a bag full of clubs on a 12-pack Sunday.

Happily, I report I have collected no such affectation yet. No, in these darkening days of the twilight of my youth I can only claim to have a similar, but far less tiring and expensive new hobby-- I sit ...in my barracks room and play the crap out of Hot Shots Golf 3.

No, seriously-- I can't put this thing down. I even popped out Deus Ex, a totally engaging CRPG like nothing else out there, and left it gathering dust for a WEEK because I can't stop laughing at that idiot Mel every time I birdie and he croons out "Bird's a-chirpin'!" like he's blissfully gassy from a 3-piece chicken combo. I love the Shop, I almost choked on a cookie when I pummeled the little glasses girl like Ken Clean-Air System and heard her blubber "You're Mean" on the score card screen, I spend all kinds of time on the desert course looking for that stupid yet oh-so-cute butterfly I unlocked with Capsule number one for a whopping 2900 points just because I can say "That butterfly is MINE!" with a tear in my eye, people, with a tear in my eye... Bird's a-chirpin'.

And oh yeah, the game... It's the first Hot Shots! All over again! With more everything and then some, Praise Bog! There's more finesse over the ball with the Big Air and Pinhole clubs that YOU GOTTA BUY, giving you an even GREATER sense of accomplishment because THOSE CLUBS are YOUR CHILDREN, you SWEATED and TOILED and TRIED LIKE MAD to birdie or par on that rotten Hawaiian Par 3 that goes over the beach just to have them-- because you knew HOW MUCH MORE FUN you were going to have and HOW MANY MORE RECORDS you were going to set and HOW MANY MORE GREAT chip-in videos you would be able to show your friends, who were gonna be so jealous because they were CLEARLY the more inferior Hot Shots Golfers! AHH HA HA HA!!!

The physics are 99% brilliant. I question some of the wierd ball dynamics when they screw me into a sand trap or (GULP!) water hazard, but what do I know-- I don't play the real thing. Stuff happens in the real world, ya know? I still feel like I learned a ton from the first game because I still understand both the basics of golf and the PS2 controller scheme, which hasn't changed much (but where's the wind velocity and vector grass-toss? Oh well). It's intuitive and simple yet tricky. And full of options, the way I like it. I'm Tiger Woods!

The save system is VASTLY improved if only for the fact that I don't have to wait for my Scotch and soda at the 9th hole bar in order to make a pit stop from which to keep creaming my wily opponent in Vs. mode-- I can save EVERY hole when I'm up, and go back to 5 or 10 or whatever I have to do when that miserable par 5 drops me out of bounds again... and again... and again when I'm going for a green-in-2 Eagle attempt. The only thing that burns me up at all about this game is a problem I had in HSG1, namely that it seems like when I save my interrupt data in the same slot over and over, the game will eventually lock up on a certain hole every time I get there. But, annoying as we all know THAT is, I can't get mad at it. I'm too relaxed 10 minutes later when I've whipped the pants off of the Sasquatch and am kicking back with some new wallpapers to show for it all. And a tournament trophy with a little golf-guy on it.

I love it.

This game is a quiet, relaxing, enjoyable, challenging contest of wits between you and Newton up to 4 friends which will make you smile all day long. Hey, wait a sec-- Is that the secret of real golf as well? I gotta go outside more...

Bird's a-chirpin'...

Hole in One - Sony does it again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: March 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hot Shots Golf 3 picks up where the previous left off. In that respect it's a hit. After a long and horrible day at the driving range you can count on HSG3 to put a smile on your face and up your total yardage to more than you can possibly imagine.
There are 3 basic modes of play: single player, multiplayer and short course. The single player provides the most variety. You can practice your strokes and putting; tee off against a variety of anime-like golfers; or pit your skills against human opponents. Clap Handz did a fantastic job of maintaining the same charm and feel of the game and the characters. The graphics are not the best you will see on PS2 nor the most dazzling (although the water in the game is perhaps the best to grace the PS2). However Hot Shots was never about the false front and more about humor and good old fashion FUN.
The only negative to this otherwise fantastic game is the regionalization of the game. This is unfortunately too typical of games translated to the American version. Would it have killed the developers to leave the original Japanese voices? Would it have been too much to ask for the language features? Perhaps. Afterall I'm only the consumer...and in the end I am, nonetheless, a happy consumer.

Tiger who?? EA what??

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have played all of the golf games for systems except for the Hot Shot series. I was a little put off by the cartoonish graphics and didn't think it could compare to the gameplay of the EA sports Tiger Woods experience. BIG MISTAKE. I borrowed not bought the first TW game for the PS2. BIG Disappointment. A friend later told me of the HSG series and I read some reviews and deceided to buy it. This game is off the charts. The physics are amazing and I haved not played another of my other titles for weeks. The different modes are great and all challenging. The only complaint I have is no Skins Challenge. But the Short Course makes up for that you can play a round in under 5 minutes for those of you with limited time. A whole round takes about 10 min so it seldom gets boring. I do get tired of watching the computer making 150 yd eagles though. If you do get the chance to establish some greatness the game will record that for you so you can relive the moment over and over again. The character selection is very interesting as well. The comments they make at you are hilarious. Your first 4 or 5 times playing them and I guarantee some good laughs. The caddys are also amusing. Don't think twice about picking this one up it's a no brainer.

Golfmania

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hot Shots 3 was the first game I bought for PS2. HS3 kicks butt compared to the first two Hotshots. It is more realistic than any other golf game I have played. You have trash talking caddies, spectators commenting on your game.
It's not like most golf games where you can just kick the cpu players butts. Yeah at first it seems easy, but as you advance in the game so does the cpu. It dont matter what level you start at either. The game pushes you to the next level as you progress through the game.
The courses are harder than the HS 1&2. I've played HS2 and the only course that was difficult for me was the final one. On HS3 the wind pushes your ball around a lot. You don't have to have 10 mph winds to push your ball. The terrain is more realistic. I have been in several terrains, and the hardest I have found is the bare ground.
I have found the game to be great and I would greatly recommend playing it once if you like golf. Even if you don't like golf and you want a challenge I would recommend playing at least once.

Best Golf Game Period

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This blows every other golf ga,e out of the water

Fun for the whole family

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hot Shots Golf 3 is the most fun I've had with a computer golf game. In addition, my kids who are 10 and 7 like it as much or more than I do and have an easy time playing it.

The game lets you use multiple controllers (we have a multitap so we can all have our own controller) or share one or two controllrs.

The golf is very realistic. The putting is excellent. Moving dots on the grid roll downhill so you can see the slope more easily. The power meter runs straight across the bottom and shows the maximum distance you can hit it with distances. The kids have learned to estimate how far along the meter they need to go to hit certain distances. So they are getting some percentages training as well.

The game characters are fun, and the game gives you challenges in small chucks, so it is addictive and always interesting. The simple 3-click swing system is the same that most games use and the kids understand it easily. Also, the game lets you give younger players a handicap to keep them interested.

Golf anyone?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was hoping that there was a game on the ps2 similer to what I had on the n64 which was mario golf. I loved that game and this looks to be the exact same in the way that they are both animated and cartoonish fun. It puts two great combinations together, cartoons and a realistic golfing experience. It turns out they make a great team and I can't wait to see how much better this game is to mario golf. Great fun and it will last you a while before you get sick of it, which will probably be never.

Such a fun game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: April 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love it. It's something I can play with my husband and with my 5 year old son! It doesn't get much better than that!

Wow!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is definitely the best golf game so far. The graphic renderred is stunning!! You can actually move around in the course's 3D model and I even found the Man's and Lady's room beside a swimming pools(Par 3 course). It is packed with features and like the earlier Hot Shot 2, you get to win prizes as you play all kinds of tournament, the new feature is the proshop and the pointing system. Now you can play a stroke game and earn points towards purchasing equipments and good stuff.
Also HSG3 added some new item (Pintch Hitter coupon) and it is all too cool to go to bed at 3:00AM........

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