Looking back and seeing how great game series started is easy, it was much harder back then to pick what games would become a series unto their own though. Take Hot Shots Golf by Sony for the Playstation One (we called it simply, Playstation back then). When this game was released, it was kind of iffy in my circle of friends though once a few of us took the plunge and bought/rented it that was all she wrote before it became a little more than an obsession of sorts.
First of all, if you notice any similarities between Hot Shots Golf and Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 that is because Camelot Software Planning handled development of both titles (along with creating the Golden Sun series on Game Boy Advance and they were the devs behind the Shining Force series of games to boot). While not as cartoony as Mario’s outing on the greens, Hot Shots Golf was still able to bring in players of many age ranges and usually won them over with it’s solid game play and generally high level of fun.
Hot Shots Golf is not a golf simulation game, that would be titles like PGA Tour. HSG is more “fun in the sun” type of entertainment, the game doesn’t take itself too seriously though there is a solid golfing engine running the proceedings. What many at the time thought would be a one shot game became a series that has been a staple for Sony platforms from the PSOne, PS2 and PSP to the PS3 and PS Vita and surely future systems as they come to fruition.
Hot Shots Golf by Sony
Platform: Playstation One
Genre: Comical Golf
Availability:
Playstation Network
Retro game stores
