Everybody’s Golf

I love Everybody’s Golf. LOVE IT! I’ve loved it since the first PlayStation game. It’s barely changed in all these years. Sure, the graphics are all fancy now, you can play it online and there’s a plethora of character building features to take advantage of but it’s basically the same. That’s why it’s remained such a successful series through all these years because it was perfect from day one and the developer Clap Hanz hasn’t messed with it. It’s a golf game that combines super deformed, cutesy, Japanese style characters and cartoon graphics with solid as a rock physics and gameplay. The learning curve is pitched perfectly to make this the easiest game in the world to pick up and play but a challenging one to master.

There are very few Vita features implemented here so don’t be expecting to use the touch screen too much. The tilt mechanism is used but doesn’t work as well as just moving the camera around with the D-pad. Basically this is the PS3 game on a handheld and that’s good enough for us. The graphics are super crisp and bright. The game has never looked so good. The play is just as it has always been with the very same physics in play so if you’re already pretty good at Everybody’s Golf you can pick up where you left off. As with the PS3 edition you can build up a rapport with the character you use, gaining experience points each time you use a particular golfer. It feels pretty good at first having that little heart on screen fill with sparkly points but once you start gaining new stats for that golfer it really puts you off using anyone else, which is annoying since unlocking new characters is one of the most exciting things in the game.

The multiplayer works much like the PS3 version with tournaments, a lobby you can run around in and the chance to play with friends online and locally against another Vita owner. The biggest flaw in this edition of the game also occurred in the PSP version, which is that you cannot play a basic two-player match on one console. No shots each! It really is an appalling omission. Sitting with your hundreds of pounds worth of new console that you can’t have multiple accounts on, playing a game that you can’t share with a friend or sibling. It’s really not on.

Despite the lack of new content, with even the initially available courses being purloined from the PS3 version, I just think if you love Everybody’s Golf, and let’s agree now that everybody does, you should own every iteration of it you can feasibly manage. The bonkers annoying music whisks us off to a nicer, more innocent time in gaming and while playing this you almost believe we could bring those blue skies and cartoon dream lands back.