It still feels strange, even some twenty or so hours after sitting down with Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots, a once PlayStation exclusive series now playing nicely on my Switch 2 screen. What crazy times we live in. While I certainly enjoyed Mario Golf: Super Rush on the original Switch, it’s a welcome sight to see another cartoony arcade golfer arrive on the scene, and Everybody’s Golf does so, giving Nintendo’s plumber a good run for his money.
In a case of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, playing Everybody’s Golf involves the genre familiar mechanic of timing the presses of a button three times to set the power of swing and accuracy of shot. Even after all these years and other variations, there’s still a brilliantly satisfying feeling with the three-tap system that shines through here. Of course, players will also need to account for their choice of club, wind speed, terrain and whether they want to apply spin, all of these adding plenty more layers of complexity for those that want to perfect their game. At the same time, though, playing Everybody’s Golf is perfectly approachable too.
It’s probably not a stretch to say that Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots may well be the most content-packed golfer out there, both for lone players and multiplayer sessions. For starters, Challenge Mode offers a series of mini-tournaments, with every win contributing to a meter that, when filled, allows you to take on a rival. Beat them and you’ll unlock the next class of tournaments and so on. World Tour acts as your story-driven option, each character having their own tale to tell through a handful of chapters. Essentially, the narrative is window dressing on what is essentially more golfing, but thankfully, skipping the conversations altogether is included as an option. While winning will ultimately be your main goal of each chapter, three challenges will offer added difficulty as they task you with things like winning without using a power shot or scoring over a certain number of points.
Multiplayer caters to both local and online with a number of modes for each. As enjoyable as a vanilla round of golf is, when it comes to arcade-like takes, I always appreciate it when things get a little weird, for example, how Mario Golf: Super Rush had you chasing your ball and attacking others between shots. Everybody’s Golf includes a number of weirdly wonderful options, including the chaos of randomly exploding balls, stealing clubs from your opponent’s bag and surprising modifiers, all of which work perfectly in a multiplayer setting.
The content doesn’t end there, though, with a wealth of unlockables to earn, including courses, clothing, colour switches, balls and clubs, the latter two impacting your actual golfing style. While the game might not include a character creator, there are plenty of personas to try out with a levelling system for each, not to mention stat-raising foods. This constant upgrading of characters is satisfying, especially as you watch your shots gradually reach longer distances, for example.
The game sports a bright and cheery look with the personalities of golfers and caddies mirroring the same sweet vibes, almost to a fault, with voices constantly shouting and grating. Fortunately, you can mute the golfers long before you start to lose your mind. Courses look nice with beaches and forests looming in the distance. Performance, meanwhile, I didn’t notice any issues here; however, with this being a Nintendo Switch title, things could get a touch blurry, especially on distant views of the course.
Perhaps the biggest quibble I have with the game is how slow the unlock process can feel, courses in particular taking a good while to unlock, meaning you’ll face a lot of repeated plays on the same course or two over and over. With a good number to unlock, eventually you’ll see a good variety of locations to choose from though, it’s just a shame you can’t exactly dive right in for a multiplayer session out of the box and instead need to work to earn the extra courses.
Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is a light-hearted and content-rich package that’s a great way to unwind with on your own or have a good laugh with friends. While the unlock process can feel like a bit of a slog at times, the golfing itself is strong enough to keep you coming back for one more round.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch
Review copy provided by Bandai Namco Entertainment
