Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots ($39.99, reviewed on PlayStation 5 Pro but also available on PC and Nintendo Switch) is the latest entry in the long-running sports franchise. If you’ve played the series in the past, you know what to expect: rock-solid golf fundamentals, surprising gameplay depth, and goofy, anime-style characters. This time around, the game's RPG elements and rich single-player content provide a fresh spin on traditional golf, keeping you engaged for hours. However, Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots' presentation is pretty basic, and its courses lack variety. Despite these shortcomings, it's one of the better sports games released this year.

A Familiar Game Returns

You may wonder why Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots sounds so familiar. In 1997, the series was originally localized as Hot Shots Golf in North America. Fast-forward to 2017, and it was released as Everybody’s Golf, adopting unified naming conventions across regions, similar to Sega's merger of its Like a Dragon and Yakuza series.

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Names aside, if you've played a previous entry (or a similar release like Mario Golf: Super Rush), the rules remain the same. Despite the cartoonish characters, Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots plays much like its real-world inspiration: You and an opponent take turns whacking a ball across courses in an effort to sink it into the various holes in the fewest number of strokes.

I'm not a golf fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll tee up for a golf video game at any opportunity. Although the last Hot Shots game I played was the PlayStation 2's Hot Shots Golf 3, stepping onto the green was second nature. 

Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots utilizes the traditional three-button swing system commonly found in golf titles. One button press starts your swing, the next sets the ball flight distance, and the final press sets your power. That said, every round is not made equal. Some drives down the range are simple point-and-shoot affairs; others require you to factor in elements like the weather, wind intensity and direction, and ball spin.

That's where Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots shines, as a lot of pure golf goodness lies underneath the cartoony surface. The wide range of control options, swing systems, and ball and club combinations delivers a sports title that appeals to both casual players seeking an arcade-style experience and competitive gamers looking for a simulation-style experience. In this regard, it's a pleasant contrast to the PGA Tour 2K games, which leave no room for whimsy in their pursuit of realism.

Now Watch This Drive: Challenge Mode and World Tour

However, what hooked me was the light RPG elements that comprise a significant portion of the single-player content in the two main modes: Challenge Mode and World Tour.

Let's start with the World Tour, as it's the most ridiculous part of the game (in the best way possible). In it, you control a golfer and tackle a handful of missions, complete with cutscenes and a story arc. These characters are pretty generic in appearance, but many of their plotlines are fun. For example, Mizuki is a moody teen who is convinced that dark forces have taken over his body. Jasmine is a love-obsessed girl who sets out to find her knight in shining armor. Sasha is an action star. There's nothing here as deep as Golf Story, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

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The storylines keep the game light and cheery, but you can skip them if you just want to hit the links. Clearing these missions unlocks costumes, clubs, balls, characters, caddies, and, of course, money to spend in the in-game store. The gear grants stat boosts, so you can build a balanced golfer or one that specializes in power or technical shots.

Challenge Mode, on the other hand, is tournament golf. There, you play nine- or 18-hole tournaments until you earn enough experience to compete against a new character and progress to the next level. I especially like the more bizarre tournaments, like the Beach Tornado Open, which adds a mini tornado to every hole. Like World Tour, clearing missions unlocks money and items.

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Here's where the RPG elements come into play. Each golfer has their own specialties and proficiencies, but you can use food items to grow their skills. Each meal boosts Power, Control, Impact, Spin, and Sidespin. In addition to stuffing your preferred golfer like a Tomagachi, you must mind the character's Loyalty rank. Playing as the same character across modes boosts your loyalty rating, which unlocks special moves, including spin shots, homing shots, and character-specific special shots. I particularly like Jasmine's special move that improves her putting ability. It's fun to discover how to exploit the special moves to turn the tide of the game.

In addition, you build Trust with caddies by pairing them with golfers. As your Trust rating goes up, caddies unlock slots for support stickers. Those bonus items are randomly activated while you're on a course, and they temporarily boost certain stats to give your character an advantage. These advantages include slight boosts to shot power, spin, and shot control. The longer you play with a golfer and caddie, the better they’ll be on the green. And with seven caddies and 30 golfers to choose from, you'll have plenty of room to explore the various combinations.

Traditional online multiplayer matches and tournaments are available if you grow tired of playing the computer. They let you create lobbies to play with friends or just join a quick match versus a random opponent.

Courses, Wacky Golf, and Graphics

Although Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots has a surprising amount of things to do, not all of them are a hole-in-one. As much as I enjoyed grinding tournaments for experience and money, the environments cycle pretty often. You'll see many of the same courses, although they're occasionally tweaked with rain or nighttime play. I wish there were a course or two that leaned into the characters' personalities.

Wacky Golf is a new party mode that adds bizarro match modifiers. For example, Boom Golf features land mines hidden throughout the course that explode, sending your ball flying. These are welcome distractions, but something I really wouldn't want to play more than once.

(Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment/PCMag)

The biggest bummer might be the overall presentation. For a relatively simple game, I noticed that many of the character models in the menus and on the green screen had jagged edges. The realistic fairways look good most of the time, but the trees and other elements appear quite fuzzy. 

I reviewed Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots on the PlayStation 5 Pro. Although the system doesn't give the game a fidelity boost, the pause screen reveals three graphics options: a 120Hz mode, a VRR toggle, and an HDR toggle. The HDR toggle had no significant impact in my tests, but it added a bright glow to certain game elements, such as the border around the tee-off area or the highlight surrounding your ball while playing at night. It's basically useless, but the 120Hz and VRR modes smooth out a few graphical rough edges. Note that you'll need a gaming monitor or TV with VRR support to take advantage of them.