Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots review for PS5, Switch, PC

Over the course of the last couple of years, we have seen a rise in smaller putt-putt style golfing games, leaving me with a desire to have a full golfing experience. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed an actual arcade-style golfing game. 8 years to be exact, as I got my hands on Clap Hanz’s 2017 Everybody’s Golf in 2019. Over the course of the 2020 pandemic, I found myself getting lost on the links as a stress reliever during one particularly challenging time. The game’s approachable, vibrant, easy-to-play experience is one I’ll hold dear. Five years later, I am happy to report that Hyde, Inc., with Namco Bandai, has brought those feelings back one more time with their latest installment of the series, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Just like its predecessor, it is a fun, enjoyable, vibrant, and accessible game for the whole family.

When I first jumped into Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots, I went into the tutorial to see what new changes, if any, had come to the game mechanically. The only real mechanical change they made to hitting is the addition of a new spin mechanic feature that allows you to manually control where on the ball you apply spin, giving you a more precise idea of where your ball lands. This spin feature also helps, depending on what type of slope or hills you may be facing. Sometimes, I felt that my hits weren’t accurately landing in the correct area where I hit it; it felt completely random. Like other Everybody’s Golf games, hitting is very approachable. You have 3 swing gauges to choose from, depending on what swing style suits you the best. You have a traditional 3-button swing mechanic. The first button press starts the swing, a second for power, and a third button press to determine how accurate your shot is. You may also change the spot where you tee up, so you may avoid hazards and such. You can choose from a normal shot, a power shot, and now a 3rd shot that can be used for a specialty shot, such as a homing shot.

There are many modes to choose from when you boot up Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. I started on the single-player challenge mode, where you progress through tournaments to raise your ranking and get the most practice for when you want to take your skills online. You then choose a golfer and a caddie to start with. I was astonished to see you only get to start with only two characters to choose from, as well as 2 caddies, but as I began to play, I realized there are so many things to unlock. After each course is completed with a golfer, your relationship with that golfer and caddie grows. It leads to power-ups and other unlockables that you can use to improve your golfer and your caddie. As you rise the ranks, you play in official league events, golfing events, as well as unofficial events that will have some weird and wacky stipulations, such as a tornado spawning near the hole that works as a homing device or a massive hole will open up, allowing you to make easy shots to the tee.

At the end of each difficulty level, you’ll have a boss battle. The game structure is a bit different, as each hole plays as a playoff, and the first person with the most holes wins. After beating the boss, you unlock an alternative version of that boss that you play in a specialty match, like that unofficial battle. Those specialty bonus battles were my favorite part of the challenge mode. It brought an urgency to the boss battles.

World Tour is the story mode inside of Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. World Tour gives you more backstory on the golfers and caddies you use during the game. I toggled off the visual novel text adventure-style cut scenes; the voice acting in this game got to me, and I felt it grating at times. There are a ton of unlocks in this mode as well.

A mode I really had fun playing was Wacky Golf. Wacky Golf is a fun and very chaotic mode with randomized challenges, power-ups like getting rid of your opponents’ clubs, and other surprises. There is a mode where you have special stipulations, such as avoiding bombs on the courses. The randomness of each event left me with a few good laughs.

I tried a few times to find online matches and couldn’t really find one at launch. You can get up to 4 people in one match online.

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is a great return to the series. The vibrant courses, relaxing music, and massive amounts of unlockables should bring you endless hours of replayability. Hyde, Inc. has delivered a hole-in-one arcade golf classic.

Note: Bandai Namco provided us with a Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots code for review purposes.