Resistant to change, the Hot Shots Golf series made a name for itself with easy to pick and play mechanics, quirky characters, and a surprisingly enjoyable game of arcade style golf. There's little reason for it to change, as the successful formula only requires more meat on the game outside of that basic gameplay engine. That's exactly what Open Tee on the PSP provides.
There's still plenty to unlock by plowing through the Challenge mode. After selecting from a meager choice of two characters from the start, players head into a variety of ways to play, from basic match play to tournaments. Each win releases a locked item, statistical upgrade, experience, or a new character.
Since fully powering up a character takes hours, there desperately needs to be a larger selection of characters from the start. There's nothing more frustrating than spending most of your free time with one character, only to realize there's another more appealing to you later. Even though it allows for various customization, it's not enough to make a golfer truly your own from the start.
On the wide variety of courses, gameplay is unchanged; they are all designed with fun in mind first. Each usually offers multiple paths to the hole, making for some exciting games when players take a risky shortcut when down a few strokes.
While EA's Tiger Woods series introduced the analog swing mechanic years ago, Hot Shots sticks with the basic 3-click swing method. Any adjustments - including spin, extra power, and direction - are done before the ball leaves the tee. It's hard to nail the proper timing, so this classic method is probably more unpredictable than the analog swing from the competitor.
Putting is a little more difficult, with little to go on other than a grid. It takes practice, and that's just what the putting challenge mini-game provides. It's the proper way to train a player, giving them both experience and useable items in-game at the same time.
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