Beyond a couple of quick, ill-fated putts during a visit to Best Buy, I had absolutely no experience with the popular "Hot Shots Golf" series of games until roughly a week ago.
I had seen acquaintances enjoying the games at a number of social events, and it always gave me the feeling that I was missing out on something great.
After playing the series' fourth installment "Hot Shots Golf Fore!" however, all that angst and apprehension has turned into a sort of airy feeling - the kind you get when you find out nothing of importance took place in that 8:30 a.m. class you skipped.
At the outset, the game seems promising. The courses are colorful and well animated, the characters have interesting idiosyncrasies. It's impressive for all of about 10 minutes. From roughly minute 11 to minute 13, there is still a lingering hope the game might be enjoyable. By minute 20, all that hope is lost.
The game play in "HSG Fore" is its main flaw. To hit the ball well, a player must stop power gauges at the exact right times to account for both power and accuracy. Although it proves a challenge to time swings exactly, the process is too tedious to hold one's interest for long.
Another shortcoming in "HSG Fore" are its characters. Although the concept of having offbeat personalities traveling the greens seems like a good idea initially, the golfers quickly become annoying. This is due to the pointless statements many of them utter much too frequently. Mel, a retired hot dog vendor turned golfer, says "let's drink some ketchup" after completing most holes. Meanwhile, Greg, a stern caddie who sounds like Sean Connery, admits "I love to sing show tunes."
These lines are undoubtedly meant to be funny and, indeed, I could see a 7 or 8-year-old really warming up to these characters. An older audience, however, will probably prefer a silent golfer.
One thing I simply could not get over about the game was its awful soundtrack. In a day and age where songs can make or break a video game - the MTV Video Music Awards even had a best video game soundtrack award this year - the designers of "HSG Fore" seem to have disregarded the public's love of good, or even decent, music. I own Sega Genesis games with more compelling musical scores.
In all, if you are itching to hit the virtual links, "HSG Fore" should be passed up for a better designed, more enjoyable title. The afore-mentioned "Tiger Woods" series has consistently proved worthwhile, and offers much more variety than this cutesy failure. Even without caddies that yearn to break into a number from "Cats."
