May 22, 2008 - In 2005, I walked into Mid-Missouri Best Buy with a debit card burning a hole in my pocket. I had just graduated college and landed my first full-time job as a journalist, and with rent and all the other real-world expenses beginning to creep in on me, I made my last free-wheelin' purchase -- a PSP, Lumines, and Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee. Lumines would be a marathon favorite, but it was Hot Shots and its seemingly endless amount of unlockables and abilities to level-up that would be my go-to for doctors' offices, my wife's lame TV shows, and any other occasion where I needed to hit the green to maintain my sanity.

That said, I can confidently tell you that Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is not only a worthy successor to the portable powerhouse but an outing that passes the original in just about every way possible -- although not by leaps and bounds.



If you're just joining us, Hot Shots is the series that's been putting goofy characters and items on the links since the PSone days. Open Tee 2 continues the tradition with 24 playable characters; 12 courses; and more than 300 different options for clothing, hairstyles, clubs, and more. However, the title isn't content to just give you a few more options -- Open Tee 2 adds a 16-player online mode, clothing/item boosts, and a brand-new way to unlock content.

But I digress. Let's start with the basics.

Golfing in Hot Shots is both simple and complex. In the beginning, it'll seem like the game is played completely with the X button. You'll tap the button to start a colored swing bar rising beneath your golfer of choice, tap it again when you've decided how much oomph to put into the shot, and tap it one last time to stop the colored meter in the pink impact zone. The tapping complete, you player will knock the ball towards the spinning, 3D triangle that acts as your crosshairs -- wind and your own flubs on the impact meter will influence how close you get to that mark.

Of course, there's a lot more to hitting that mark than you might think. Left and right on the D-Pad will adjust you character's shot left or right, while the L and R buttons will switch between your clubs and thus how far the ball can go. If you need an extra boost of power, you can tap square to make use of one of your power swings, and once unlocked, you can tap triangle in the impact sweet zone for more juice or circle for less. Obviously you'll need to be paying attention to the rolling hills, sand traps, and water hazards when you're aiming for the fairway, but once you get on the green, you'll need to watch dotted lines that let you know which way the ground is slopping and at what kind of angle.

Whew. If it sounds convoluted, it isn't. Hot Shots does a pretty amazing job at having you learn and master all of these elements as you go, and that's thanks to Challenge Mode. The meat of the single-player campaign, Challenge Mode offers nine levels of play where you'll unlock new accessories, characters, courses, and moves/attributes. When you start your career, you'll have access to just two golfers (sporty blonde Carly as well as hipster Luke) and two courses (South Alps and Nakagawa Public). The courses will be a cinch, and the limited character selection will give you a crash course in Hot Shots' ten-tiered Loyalty System.

That hair better have an awesome boost attached to it.
That hair better have an awesome boost attached to it.
Just like last time, you'll complete a tournament or a one-on-one match and be presented with a heart that slowly fills up with loyalty as you continue to use the character. Each time you fill a heart, you'll move onto filling the next heart after being rewarded with something along the lines of an additional wardrobe slot, the ability to use the triangle/circle strong/weak impacts, extra power, etc.

The new Loyalty bonuses aren't the only Open Tee staple getting a facelift. Just like last time, each tier of the Challenge Mode has three slots for matches and tourneys to pop up in, but rather than showing you what item you're playing for at the onset of your run, Hot Shots now operates on a card system. Although the types of events that are in those three slots will change when you clear one of them, the specific slots will always be for a head/control, body/power, or accessory/spin card. See, when you pick the first slotted event -- the yellow slot -- you're playing for head accessories as well as control cards. Win the match, you get to pick one of five facedown cards, you'll keep the head item on the card, and the +1 is added to your count for control -- get to the preset number, and you'll go up a level in control. Pick the red slot for body/power or blue slot for accessory/spin.

On top of all that, the game is tracking the total number of cards you've won on a tier so that when you get to X number of cards you unlock a Versus Match with a brand-new character. Beat that character and he or she is added to your roster while you move on to the next tier of gameplay.

So, yeah. Your goal is to go from two measly characters to unlocking all 12 new golfers -- folks such as the raven-haired beauty Alice and grandmother Frau Ada -- and maxing out each of their Loyalty meters. Along the way, you'll be able to make the team members fat or skinny, add glasses, and unlock a whole set of friends. See, in addition to the newbies, Open Tee 2 features the entire cast of the original game. However, rather than unlocking them like you're unlocking the new characters, you'll need to find the vets on the course. There are all sorts of hidden accessories and items on the field of play along with the original dozen. You'll be playing, see a sparkle in the distance, and then have to zoom in with the camera to receive the gift or person. My Santa beard came in an out of bounds section, Rio fell out of a tree, and I found Shu facedown next to the green.