of Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds

Hot Shots Golf has a long history of super deformed characters playing what amounts to be the most interesting and entertaining rounds of golf ever. As the first iteration of the series on the PS3, Out of Bounds graphics have improved dramatically from the past titles. It is too bad, though, that the same level of advancement hasn’t occurred with any of the play mechanics or pacing of the game.

When the first Hot Shots Golf was released for the PS1, the choice to use stylized characters was pushed by the graphical limitations of the system at the time. This choice managed to distinguish the game from others at the time, but now, with vastly updated graphics, it adds an unneeded, palpable level of creepiness to every game. Each character looks like a classical “cute” anime action figure. This does add a sense of presence to the Hot Shots world, but it also gives off the distinct feeling that the characters may just come out of my PS3 at night and feast on my sleeping body.