I got Hot Shots Golf Fore when I found it at sale at blockbuster and decided to buy it. I all ready owned
Hot Shots Golf 3 so I decided to see what the sequel held. Well the good news is that it as everything Hot Shots Golf 3 had plus more, the bad news is that it as everything that Hot Shots Golf 3 had just with more.
Hot Shots Golf is obviously a golf game so for those who don't know the rule, it's simple you take clubs and wing at a ball. Your job is to get your ball into a hole at the end of the fairway. Each hole as a certain number of swings recommended getting it in. Get in at that number and you achieve Par. Get in below the number of swings to score birdies and eagles which will decrease your score (which is a good thing because in golf the lowest score wins). Get it above the number of swings and you'll bogie and this will increase your score.
Graphics.
While it is easy to dismiss the graphics looking the same has HSG3 if you're looking at screen shots but there not. Characters now have more animations in there movements and looks. Unlike other golf games including the past HSG which all have the golfer at the tee ready to shoot at all time. In HSG4 they do things like approach the tee and since each golfer has a theme some of them can be amusing. You also see there reactions as well to hitting it out of bounds, and if you think your caddies smart remarks for when that happens are insulting the looks on your golfer faces defiantly look injured.
The courses now have more detailed look with brighter colors. This makes some of the old courses back from HSG3 have more detailed and look a lot better.
Sound.
The game now as background music each now reflecting it's course. If you're playing a course with a Chinese theme, Chinese music will play. The music is ok but sometimes it can be a bit obnoxious and it that can lead to distractions when swinging. Speaking about obnoxious the caddies make a comeback. While some caddies now play as golfers like Mel, there are a few that return from HSG3 to continue there work as caddies and as comedians to insult you. The voices for most of these characters have changed but for the most part it's for the better. The best thing is that the caddies are more then just comedians though they will give you vocal clues on how strong the wind is and which direction to aim when you putt.
Gameplay.
Ok one element of HSG that hasn't changed since the original
Hot Shots Golf is the whole engine in which the actual golfing works. You still have an arrow pointing the wind direction and how strong it is blowing. You still have a power bar and an impact zone to worry about to. Of course now they have added a few things to help you, first is a picture of a flag on the power bar to give you an idea on how high you should raise the bar to get it to the pin. This is useful if full power will over kill the ball. Next is a line graph going over the course so you can see the topography of where you're going to hit. It tells you how far up or downhill your shot is going to go.
Now the basic idea is to raise the power bar as high has you need it to go and then hit X, it will start to go down and then hit X when it is in the impact zone. If your perfect your ball will go far and straight. If you're a little off there will be a curve and it won't go very far. If you completely miss the impact zone, well to quote Mel from the last game "cover your important parts" as your ball will soar completely out of control and possibly out of bounds.
Pressing up and down on the control pad while shooting will also give the ball top spin which will make it fly lower to avoid the wind, but also make it roll more when it hits the ground. Hitting down on the control pad will do the opposite by making it fly higher and thus make it affected by the wind, but on landing your ball won't roll as much.
That's all for the golfing part now on to what HSG as been famous for since Clap Hands took over the production from Camelot, being extremely wacky. The characters appearing in the game all are pretty strange, and definitely not the type of people you expect to find at the golf course. There is the hot dog vendor Mel, the cheer leader Phoebe, and the ninja Misaki. Each character as there own stats as well has there own weakness and strength. Some will get out of sand better then others, same with the rough. There are also clubs that can be use to help a stat along, your characters drive isn't as good as you want it equip the power club, need more spin then the turbo spin clubs will help you.
New to the game though is the prospect of loyalty for a character. The more you use a character the higher that persons loyalty becomes. When it reaches a certain level you get more costumes for that character as well has more power shots to use during a game.
Now the two main one player modes from the last Hot Shots Golf game make a return, each one though is a bit different then before. First is the tournament mode where you will compete in different tournaments. You pick an available course and tournament will start. If you get in the top 10 you will get exp, get number 1 and you will get EXP along with a random prize. It's harder to get first in this game since they got rid of tying, instead if your golf score is the same as another person the points that you earn as cash for doing tricks or getting birdies will also be figured in to break the tie.
Anyways once your exp bar is full you will take a course challenge. You will have to beat a certain score with certain limitations on what you can do. You might be forced to use a certain character, or have certain rules attach like penalty points if you hit into the rough or if your ball touches a tree. Beat the challenge and your rank will go up and you will unlock more courses, as well as new stuff to buy in the shop.
As far has courses go there are a lot that are back from the previous HSG3 game so owners of that game will have the been here and done this feeling. The good news is that there are still a plenty of new courses available as well so you're not just playing the same game with a few bells and whistles.
Next comes the VS modes, a few things have changed hear as well. Instead of being limited to one or two new people to VS at the time, you get a bit of a campaign map instead. While you will only have one or two people to vs and unlock at first, the more people you beat the more that will step up and challenge you. There is also a hard mode to engage these characters in as well, beating there harder modes will unlock extra costumes as well. The matches now are shorter now to, not only do you have the win 4 more holes then the other guy to win rule still in place, but now you only have to worry about playing 9 holes. This makes the matches go by faster which always helps.
There are also a few bonus games as well. There is the usual 9 hole 3 par course if your wanting to play a quick game. Along with a mini golf game. The mini golf game is done different then usual, rather then being under par the goal is to get the ball to go as far as possible and still make it in your first shot. While you'll always get 2 shots the 2nd one won't be worth as much.
Final recommendation.
HSG Fore is still a fun golf game, even if there are plenty of courses from the last one there is enough new in here to justify a purchase. If you're new to the HSG games then I recommend buying this one first because it is the easiest to get into with more tools to use when you shoot the ball.
