Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (PS3, Vita) Review

Welcome to SuperPhillip Central's first PlayStation Vita review! Our first game we're going to look at is a Sony sports staple, Hot Shots Golf, or as PAL players know it, Everybody's Golf. Let's see if Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational gets the swing of things with our review.

World Invitational: Is the Hot Shots crew swingin' or shankin'? 

Ever since premiering on the original PlayStation, the Hot Shots Golf series, or as it's known in Europe and Australia as Everybody's Golf, has served players with a brightly and bouncy golf game for players of all ages to approach. However, under that cute and charming facade lies a quasi-realistic golfing experience for players. This is both a blessing and a curse at the same time, as Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, the latest game in the long-running series, shows. Does Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational score a birdie, a bogey, or just sticks with a safe par?

The meat that makes up the solo experience of Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, outside of stroke play and practice, is the Challenge mode. If you've played a more recent Hot Shots Golf game, you will feel right at home to this mode, although it has a change or two. There are various tiers of tournaments to tackle. These are spread across the game's six courses, have players participating in 9 or 18 hole events, and sometimes have specialized rules like adding a stroke to your score if you land in a bunker or take too long to set up your shot. The goal here of all events, regardless of any special rules, is getting first place and earning a star. Only by earning the necessary amount of stars allows you to take on that tier's versus character in Match Play. When that character is defeated, you are allowed to move on to the next tier of challenges, and are able to unlock the shamed character you so aptly conquered on the links.

A perfect impact with the ball is exactly
what you want for your tee off.

By satisfying specific conditions in the various challenges, you can earn a crown instead of a star. These conditions include things like having 100% fairway accuracy, never hitting the ball out of bounds, making a certain number of birdies, etc. This adds to the replay value of Challenge mode.

I must say though that this setup for Challenge mode that has been used in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds (PS3) and the PSP spin-offs (Open Tee 1 and 2 is starting to get long in the tooth. I'd love to see a total renovation of the formula. Perhaps Clap Hanz could take some inspiration from another one of their titles, the PSP's Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip, and create a story-like mode where players could earn new costume pieces and gear from beating opponents in the story. That's just one idea anyway.

Take on the AI in Match Play.

Another issue comes in the form of the later courses. There's a rather large spike in difficulty going from the Bronze rank to the Silver rank of tournaments. The last course itself has incredibly narrow and short fairways, lots of opportunities to hit the ball out of bounds, and it seems like the course's hills are set up to screw you over. It's a very difficult course, and quite frustrating too. My big bother with this is that you're not really set up by the game to be prepared for this final course. It's just a huge difference in difficulty from the fifth course to the last course.

The courses at the start lead you into a false
sense of security, and then BAM!
You're cursing the golf gods!

There's an in-game currency system that awards you with points for finishing rounds, scoring under par, taking a top place in tournaments, and satisfying certain conditions. The points earned from these rounds go towards purchasing new characters, courses for free play (outside of the main solo mode), gear, different swing styles, concept art, costumes, and much more. It's a bit of a grind to get the more desirable rewards, but it's something that will keep players hanging out on the links to acquire everything Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational has to offer.

World Invitational has several unique swing systems that players can utilize, although only two are available from the start. The first is your standard three tap system that uses a gauge to determine power and accuracy. The other is a combination of the gauge to set power and a circle that encloses on a mock version of a golf ball to set accuracy.

You have no idea how hard it is to take
a screenshot and hit the ball well.

For a game with such a welcoming appearance, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational can be very tricky and it requires a lot of reading the lie, wind speed and direction, elevation, and much more in order to pull off the best kinds of shots. The largest concern for players is striking the ball with the proper timing, as even being a split second too early or too late can result in unwanted hooking. This is especially dangerous in the harder courses, where one fouled up shot and/or miscalculation can be the difference between making par and getting a triple bogey.

Sometimes when I want to drive, I don't
go to a car-- I go to the links.

Depending on which of the colorful cast of golfers you choose, you'll have a golfer with different stats. World Invitational, like other Hot Shots Golf games, list characters in five stats: Power, Control, Impact, Spin, and Sidespin. Additionally, a lot of the time the various characters have areas they excel in and aren't so hot in. For instance, one golfer might be great in the rain but absolute horrid in bunkers, or one golfer might have a powerful swing, but he's not very good in the rough. There's plenty to think about when choosing a golfer, and the more you play with a given golfer, the better that character's loyalty to you goes up. This affects how many power shots they can offer you, as well as other nifty features.

Outside of playing by your lonesome, you can take to the links with friends via Ad Hoc play, and you can hop online to challenge foes from around the world. There's daily tournaments that put you against the pack, attempting to post a respectable score online and hit the top of the ranks. There's an element of pressure on you, as you can only enter a tournament once, so make sure your skills are up to snuff, and your aim is true.

His expression tells this tale perfectly.

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is a beaut of a game, and this launch title shows the promise of the Vita's graphical power. Courses are tremendously detailed, whether it's buildings surrounding a given hole or a series of squirrels scampering across the fairway; characters look absolutely wonderful and animate beautifully; and everything adds up to a cohesive, sensational looking game. Load times are minimal, save for when entering a course for the first time. The duration of loading between holes is almost instant. The character voices bring each golfer some added personality, and the music is suitably cheery at times while low key at others.

You're supposed to be going for the green jacket;
not a navy one, you silly billy.

If you're looking for a less simulation-like golfing experience than what you would find with EA's Tiger Woods line of games, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational is an excellent choice. Just be forewarned that just because it isn't as complicated as what EA offers, World Invitational can still put a player in his or her place, as the game is quite challenging, sometimes frustratingly so. It stinks to be playing a round just fine for thirty minutes and then making one poor shot near the end, completely ruining your score and making those past thirty minutes a total wash. Still, if you can persevere and overcome these aggravations, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational continues the series' rewarding gameplay and charming personality.

[SPC Says: 7.5/10]

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - SPC Hearts PlayStation Edition

Welcome to a new edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs! This week we're all about PlayStation platforms, particularly the more retro ones, such as the PS1 and PS2. We have music from games like Metal Gear Solid, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. If you're ready, then let the music carry you away!

v601. Metal Gear Solid (PS1) - The Best is Yet to Come

The ending theme of Metal Gear Solid, an exquisite masterpiece from the original PlayStation, The Best is Yet to Come is a haunting vocal theme, perfect for the finale of the game. We're going to get slammed for this, but we are among the few that actually enjoy the GameCube remake, The Twin Snakes, despite the new first-person perspective not really be conducive to the original's design. Still, it's a fun return to the classic that made the Metal Gear series so beloved.

v602. Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (PS1) - Vision 1-1: The Beginning of Gales

The theme that plays in the first level of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, this song starts with a pan flute introduction, then the strumming of a guitar backs up the piece as accompaniment. The first level of Klonoa is a warm, inviting place, and this theme helps convey that feeling.

v603. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2) - Mountain Pass

We're not going to lie-- the Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy soundtrack is pretty dull and boring. We have a hard time remembering anything from it melodically with this theme as the exception, Mountain Pass. This level is a ride through a rugged mountain area full of explosives and other hazards to watch out for. While the soundtrack might be a disappointment, the actual game is anything but.

v604. Hot Shots Tennis (PS2) - Alpine Heights Court

After taking it to the links for four straight games, the Hot Shots crew decided to take up tennis as a new sport. Their first outing is a successful one, albeit not without issues, such as a lack of longevity. However, the PSP sequel, Get a Grip, offers a lengthy solo mode, customization, and a progressively more difficult challenge. Regardless of the iteration, Hot Shots Tennis continues its excellence in music with lively tracks such as the one that plays on the Alpine Heights Court.

v605. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP) - Birth by Sleep - A Link to the Future

Another quest in the world of Kingdom Hearts has been completed, but the day is not entirely safe. After all, we have to have some more sequels and spin-offs, no? Yoko Shimomura delivers a fantastic ending piece to accentuate the finale of the PSP Kingdom Hearts entry, Birth by Sleep.

Freedom Wars (Vita) Announcement Trailer

Freedom Wars is coming over to the West sometime this year! The game's premise has you as a convicted criminal, charged with living, and your sentence is one million years in a desolate city. Bad for your character, great for you gameplay-wise! Check out this the announcement trailer for this super-stylized game.

Nintendo Going Third-Party Would Be A Great Idea... Said No One That Cares About the Company.

Nintendo going third-party... For some, the thought of that is an insane concept. Then again, so was Sega leaving the hardware space. At the same time, we've seen what Sega has become in recent days, too. Regardless, this seems like a topic that is broached about on message boards, comment sections, and other places ad nauseum. When will gamers get to the point where talking about Nintendo going third-party becomes boring? Each discussion (well, let's face it, they're more like uncivilized arguments than anything) goes over the same talking points on both sides. It's like listening to modern day Democrats and Republicans here in the States. I'm just happy no one's trying to push the agenda that Nintendo was born in Kenya. (That concludes the political portion of this opinion piece.)

The fact of the matter is that Nintendo going third-party would not benefit the company, nor would it benefit gamers. Really, the only folks who honestly believe this are folks who own Sony and Microsoft systems, would never purchase a Nintendo console because... reasons, and perform all kinds of mental gymnastics in order to attempt to justify their fantasies. Such an elaborate fantasy includes the idea that even though Sony and Microsoft have not bothered at all to cultivate an audience that would play Nintendo-styled titles (in fact, one could really argue both first-party console creators have done exactly the opposite), somehow Nintendo games would sell amazingly to a user base that is known to far more enjoy shooters, cinematic games, simulation racers, and sports games. I think not.

It's my strong belief that the direction Nintendo's games generally go do not go in the same direction that Microsoft and Sony's franchises go. We've seen attempts at Sony and Microsoft trying to emulate Nintendo's style with titles like Tearaway, Puppeteer, LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Viva Pinata, and so forth. However, either these titles have been shown not to sell well at all, or they are released with about as much half-hearted seriousness as Stephen Colbert's persona on The Colbert Report. Games like those listed just don't appeal to the majority of Sony and Microsoft's separate user bases. While they're both split up on two different platforms, the direction both are going is relatively the same.

Apparently games like Puppeteer
just don't appeal to the PlayStation market.

The short term of Nintendo going third-party would result in massive layoffs. After all, Nitnendo would no longer have any need to produce hardware, thus resulting in a lot of jobs being cut. It should also be mentioned that a substantial part of Nintendo's income comes from their hardware, and the royalty fees from third-parties it receives. As a third-party, Nintendo would be forced to pay licensing and royalty fees to Sony and/or Microsoft, cutting the company's profit significantly.

Speaking of cutting hardware, Nintendo would then have a whole slew of designers and developers who aren't up to date and knowledgeable on the hardware that Sony and Microsoft are making. Now, do you teach all of these designers and developers how to make games for much less familiar hardware, or do I simply hire a bunch of new talent? The former requires time, while the latter requires money. Don't forget, now, that Nintendo is still on the clock here. If it's not making games, it's not making money. It's just losing it. Nintendo also posts its financial results quarterly, so unless these veteran Nintendo employees can learn how to work on alien hardware quickly to create games in a fast pace, Nintendo isn't going to make any money. In fact, it will lose money. I'm sure regardless of the situation, Nintendo's stockholders will be none too pleased with the outcome.

Nintendo only makes Mario and Zelda...
if you ignore everything else it publishes.

What is also alarming to me regarding Nintendo turning third-party is the idea that current day Nintendo only churns out Mario and Zelda. This is a common and incorrect argument from those who don't pay attention to the company, but it's one that should be touched upon. If one thinks Nintendo only makes Mario and Zelda now, its most popular franchises, what makes them think that somehow becoming third-party will grant them the ability to take more risks? I mean, let's ignore the Wii and all of the series like Battalion Wars, Excite Truck/Bots, Sin & Punishment, Metroid, Animal Crossing, WarioWare, Wario Land, Kirby, Punch-Out!!, FlingSmash, Endless Ocean, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem, etc. that graced the system. Obviously Nintendo only does Mario and Zelda. But if you think Nintendo doesn't do enough risk-taking with its IPs, the situation would be much worse if it becomes a third-party.

We're in an industry where no one is really financially safe. We're in an industry where a series of games that fail to light up the charts goes on to kill a developer/publisher. We're also at a point where death can come much more swiftly, just one bomb of a game, for instance, can close up a developer or publisher. We most likely would not see more creative Nintendo games like Pikmin, Rhythm Heaven, Kid Icarus, and more if Nintendo went third-party. It's much too dangerous! These aforementioned franchises simply don't sell as well as certain other series. In fact, they are all lesser selling series. Thus, Nintendo would stick with its tried and true franchises, yep, Mario and Zelda, in order to just survive.

I think if Nintendo went third-party, we wouldn't
see as many risky titles from the company.
(Screenshot of Rhythm Heaven Fever - Wii)

The thing that gets my proverbial goat particularly about the cries and wishes of Nintendo to go third-party is that every time Nintendo posts a loss or has any sign of trouble, no matter how major or minor, we have zealots and industry insiders (who really don't have any better clue about the industry than a lot of gamers) calling for Nintendo to exit the hardware business and make games for other platforms. Why is it that when Microsoft and Sony post their problems (and somehow a one billion dollar loss across an entire company seems more significant than Nintendo's current woes) we don't get the same "Sony/Microsoft should go third-party" articles? Their financial woes comes across as much worse than Nintendo, a company that has plenty still in the bank for multiple failures of hardware. Let's fact it-- the PS4 is selling wonderfully, yet Sony as a company is still in trouble. Where are the articles entertaining the notion of Uncharted and God of War hitting the Xbox One?

It's this double standard that is truly the most intriguing part of this whole Nintendo/third-party debate. The people who suggest Nintendo should exit the hardware arena are also the same people who don't understand or simply don't care what Nintendo's removal from console manufacture would do to the industry and how it would change significantly. As long as they get their games and Nintendo finally makes content for their favorite consoles, who cares what happens to the company, right? Who cares how many people lose their jobs, or how much Nintendo as a company would change? We'll get our Nintendo games on Xbox, a brand where the majority of the types of games Nintendo creates wouldn't sell to most users! Sweet!

In actuality, this fantasy that folks who never cared enough about Nintendo's games that they would ignore them for multiple years without buying a Nintendo system for the games they supposedly care so much about, simply waiting for the company to finally go third-party is asinine to me. It comes across more as a fanboy wet dream than something based in fact or something that would actually be a benefit to Nintendo and gamers instead of being what it really would be, a detriment.

Top Five Announcements from Today's Super Smash Bros. Direct

This evening, Super Smash Bros. director, Kirby creator, and Kid Icarus: Uprising director Masahiro Sakurai hosted a global Nintendo Direct regarding both upcoming additions to the Super Smash Bros. line, one for the Nintendo 3DS, releasing this Summer, and one for the Wii U, releasing this Winter. This 39 minute Direct was packed with information, truly showing up past efforts. We watched the Direct live, like many of you, and we've checked out the footage again to assess the coolest announcements made from the Direct. After we've listed our faves, let us know what moments and announcements that came from today's showing excite you most!

5) Release periods revealed

To kick things off, Sakurai mentioned something that was confirmed to be touched upon before the Direct even started, the release periods. Thankfully, both games are not releasing on the same day, or even the same season. No, the 3DS version will be releasing first, this Summer, with the Wii U game releasing in Winter 2014.

Almost immediately when this information was revealed, the typical Nintendo Chicken Littles ran around as if their heads had been chopped off, decrying how the Wii U was even more doomed than it already was. Comments such as Nintendo basically admitting and finding solace with the Wii U being a failure, how the 3DS version makes the Wii U version undesirable and pointless, and how Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot run rampant.

However, if one takes a logical approach, which is very difficult to do in this knee-jerk reaction obsessed industry of ours, they can find that this makes sense. For one, the 3DS version most likely has taken the least amount of time to develop. Now, this is just an assumption, but go with us here (even if we're mistaken, we have other reasons why it makes sense anyway). Why delay a game that is finished just to release after a Wii U version that isn't quite ready yet? Shouldn't we be pleased that we're getting one of the versions this summer?

Also, both games are considered Super Smash Bros. 4 and 5, their own entries. While they share the same roster of all-stars, the content in the games are completely different. We're talking about different trophies to collect, different music in the game, different graphical styles, and probably the most important, different stages! Even the one stage the two games share, Battlefield, has a different background for both the Wii U and 3DS games. Outside of characters, stages are the most interesting part of Smash, so us getting totally unique stages for each game is absolutely awesome to us.

We also believe the development team will be looking closely at how the 3DS installment is received by players, thus resulting in some gameplay changes and refinements for the Wii U version. It's win-win to us, yet so many gamers and so-called Nintendo fans can't help but always see the bad side in any Nintendo-related situation.

4) Nintendo 3DS-exclusive mode Smash Run

It was made clear last year that both Smash Bros. titles would not be receiving anything similar to Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary story mode, which admittedly was pretty "meh" of a mode. It was confirmed in this evening's Direct that the Nintendo 3DS version would be receiving an exclusive mode, entitled Smash Run.

Smash Run is a battle game of sorts, playable with up to four players. It has some similarities to and was inspired by Kirby Air Ride's City Trial mode. Smash Run has you racing against the five minute clock to venture through various segments of a dungeon. You battle enemies like Goombas, Tiki Buzzes, Kihunters, Stalfos, Reapers, Bulborbs, and more, as you explore, trying to find all-important power-ups. Once the five minutes have come to an end, you move on to a battle between all players, being buffed with the power-ups you collected in the dungeon segment of the mode. These power-ups grant you better offensive, defensive, throwing, and jumping benefits in battle.

Now, some Gloomy Guses might find this as yet another disadvantage for the Wii U version. (We swear, some Nintendo fans are so negative when it comes to the company that they'd make a Goth look like an uplifting type of person in comparison.) However, we're of the mind that the Wii U is most likely going to get its own exclusive mode, too, so we don't see a problem here, either.

3) Better online focus

Both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS Smash Bros. releases will come with online multiplayer. If you've encountered the disappointment that was Super Smash Bros. Brawl's online netcode, you are probably justified in having some trepidation towards getting hyped for playing these new Smash titles online. That said, the bare bones lineup of features that Brawl possessed greatly pale in comparison to what Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for 3DS contain online feature-wise.

There's two modes players can enter matches into against randoms, For Fun and For Glory. More on those later. What it amounts to, though, is an experience that gives each type of player exactly what they want, and now that Nintendo Network IDs are linked to profiles, you can most likely meet better competition more easily.

Finally, a welcome feature is both games having a code of conduct. These are to make the online experience much more pleasurable than what Brawl had. In these new Smash Bros. games, you can send reports to game administrators regarding players who repeatedly self-destruct in a match, quit from games because they're losing, cheat, or enter the match and don't play. Repeated reports, that have some form of credit to them, as baseless reports are also a no-no, will result in that reported player being banned from online play for a set amount of time. The greater the grievance, the greater the off online penalty.

2) New and returning characters

Sakurai certainly knows how to push some people's buttons, doesn't he. Making watchers of the Direct believe, if just for a few seconds, that Zero Suit Samus would not be returning to these two new versions of Smash due to characters no longer being able to change form, Sakurai pulled a "troll", as the forum-savvy folks say, on all of us. Turns out Zero Suit Samus is in the games, just as a separate character this time. The same goes for Sheik, who was once an alternate character of Zelda created with a downward special attack. Not only do these two have updated move sets, but they look absolutely incredible in both versions and welcome additions to the ever-expanding roster.

More characters were revealed as well, though not as many as our greedy selves wanted. Two returning favorites were unveiled for their Smash for Wii U and 3DS debuts, Yoshi and Pokemon's Charizard. Like Bowser, Yoshi stands more upright this time rather than his Jurassic Park raptor-like stance in past games. Charizard breaks free from the shackles of just being one of three creatures summoned by Brawl's Pokemon Trainer. He's also become more agile, and even has a Final Smash that brings his Mega Evolution from Pokemon X and Y into the Smash Bros. battlefield.

Lastly, in something that disappointed us by not being Mewtwo, Greninja was revealed as a newcomer. This fully evolved form of starter Pokemon Froakie is a water-based ninja who is very nimble and light on its feet, can toss throwing stars at foes from far away, and uses its lengthy tongue as a scarf. (...We can hardly use our tongues to eat with!) Anyway, while we weren't really familiar with Greninja, we think this Pokemon is an interesting addition to the Super Smash Bros. series all the same.

1) Made for relaxed and competitive play

Final Destination, no items, Fox only. If you're heard of Super Smash Bros. before and have visited a message board related to those games in some manner, you're probably familiar with that running joke. It's a gag that uses highly competitive players of Smash Bros. as the butt of the joke.

The Super Smash Bros. series is sort of notoriously known for not being very hospitable to tournament players, due to unbalanced characters as well as dynamic stages (i.e. stages with gimmicks in them like moving platforms and otherwise unpredictable features). This is a main reason why Super Smash Bros. Brawl is not fit for competitive play while Super Smash Bros. Melee is, albeit with a limited amount of characters and stages that can be used.

Sakurai and the rest of the development team considered this when creating For Fun and For Glory modes online. The first allows players into traditional-style Smash Bros. bouts with items, dynamic stages, and typical rules. Meanwhile, For Glory is merely the Final Destination stage with no items and strictly one-on-one confrontations. When this was announced by Sakurai, we legitimately started cracking up at the irony of it all.

Not only that but our favorite announcement of all was that most stages had Final Destination versions to them. This means stages that ordinarily have unpredictable elements would be devised in such a way that they are totally vanilla in flavor. What we mean is that the stages will be perfect for tournament play. This allows both sides of the Smash Bros. spectrum, those who like the silliness and party-like gameplay of traditional Smash, and those who enjoy high level, no-nonsense competitive play, and those in between the two, to fully get the most out of these new iterations of Super Smash Bros. While we don't care for the competitive scene, we love that this is now a distinct option for those countless players who do.