Over a year ago now, the USA saw its release of the fourth in the Hot Shot series, Hot Shot Golf: Fore! Just recently this game has entered our shores; it's exactly the same game but titled Everybody's Golf instead. This new title begs the obvious question - is this game worth Everybody's cash?

The main problem with this game is that it feels so dated. It feels more than a year old, too. The golfing system, which uses a bar to judge the power and the length of the shot, has been used since the beginning of time and is far from innovative when you put alongside Tiger Woods 2005 - let alone the brand new, revised 2006 version. And when you've tasted chocolate, why would you settle for wafer?

People will buy this game for its casual, laid back look and feel. It's all done quite nicely in cartoon style and the characters look really fresh and unique, which should appeal to wee nippers and adults alike. Play as dogs, girls with big eyes, grumpy old men or other wild and whacky avatars, each of which have their own unique look but don't necessarily do anything to alter the gameplay with their statistics. People instantly assume that Everybody's Golf is for the casual gamer and I suppose to some extent it is. But there's always a possibility that you'll enjoy a golfing game so much that you want to break out of the simple mechanics, but you won't be able to, because it offers such a simple round of golf. Tiger Woods isn't hardcore - anybody can enjoy it - yet it's so complex and polished that it can appeal to and cater for any level of golfing desire. With this in mind, let's push on and look at the game.

Everybody's Golf is rather sparse on modes; for single player rounds you can play a Tournament, which is the main part of the game, you can play training, which does little in the way of training you up - and then the last two single player modes are VS mode and Mini Game mode. Each of these offers something extra, although I will say that the VS and the Mini Game modes bring something exciting to the table, whereas the Tournament is both boring and frustrating, differing little from the Training mode, apart from the fact that Tournaments are ranked.

Tournaments consist of you going for 18 holes and racking up a score to beat the other 99 contestants in this course. You hit the ball the least amount of times you can in order to reach the hole, trying your hardest to beat computer generated scores on a score card. While most golf games are the same, for a laid back game this seems just a little too serious and boring for my liking. The worst part is having little control over your ball in the first place though. I mean, Tiger Woods allows some really innovative analogue control and hints on how to go about putting too. Typically a hole in this game consists of you swinging your club twice full whack to get it onto the putting green and then trying your hardest to read the unclear lines on the floor to get the ball in the hole using a sliding bar. You can tell I don't like that bar, can't you?

And why should I be praising it? The bar runs across the bottom of the screen with percentages at the top indicating power and yards running along the bottom estimating how many yards the ball will travel, with the percentage you're going for. There's also a little hill indicator, which shows you if there's any nasty things in the way, which could potentially ruin your swing. If everything's perfect, press circle once and the bar starts to fill up, press circle again to stop the bar on the percentage/yard you want and then circle again just before the counter gets into the grey area of the bar - which indicates a miss shot and you don't want that. It sounds relatively simple and it is very simple too, which is one of the reasons I am complaining. Aside from the bar, you can put a spin on the ball with the D-Pad while the counter is on its way up, but the spin doesn't have any degree of accuracy or control over the outcome. It's either a forward spin, a backwards spin, or a left or right spin. There's no diagonal spin backwards gently. This could be Everybody's Golf's selling point - that simple things are the best, but anybody looking for a proper game of golf will be disappointed with the level of control they have over the ball.

During the gameplay you can change your clubs on the fly, which might alter the swing of things; they can give you more of a distance or more accuracy. Depending on what you select, the bar changes appropriately. The whole golfing interface looks rather clean and clear, if a little basic. In the corner you have a picture of your ball and if it's in sand or long grass a different ball graphic will display to let you know what situation you're in. The bottom left corner shows you what club you're using and then dotted around the other corners of the screen are numbers and statistics lending information to how far away the hole actually is. Overall, nothing complex is on the screen, which is mostly a good thing for the novice golfer.

Training mode just allows you to play on a course changing things like wind at will. Unfortunately there are no tutorials that show you how to play. You might think I'm being contradictory here, as I've moaned at the simplistic nature of the game thus far, yet actually putting the ball on a slope is more unfriendly than Elton John in the morning! Lines that indicate slopes are all well and good, but actually judging things right is a pain, especially when you've played Tiger Woods previously. They offer you special one-off tips that draw a line on the floor, which not only helps you there and then, but helps you in the long run because you'll know how the putting system works and eventually pick it up. Vs mode is a little bit more interesting, as you go head to head against the AI in a turn-based battle to the hole. You can even shout abuse at each other, which is a good touch - and this mode can be played with a friend too.

Minigames, which can also be played with friends, consist of some extremely fun and satisfying mini golf, with a handful of crazy courses that are probably this game's strongest point. The object of the game is simple - line everything up and try to get the ball in the hole with one good shot. You're actually allowed to make two shots at the hole, but getting it in first time from the starting point gives you a lot bigger score. You are scored for the distance the ball has rolled from leaving the club to going in the hole too. Scoring isn't too easy but the ground has a funnelled down area around the hole, which allows a little bit more leverage when it comes to playing mini-golf. It's a shame there aren't more mini golf courses, because they're fantastic. The third multiplayer game is called Stroke Play and the rules are simply to play for the lowest number of strokes. These modes offer some degree of fun with friends and most of them can be enjoyed online, turn based for up to 32 players!

Graphically, EG is quite goofy and quirky, with wild and wacky character design, which adds something to the overall feel of the package. The courses aren't as wacky as the characters though; while they are well thought out, they only offer very basic golf with some straightforward greens. The wackiest courses can only be found under Mini Golf, but with this being a mini game you won't be constantly enduring the weird and the wonderful. With that said, the courses look luscious enough and the large array of funny looking characters contribute to the fun look.

The sound takes it over the top sometimes. The characters each have their own phrases and voices - both the golfers and the caddies, who are there to give you moral support and advice. Sometimes the voices can really get on your nerves, as they come out with some silly, inconsiderate things at times. One of the caddies said that he'd had more fun at a funeral when I missed the hole. Thanks a lot mate, thanks for keeping my spirits up! Some of the Japanese looking characters seem to have been dubbed over with Landaner voices too, which really throw you off! The music does a good job of filling the background but doesn't really leave an impression either. However, the sound effects are really good, with a nice range of putting noises and such. Cheering crowds also make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I wanted to be more positive about this title, but after playing the ultimate golfing game and then coming to play this - well, it feels like a giant step down. Even the PSP version is better than the PS2 one, as you can actually make your own character. Besides, the bar system works well on a handheld, but it feels dated on a console. The swish look of the game might be enough to win over kids or girls, but if you plan on buying a golf game then this isn't the one you need. It's useful for a bit of multiplayer fun and it's quite good online too, but the golfing audience is quite a funny audience. They're neither casual nor hardcore - they just want a good game of golf. While a small niche might be entertained by Everybody's Golf, anybody else should go for the latest release of Tiger Woods, or for the financially challenged gamer, a previous version at bargain price.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).