I’m very aware that I’m the exact target audience for Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots. The new golf game, published by Bandai Namco, is a revival of an iconic PlayStation series, one that I very much grew up with as a kid who rented a game every week from Blockbuster in the late ’90s. When it was first announced, something activated in my brain. Days spent playing rounds of mini golf with over-the-top characters come flooding back to me. All it took was seeing the words “Hot Shots” to pique my interest.
Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots tests the limits of nostalgia in that way. It leaves you to question what it is you actually love about a classic series beyond the recognizable name. Is it enough to cart out a familiar precision-based golfing system and some recognizable characters, even if it’s made by an entirely new developer? Will fans of the first two games be puzzled by what’s ultimately a continuation of 2017’s Everybody’s Golf rather than a return to PlayStation 1 attitude? And does any of that really matter so long as the golfing is enjoyable?
A lot of context is in order here. Hot Shots Golf made its debut in North America in 1998 for the original PlayStation, one year after releasing in Japan as Everybody’s Golf. It was developed by Camelot, the studio behind Nintendo’s Mario Golf series, and published by Sony as a first-party PlayStation release. A sequel followed a few years later, but development moved to Clap Hanz. That studio would slowly hammer out the series’ identity over two decades, doubling down on its precise golfing and guiding the series toward an anime art style. That’s important to know, because your idea of what a Hot Shots Golf game actually is can be completely different depending on where you came into it.
That Ship of Theseus now continues on with Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots, the series’ first game since 2019’s Everybody’s Golf VR. It’s also the first by Tamagotchi Plaza developer Hyde Inc., as Clap Hanz is now off developing its own original golf games. (See: 2021’s Easy Come Easy Golf, formerly Clap Hanz Golf on Apple Arcade.) This revival is now twice removed from the original PS1 game, and that change will show if you’re coming at this having loved the early games.
The good news is that the core of the series is intact — and that’s likely what matters most. Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots still uses the signature three-click golf system, where players tap once to start a shot, tap again to set the power, and tap a third time to set the accuracy. Spins can either be applied during the shot or before it, depending on which control style you use. That core is still strong, though it can take some getting used to. The golfing is ultra-precise here, with even a little delay in your accuracy shot sending your ball unpredictably careening off course. Add in the variables that come from wind, and you’ll find a golf game that feels hard to get a handle on until you lock in and start unlocking gear that can help assist your shots.
That all feels natural after a bit of practice, no doubt, but that on its own isn’t enough to conjure up Hot Shots’ aura. After all, the series laid a foundation that a lot of arcade golf games still follow today. Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots just feels like what you expect any golf game like it to feel like in 2025. So where does that nostalgia-loaded title really pay off?
There are some obvious answers to that on the surface. Expected modes like Stroke and Match Play return here. There are tons of unlockables to chase, from golfers to gear. The 30-character roster is filled with familiar faces from the series’ past, like Cougar and Yuna. There are caddies that follow you around the courses and pepper in their own canned one-liners along the way. It even doubles down on the series’ light-RPG roots by peppering in relationship levels between golfers and caddies that unlock new techniques, as well as stickers that provide passive buffs. There’s a whole lot to dig into, even if it ditches the beloved character customization suite of 2017’s installment.
The heart of the solo experience, though, is in World Tour mode — and that’s where I find myself questioning what the Hot Shots branding actually means. Here, each character gets a mini-campaign. It’s nothing too remarkable; you complete a handful of golfing challenges with each linked together by some dialogue interludes, almost mobile game-like in execution. You at least get some personality there, even if it’s delivered in dry fashion, as characters tee off against robots, idols, and evil doppelgängers of one another. (This is a golf game that has a mission titled “Bearer of the Dark Blood.”) Missions can be a drag to get through, though, as you often have to watch your opponents play — something that takes a long time, especially in 18-hole, four-golfer matches.
Even if World Tour is filled with familiar names, it doesn’t exactly bring me back to the PS1 games that I see in my head when I hear the words “Hot Shots.” That phrase has always evoked a golfing game with a little bit of attitude, something so clearly born out of the ’90s. Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots feels gentle by comparison, with its clean anime characters and cheery visuals. It just feels so tonally distant that if you had put an original title on it, I likely wouldn’t connect it to Hot Shots at all.
But how reliable is that memory? I was a kid when I played that game. My bar for “attitude” was certainly lower than it is now. My experience with the series also largely stopped on the PS1, well before Clap Hanz really hammered out the voice of the series. For someone who thinks of the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita when they think about Hot Shots, this very well may be exactly what they’re expecting.
And so, I can only judge the game in front of me, not the ones the title is meant to evoke. As its own project, Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots is a perfectly enjoyable, if run-of-the-mill, golf game that leaves developer Hyde space to grow. For instance, there are several systems here that aren’t explained terribly well, such as what caddies actually do, how to unlock new characters, and the nuances of its original Wacky Golf mode, which brings the game closer to Mario Golf’s silliness but often with a sensory overload of hastily explained rules. Pair that onboarding problem with some dull presentation and slow matches against CPUs, and you’re left with a game that you really need to invest some serious time into to find your footing.
No, I didn’t get a warm flashback to playing the original PlayStation with my cousin while golfing, but what does that matter? Would it change my experience with the game in any meaningful way? I still would have enjoyed my time sinking putts just as much without the familiar branding. Nostalgia is a sand trap, and it’s easy to lose sight of the hole when you’re too far in the bunker.
