Hot Shots Golf 3

Hot Shots Golf 3 from 2001 was among the first big titles that owners of the new PlayStation 2 could pick up, bringing the series to more powerful hardware with noticeably smoother swing animations, more colorful courses, and smoother transitions between individual shots. The basic recipe stayed the same as in previous entries – three button presses for the swing, cute cartoon characters, and an emphasis on accessibility rather than realistic golf simulation – but the new hardware let developer Clap Hanz add more detailed environments, more complex weather effects, and much larger crowds around the greens, which simply weren't technically possible on the older console. The higher performance also showed up in longer draw distance, so the player can see the shape of the whole hole and distant flags much sooner, instead of having to guess the distance from the map alone as on the original PlayStation.

Compared to the PlayStation entries, Hot Shots Golf 3 also added new courses inspired by more exotic locations, an expanded character roster, and an improved spin and ball-curve system that reacted better to wind and terrain slope thanks to more powerful physics processing on the new hardware. Multiplayer modes for several players on one screen benefited from sharper graphics and less slowdown even with a full field of players, which had been a noticeable problem in split-screen on the older console. New camera angles were added too, along with a clearer display of the shot's trajectory, which made it easier for players to plan tougher shots over water hazards and bunkers. For a lot of players, this was also their first introduction to the series thanks to the new console's launch lineup, which made Hot Shots Golf 3 one of the titles that helped the PlayStation 2 show, in its early months, how it differed from the previous generation and why it was worth buying right at launch.

Why play it: Good for players who appreciate arcade golf's move to more powerful hardware with smoother animation and richer environments, and who want to experience one of the PlayStation 2's launch titles firsthand.