You’re never too old to go clubbing – Everybody’s Golf is back

Take your favorite time-travelling device and whip me back to a time when I was working for an OG PlayStation magazine. Chances are, you would land right in the moment when I was playing Everybody’s Golf – literally my most-loved sports game of all time.

Iterations of the Everybody’s Golf/Hot Shots Golf title have come and gone over the years, and I have been drawn to every one. I am not remotely interested in your PGA Tours or Tiger Woods this and that. Give me cartoon golfers and ridiculous over-the-top sound effects, and don’t keep telling me how Final Fantasy VII is the best PSX game of all time.

Anyway, blah blah boomer I know you are thinking, but the joke’s on you, as September 4th sees the arrival of a new Everybody’s Golf – Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots – and now we have an overview trailer that takes me back 25 years as if I still needed to clean the disk on my (stonewashed) jeans. You can watch that above.

Releasing on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Steam, Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots will set you back $39.99/£34.99, but if you pre-order, you get a playable Pac-Man character courtesy of the fact the game is published by Bandai Namco. Whether that swings the deal (no pun intended, probably) will be down to personal preference.

Beyond the normal courses, we are also getting Wacky Golf mode – described as a new tee-riffic (kill me now) way to play. What that entails, well, we will soon find out, I am sure.

Don’t let the cartoon graphics put you off. Everybody’s Golf has set the benchmark for playability when it comes to golfing videogames. Plus, you get to set the ball on fire. What’s not to love?

Everybody’s Using AI in Golf

A quick look at the Steam page, where Valve now forces devs to fess up about using AI, highlights that “Tree and leaf textures in the golf courses were created using AI-generated images.”

If that’s the kind of thing that sends you into a rage, well, at least you know in advance. Me, I think I’ll cope.