Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is the PSP franchise of the extremely popular parent franchise Hot Shots Golf. The Open Tee 2 takes a wonderfully unique Japanese spin on the traditionally cut and dry sport to blend elements that make the game standout like a glow in the dark golf ball at midnight. Enter tournaments or compete for items to boost your characters stats as well as your ego or take to the links online and compete in a homespun tournament. If you ever wondered what an arcade take on golf would be like, this is it.

What's Hot
Let's take a step back at take a look at the entire Hot Shots franchise. Time and time again, the game is consistently great and, more importantly, fun. Open Tee 2 continues the cherished tradition of being just that. The characters are just as wacky and the courses are equally as zany. Unique characteristics and abilities for each player add to a deep system that you can explore and develop through a level up system called "loyalty." The more you play with one golfer, the more skills they develop.



The challenge mode is perhaps the best single player mode in the game. You play a course and the best person wins, easy enough? Not exactly. The difficulty ramps up at a nice pace where the first few rounds are cake while later you are sweating it out until the final hole. The prizes are cosmetic changes to your selected golfer and while some are silly, they are extremely rewarding to receive. If you golf well enough, you can score two customization cards for one match.

What is perhaps the biggest leap for the handheld side of the franchise is the inclusion of an exceedingly well done multiplayer component. Just like the PS3 big brother, you can set up 16-person tournaments over the internet. It keeps the replayability fresh for the handheld game. If you and your friends have the game, you can play one another.



What's Not
While it would be a huge disservice to compare this title to the PS3 version, there is one idea the PS3 version got right that would have been nice to include with Open Tee 2. That idea was the new method for gauging swing distance. The tried and tested method for swinging isn't broken and is more precise but there is a better, more intuitive way to play. All things said, this is more a suggestion for future iterations rather than a scathing critique of an "issue."

Open Tee 2 is a more casual game and suffers from overdosing on extended gameplay sessions. If you pick up and put down the game, you'll find you'll get plenty of more mileage from the game. The cutesy anime characters are saccharine sweet and a little off-putting to more serious players. Still, if you can't tell that this is a predominately Japanese style game from looking at the box art then you are easily fooled.



Final Word
Open Tee 2 is another welcome addition to the Hot Shots family. It sticks to the, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality and adds the large and impressive online multiplayer to the handheld version that is shining new feature. Open Tee 2 isn't a hole-in-one but it is pretty darn close.