Everybody's Golf
Review

Everybody's Golf (1997) is a series of golf games that create a detailed, gentle electronic version of the game. Although there are cartoon characters the focus is on realism and positive encouragement as you make your way around the various courses. The controls, while simple to grasp, allow for improvement with practice and cater for experts as well as novices. Alongside the main games, a virtual-reality edition was released in 2019 and iOS game in 2021 with shorter rounds and tweaked controls.

Play involves lining up your shots, factoring in wind speed, incline and distance and then pressing a series of buttons to set power and time the point of impact. Timing is crucial to hit it with the power you need and you need to carefully consider the lie of the ball when you are on the fairway (or rough). In both the regular and VR editions you can use a single Playstation Move controller, similar to golf in Wii Sports which adds realism and more nuance to the controls.

By completing courses, you gain experience, which allows you to unlock new courses. You earn in-game currency which unlocks new characters, cosmetics and clubs. Alongside the golf, you can explore the courses on foot or in a golf cart, and can even go fishing if you wish.

The game is great for connecting with other gamers both in your house and around the world and allows you to greatly increase your skill and ability with practice, making it a rewarding and challenging experience.

There have been a number of games in the series, although until the release of Everybody's Golf (2017), they were known as Hot Shots Golf in the USA:

• Everybody's Golf (1997) Playstation
• Everybody's Golf 2 (1999) Playstation
• Everybody's Golf 3 (2001) Playstation 2
• Everybody's Golf 4 (2003) Playstation 2
• Everybody's Golf Portable (2004) Playstation Portable
• Everybody's Golf 5 (2007) Playstation 3
• Everybody's Golf Portable 2 (2007) Playstation Portable
• Everybody's Golf 6 (2011) Playstation Vita and Playstation 3
• Everybody's Golf (2017) Playstation 4
• Everybody's Golf VR (2019) Playstation VR
• Clap Hanz Golf (2021) Apple Arcade

The iOS game updates the popular formula a little. You slowly earn a deck of players that can be picked to play each hole. Touchscreen controls offer the ability to swing with a flick of the finger as well as controller buttons.

All the versions of the game offer a light hearted and enjoyable way to enjoy a round of golf together. It stands out for the cheery encouragement it offers you, in what can be a hard and unforgiving game in the real world.

Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Everybody's Golf 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.