The Hot Shots series doesn't have Tiger Woods, actual courses or other "realistic"-style features, nor does it need them. All a good golf game needs, in my opinion, is extremely solid gameplay, well-designed courses and likable characters, and everything else is the cherry on top. Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is covered with cherries. In addition to the usual prerequisites, the game has twelve courses (6 new, 6 returning), 24 characters, tons of customization options, a deep Challenge/Career Mode, unprecedented online play for up to 16 players, stats galore, and even RPG/adventure-ish elements. Literally the only thing missing is an option to use the new "Advanced Swing" method as offered in HSG: Out of Bounds on the PS3, but only those hardcore followers of the series would know or care to be honest.

Open Tee 2 is a very polished PSP game. Clap Hanz isn't known for their spectacular graphical abilities, and first Open Tee looked nice enough, but it was a little on the simple side as compared to the PS2 versions. OT2 is a lot more refined with nice lighting and effects, detailed textures and foliage, and an always silky-smooth framerate. The cartoony characters with all their wacky accessories and costumes fit right in, and besides the voices (which are fairly international), SCEA has not "westernized" the cast one bit. All of the courses and characters which made the jump from the original OT have received proper graphical face lifts and the newly designed courses look fantastic. The game is cute looking, although not overly so, and as usual they have struck a proper balance between cool and kitsch.

There are a number of single player game modes, including Stroke Play, Practice, a challenging little hole-in-one Mini-Game and of course, Challenge Mode. Unlike the first PSP version, Clap Hanz found a way to integrate the game's various tiered Challenge Mode events with the character customiztions to give it a RPG vibe of sorts. As you work your way through the events in Challenge Mode, head, body and accessory cards are earned which are used in a number of ways. First and foremost, the cards are used to unlock new head items (hats, hairstyles, etc.), body items (costumes mostly) and accessories (from sunglasses to chicken sidekicks), which can be combined (usually via experimentation) to enhance various character stats. When a certain number of each type of card is collected, your respective stats across all characters get a permanent boost. And finally, when a total number of cards are obtained, a new unlockable high-level character will challenge you in a Match Play and join your roster if defeated. This new card scheme is on top of the loyalty stats specific to each character, as well as the unlockable new pieces of equipment. There's a good amount of detail going on and it's all done in a rather transparent, easy to deal with way. Each course also has little treasures scattered about them which encourages you to actually explore the courses as you would a town in a RPG. You may find a new hat in a patch of flowers or a powerful new character who won't join unless you have already unlocked and equipped some specific item. Needless to say, none of the recent versions of Hot Shots Golf come close to the amount of variety offered in Open Tee 2. If you thought the first OT kept you busy, look out, this is in a whole other league.

The developers at this point have a number of online versions of Hot Shots Golf under their belts, so the robust online multiplayer mode and options in HSG: OT2 are not exactly a surprise. The PS3's Out of Bounds really paved the way for enjoyable online golf, and not including that version's avatar-driven graphical lobbies, Open Tee 2 is very close in terms of playability. Up to 16 players simultaneously can jump into ranked and unranked online tournaments and matches, and just like the previous 2 console versions they are totally a blast. Golf lends itself well to online play, and OT2 doesn't disappoint, especially as a portable title.

Not many reviewers seem to factor the price of a game into their scores, but I certainly do. I'd consider $29.99 MSRP to be the magic price point for most portable titles, and Sony made the right decision to price Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 at exactly that. Relative to the already 40+ hours of portable golfing greatness the game has provided me with, it is a bargain. It comes without saying that fans of the series and dedicated PSP fans should grab a copy and tee off ASAP. Those who have never had much of an interest in traditional golf games should at the very least give the PlayStation Store demos a try, you may be surprised.