I’m very conscious that I’m the precise target market for All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures. The brand new golf sport, revealed by Bandai Namco, is a revival of an iconic PlayStation sequence, one which I very a lot grew up with as a child who rented a sport each week from Blockbuster within the late ’90s. When it was first introduced, one thing activated in my mind. Days spent enjoying rounds of mini golf with over-the-top characters come flooding again to me. All it took was seeing the phrases “Scorching Pictures” to pique my curiosity.
All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures assessments the bounds of nostalgia in that method. It leaves you to query what it’s you truly love a few basic sequence past the recognizable identify. Is it sufficient to cart out a well-recognized precision-based {golfing} system and a few recognizable characters, even when it’s made by a completely new developer? Will followers of the primary two video games be puzzled by what’s finally a continuation of 2017’s All people’s Golf reasonably than a return to PlayStation 1 angle? And does any of that actually matter as long as {the golfing} is fulfilling?
A variety of context is so as right here. Scorching Pictures Golf made its debut in North America in 1998 for the unique PlayStation, one 12 months after releasing in Japan as All people’s Golf. It was developed by Camelot, the studio behind Nintendo’s Mario Golf sequence, and revealed by Sony as a first-party PlayStation launch. A sequel adopted just a few years later, however improvement moved to Clap Hanz. That studio would slowly hammer out the sequence’ identification over twenty years, doubling down on its exact {golfing} and guiding the sequence towards an anime artwork fashion. That’s necessary to know, as a result of your concept of what a Scorching Pictures Golf sport truly is may be utterly totally different relying on the place you got here into it.
That Ship of Theseus now continues on with All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures, the sequence’ first sport since 2019’s All people’s Golf VR. It’s additionally the primary by Tamagotchi Plaza developer Hyde Inc., as Clap Hanz is now off creating its personal authentic golf video games. (See: 2021’s Simple Come Simple Golf, previously Clap Hanz Golf on Apple Arcade.) This revival is now twice faraway from the unique PS1 sport, and that change will present in the event you’re coming at this having liked the early video games.
The excellent news is that the core of the sequence is unbroken — and that’s possible what issues most. All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures nonetheless makes use of the signature three-click golf system, the place gamers faucet as soon as to start out a shot, faucet once more to set the facility, and faucet a 3rd time to set the accuracy. Spins can both be utilized in the course of the shot or earlier than it, relying on which management fashion you employ. That core remains to be sturdy, although it will probably take some getting used to. {The golfing} is ultra-precise right here, with even a bit delay in your accuracy shot sending your ball unpredictably careening off target. Add within the variables that come from wind, and also you’ll discover a golf sport that feels onerous to get a deal with on till you lock in and begin unlocking gear that may assist help your pictures.
That every one feels pure after a little bit of apply, little question, however that by itself isn’t sufficient to conjure up Scorching Pictures’ aura. In spite of everything, the sequence laid a basis that plenty of arcade golf video games nonetheless observe right now. All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures simply appears like what you anticipate any golf sport prefer it to really feel like in 2025. So the place does that nostalgia-loaded title actually repay?
There are some apparent solutions to that on the floor. Anticipated modes like Stroke and Match Play return right here. There are tons of unlockables to chase, from golfers to gear. The 30-character roster is full of acquainted faces from the sequence’ previous, like Cougar and Yuna. There are caddies that observe you across the programs and pepper in their very own canned one-liners alongside the best way. It even doubles down on the sequence’ light-RPG roots by peppering in relationship ranges between golfers and caddies that unlock new methods, in addition to stickers that present passive buffs. There’s an entire lot to dig into, even when it ditches the beloved character customization suite of 2017’s installment.
The center of the solo expertise, although, is in World Tour mode — and that’s the place I discover myself questioning what the Scorching Pictures branding truly means. Right here, every character will get a mini-campaign. It’s nothing too exceptional; you full a handful of {golfing} challenges with every linked collectively by some dialogue interludes, nearly cellular game-like in execution. You at the least get some persona there, even when it is delivered in dry vogue, as characters tee off towards robots, idols, and evil doppelgängers of each other. (It is a golf sport that has a mission titled “Bearer of the Darkish Blood.”) Missions generally is a drag to get by way of, although, as you typically have to observe your opponents play — one thing that takes a very long time, particularly in 18-hole, four-golfer matches.
Even when World Tour is full of acquainted names, it doesn’t precisely carry me again to the PS1 video games that I see in my head after I hear the phrases “Scorching Pictures.” That phrase has all the time evoked a {golfing} sport with a bit little bit of angle, one thing so clearly born out of the ’90s. All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures feels mild by comparability, with its clear anime characters and cheery visuals. It simply feels so tonally distant that in the event you had put an authentic title on it, I possible wouldn’t join it to Scorching Pictures in any respect.
However how dependable is that reminiscence? I used to be a child after I performed that sport. My bar for “angle” was actually decrease than it’s now. My expertise with the sequence additionally largely stopped on the PS1, properly earlier than Clap Hanz actually hammered out the voice of the sequence. For somebody who thinks of the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita when they give thought to Scorching Pictures, this very properly could also be precisely what they’re anticipating.
And so, I can solely choose the sport in entrance of me, not those the title is supposed to evoke. As its personal challenge, All people’s Golf: Scorching Pictures is a superbly fulfilling, if run-of-the-mill, golf sport that leaves developer Hyde house to develop. As an example, there are a number of programs right here that aren’t defined terribly properly, akin to what caddies truly do, unlock new characters, and the nuances of its authentic Wacky Golf mode, which brings the sport nearer to Mario Golf’s silliness however typically with a sensory overload of unexpectedly defined guidelines. Pair that onboarding drawback with some boring presentation and sluggish matches towards CPUs, and also you’re left with a sport that you really want to take a position some critical time into to seek out your footing.
No, I didn’t get a heat flashback to enjoying the unique PlayStation with my cousin whereas {golfing}, however what does that matter? Would it not change my expertise with the sport in any significant method? I nonetheless would have loved my time sinking putts simply as a lot with out the acquainted branding. Nostalgia is a sand lure, and it’s straightforward to lose sight of the outlet if you’re too far within the bunker.
