by Leigh Bain
Special Collaboration

Golf hasn’t changed much since the 15th century when the Scot’s laid out many of the game’s basic rules, equipment and traditions still used today. However, in another dimension time, there exists a magical world with a very different story. On the island of PangYa, golf, is not just a special game, but to its inhabitant’s, golf, affectionately called PangYa is their heritage.

South Korean developer, NTREEV Soft’s casual golf MMO PangYa! has been available in North America since early this year. Now thanks to Tomy Corporation, it’s arrived on the PSP as PangYa: Fantasy Golf.


Gameplay

Korean for “Bang!” PangYa’s concept began as an obscure golfing MMO for the PC that quickly became a cult classic. You’ll begin playing as Scout, a descendant of PangYa’s warrior from Earth. Scout wants to be a PangYa Master and is participating in the tournament held in honour of his father’s defeat of the Dark Lord, who once tried to destroy the peaceful island. The main story plays a series of golf matches as different characters, which gradually progresses the story and unlocks new story’s revolving around these additional characters.

The game’s mechanics are easy to pick up and begin playing. Select different club’s using the shoulder buttons, aim shots with the D-pad, and make use of an overhead map to judge distances. Putting is simplified too, with easy visual cues for elevation slants and a directional arrow including distance to factor wind. After setting up the shot, tap the shot button three times for a shot’s power and accuracy. Eventually you learn backspins, topspins, and power curves and you can even unlock special moves, which require extra button presses mid-swing. Performing well fills up your power shot meter, and when used it can hit a shot with a lot more intensity behind it.


There’s a Tournament mode that lets you compete against 30 for first place; however, before you can do that you must obtain a License by completing Challenges. This might seem like a pain, but they are really a lot of fun. With 9 courses and 18 holes per course, it gives you 162 holes that you won’t duplicate that often.

All of the tour modes are available for both solo players and local Multiplayer via the game’s Ad-Hoc Multiplayer mode, which supports up to eight players. This seems rather ambitious but unfortunately with only two, I experienced a severe problem with frame rate drops.

The game however is far from perfect. An unpredictable AI would swing drastically from easy to hard with no in between, forcing you to wait so you could continue. Other annoyances include disorienting camera angles making it impossible to tell just where the ball actually went, and exceedingly long load times.

Graphics & Sound

Visually, PangYa’s anime styled visuals are vibrant and pleasant to look at. Character interactions play out in static portraits that are crisp and refreshingly simplistic in detail but unfortunately, it doesn’t carry over to the animations. However, expressive reactions to both the success and failure’s make up for this by giving each character a personality that bubbles over from the on-screen.


There’s no voice acting in the game, save for the fired up “PangYa!” that is yelled whenever a character hits a ball straight. The rest of the game is made up of a cutesy Anime soundtrack that will appeal to fans of the genre.

There was something that struck me about one of the game’s extra features: a Gallery, which turns your PSP into a mini player for the game’s film clips, artwork and sound track, which are available in-game as unlockables. Still, I couldn’t help noticing that this was the first time where I’d seen a game with a soundtrack that wasn’t sold separately, but instead included in a way as if to thank the owners

Value

Along the way, you’ll collect a type of money, called Pang. This can be used to buy equipment and clothing to customize your character and it can also provide improvement bonuses. Rare items can also be acquired but for a price (200 Pang). The store gives you a choice of over 1,300 items to spend that Pang on to improve your golf game and there’s no restriction for its use.

Conclusion

Adapted from Korea’s casual golf MMO and cult classic PangYa: Fantasy Golf for the PSP entwines a fantasy story and RPG elements, with an abundance of unlockables and collectibles, and a variety characters, modes, tournaments and challenges. From there, the rest is up to you but if you’ve been looking for another HotShots Golf, then there’s little doubt that you will have fun as you try to become the next PangYa Master.