In general there’s plenty of information on the UI (replays, number of strokes and even a musical note which denotes when you hit a perfect stroke) but just occasionally Everybody’s Golf 2 can lack little features I’d expect. Once you get close to the hole, the camera angle changes to allow easier putting and you’ll see the line of your shot, although judging the contours of the green can be a little difficult. You’ll also have to study the wind direction and strength which can significantly affect your shot as well as avoid bunkers, trees and water hazards that will cause you to drop shots and fall behind the pace. There’s plenty of options for shots you can change, with a free camera allowing you to pan around the course and set the arc and angle that you’ll hit, with different clubs producing different results.

It’s a tried and true formula that works, although was significantly more novel here than it is nowadays within the genre. So this is the familiar three touch system for hitting balls, involving pressing once to start your meter, a second time at the top of your swing to set the power of your shot, then a third time at the bottom to set the accuracy (you can wildly mishit if this isn’t lined up properly). Using systems that have become staples of the golf genre going forward, Everybody’s Golf 2 is slightly janky in some ways but still holds up as an enjoyable PS1 game.

Music doesn’t play during levels (but does on the menus), meaning you’re left listening to the howl of wind between the trees and I did miss the solid soundtrack being there when I was relaxing and playing. While the arcade-style announcer gleefully yells “nice shot!” or “it’s in the trap!”, there’s little else here in the audio department. The individual elements aren’t spectacular, but they do fit in well in this world and I loved some of the orange skybox sunsets in later courses. Environments feature water hazards, bunkers, trees galore and thankfully none of this affects performance. If I had to criticise something, it’s that the courses themselves are like dioramas that float in the sky – a clear holdover from the previous generation of golf games. There’s idle animations for each golfer, rain and wind effects and a whole lot else that give Everybody’s Golf 2 a tonne of life. There’s interactivity in the environments too, such as the crazy way the golfers chase after their ball when hitting it or the spectators who put up umbrellas and applaud you after tricky shots. There’s even cameos from Dan Fortescue ( Medievil), Gex (the gecko) and Sweet Tooth ( Twisted Metal) who fit in surprisingly well in this world. Sam is a teenage girl in pink who pulls her pigtails when losing, while Mel is a chubby older man whose toupee comes off when he makes a shot. Despite this, I kinda loved the style as I’m a PS1 child so grew up on this.Ĭharacter designs are vibrant and although wholly stereotypical, absolutely great. These are pre rendered and move with choppy frames of animation, best exemplified when they’re reaching into the hole to collect their ball which is simply shown by enlarging their sprite in slightly creepy fashion. So the character sprites are incredibly unique to the 2D – 3D transition era the game was developed in. I don’t quite know how to describe the graphical style of Everybody’s Golf 2 which mixes pre-rendered characters with 3D environments, but there’s an undeniably charm to the colourful world presented here. You compete in golfing tournaments and learn little bits about their personalities through text blurbs and mannerisms. Despite its cast of zany characters, there’s no plot in Everybody’s Golf 2.

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