While Easy Come, Easy Golf isn’t Everybody’s Golf, it’s still a seismic shift, and it has a lot to do with Sony’s closure of its Japan Studio, Clap Hanz’ long-term collaborator. First time on the tee box, everything feels familiar. It’s even comfortable. It’s my first swing on this game, but I’ve been here before. You can control the ball with a fiddly touch screen swipe or an imprecise thumbstick waggle, but the three-click method is the best. The new UI isn’t right away (power is vertical, impact is horizontal, instead of sharing a single bar) but that muscle memory, honed over 25 years, is awesome.
Historically, access to golf has been more than a socioeconomic issue. Some golf clubs don’t let women join; others are probably still racist. Easy Come, Easy Golf might not outwardly care about these matters, but it has a weird roster of players – Dodgeball’s Average Joes look like Abercrombie and Fitch commercials – so it’s still everybody’s golf, even if it doesn’t have the name anymore. By keeping in mind that there will be absolute beginners on the course, you can dispel some of those fears about the challenge. It’s easier to relax into Easy Come, Easy Golf’s rhythm, unlocking courses and characters, and leveling up. Those series strengths are still there.
You can’t reach these advantageous landing sites at all. Not right away. Almost Metroid-like in its level design, showing you a path you might be able to take if you were a bit stronger. Here’s where Easy Come, Easy Golf’s misfit roster shines. Getting new, better characters through match play has been a series staple since day one – but combined with a new gimmick that mixes things up, things get interesting.
If you want to be truly competitive, you’ll need to unlock at least six more real players so you don’t have to rely on the kids ever again. Any slots that aren’t filled by “real” golfers become an Achilles heel as courses get longer and tougher. Meanwhile, the computer players’ scores are creeping downwards, and before you know it – right around the time you unlock your ninth “real” character, maybe the fourth or fifth course, and the game starts throwing hurricane-force winds at you – Easy Come, Easy Golf starts to get a bit bite.
Easy Come, Easy Golf’s longevity depends on how happy you are with the loop, with being underpowered on newly-unlocked courses until you can level up your characters to push their limits. Often, this constant refresh includes mirror courses, extreme weather, oddly sized holes, and other quirks, which adds a little extra variety. There are online and local multiplayer modes, too. Is it just me, or did you spend a lot of time playing vintage Everybody’s Golf over the years? In comparison, Easy Come, Easy Golf feels modern and generous.
