PANGYA: Fantasy Golf Hands-On

Based on the popular PC massively multiplayer online golf simulation by Ntreev Soft in Korea, Pangya: Fantasy Golf is now headed for the PlayStation Portable, courtesy of Tomy. Pangya has made it to this side of the world before as Super Swing Golf for the Wii. Fantasy Golf is very much like the Hot Shots Golf games, with easy-to-play golf mechanics and colorful visuals. Pangya's appeal is probably due to the large cast of delightfully cute characters and the thousands of items available to collect and use. You can play a few holes of golf on the go, experience the storyline through the eyes of multiple characters, or play with up to seven friends via ad hoc on any of the nine courses.

Who wouldn't want to play golf as a pirate girl in a mini-skirt?

Pangya is what golf is called on Pangya Island, where an earthling showed up a long time ago to save the magical place with his power swing. Now it's more of a retreat, where earthlings--who are warped to this dimension by fairies--come to play in golf tournaments for prizes. Scout and Hana are the only two characters you'll have access to from the beginning, but as you progress through each of their storylines, you'll unlock up to 18 playable characters. We were told that you can easily spend more than 70 hours building up your characters and collecting outfits, accessories, clubs, balls, and other items. A bizarre but cute accessory is a papel; it's a walking, talking bag that comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and carrying capacities. It keeps you company on the course, though, which is nice and totally random. As you progress through the story mode to increase your rank and win brand-new gear, you'll be able to customize and upgrade your character. You'll earn pang (in-game currency) for playing, regardless of how well you're doing, but there's always bonus cash for special performances.

Like most easy-to-play golf games, you hit the X button to start the meter, hit it again to determine how much power you want, and then one more time for precision. A tutorial in the beginning will quickly get you up to speed if you've never played a golf game before. From what we've played, it's fairly easy because you don't have to worry too much about wind and the game automatically points your swing in the right direction. Once you get on the green, there are dots on each grid to indicate how much of a slope you're working with, which is the only time you'll really need to adjust your angle.

When you're not playing story mode, there's Pangya Tour mode, in which you can compete in tournaments for prizes. A license must be earned beforehand, and getting one consists of reaching set objectives, whether it's scoring a -2 in a series of holes, or reaching a specific amount of pang. If you don't want the added stress, a Free Round mode is available to play for fun. You can also level your character and earn pang when playing in multiplayer mode, so up to seven of your friends can play several holes of golf with you.

Customize your character by unlocking new outfits and accessories.

What's great about Fantasy Golf is that it's not complicated, and its beautiful fantasy locations are visually pleasing. The storyline may be a little strange, but it doesn't seem to drag, so no matter what, most of the time you'll be on the course anyway and sporting some newly acquired gear. What does bog down the game, though, is that when you're playing in a tournament against one other computer player, you'll have to watch his or her turn. In bigger nine-hole tournaments with multiple characters, you thankfully have to watch only when their icons get closer to the hole.

Pangya: Fantasy Golf may be set in a bizarre world, but the golf mechanics are there and are incredibly fun. It's convenient to play a few holes and then leave it for another day, but it's also addictive and you might find yourself playing for hours at a time. Look for Pangya: Fantasy Golf when it is released sometime this summer.