The Fantasy Golf label on PANGYA: Fantasy Golf means the gloves are off when it comes to visual design. Drab greens are replaced by pinks, purples, and even a level filled with flowing lava and volcanic ash. The golfers are equally wild, ranging from a paunchy policeman that favors fried chicken to a dreaded pirate who is really just a little girl. The best part of PANGYA: Fantasy Golf is that it offers a chance to play most every character you come across, and customize with items purchased in the game's store. This all works much like we've seen in the Hot Shots series previously, with the difference being crazier outfits and crazier characters. Other things you'll notice are effects during play, like over-the-top animations with special shots like the Tomahawk; this shot basically acts like a mortar and plants a ball exactly where it lands on the first strike. During the game's Story Mode, each character tells his or her story through cut-scenes that feature some really funny dialogue and anime art styling. Music and sound effects play a relatively minor role in the game, as background for the most part. PANGYA does feature a gallery of the opening/closing movies, some concept art, and a jukebox for listening to the in-game soundtrack. This concept art is the best part, showing illustrations of characters from the game in both group settings and alone. There's a lot of humor in the dialogue and the faces on the characters, pure Otaku territory; lovely stuff, if you happen to swing that way as we do.

Most golf games don't put a lot of time into story, because how much story can one have in a golf game, after all? PANGYA: Fantasy Golf solves this problem by placing its characters in another world, where the rules of golf are all changed. PANGYA, as they will quickly point out, is "like" golf, but is not golf. There is a legend surrounding the game, where holes become conduits for life-force that was being lost to a malevolent force trying to overrun this fantasy world in the long-distant past. A hero from our world, a human, is said to have arrived in time to save everyone by playing PANGYA so skillfully as to seal up these spiritual leaks and save everyone. Since even in the fantasy world these characters inhabit this is the stuff of legends, modern-day PANGYA is played in tribute to that ancient hero. Each character in this game, PANGYA: Fantasy Golf, has some connection to another character and their stories become part of the fabric of Story Mode. You'll play a lot of golf while enjoying the story, and there's so much more tucked away in the PANGYA Tour Mode. The storyline is great fun, and you'll get to know each of the playable characters along the way, but there's plenty you'll want to keep this game around for, tucked into Tour Mode.

The basics of the game are just as you'd expect, with club choice and the three-point clicking style of shot action. PANGYA: Fantasy Golf makes a big deal out of customization, even setting up conditions for you to earn more points, or "Pang," by wearing new outfits and outfit combinations during play. Your characters will be able to earn Pang by shooting well, finishing holes under par, and other tricks of the trade like special shots, and good approaches. Story Mode is a series of tutorials wrapped around short play sessions, at first. You won't play a full nine or 18 until you've worked your way deep into Story, but you'll gradually take on the persona of each playable character. This takes some getting used to at first, since you'll want to buy items for whatever character you are playing at the time in Story. Tour Mode lets you take any character you've unlocked and use them for opening up tournament play on select courses. Opening up a tournament requires a "license," which you earn only after meeting specific conditions. This process will earn you lots of Pang, allowing new clothing purchases, and on and on... The so-called Network Mode is what passes for multiplayer in PANGYA: Fantasy Golf. We say this with a frown because the addition of true online play would have made this a much better game. If it can be done for other sports games, why not golf?

Let's face it: Golf is golf. The quirks of this game are mostly in your favor, if you find most golf titles too difficult. The default setting is for easier play, with wider-than-usual holes on each green and less extreme weather conditions. Turn this off immediately if you're a veteran, or after you get comfortable with the controls. Building tutorials into the Story Mode is nice, especially since all the advanced controls are available from the beginning but don't have to be used to win. The introduction of special shots, spin, and other techniques are saved for later when it makes a real difference against more competitive opponents. Hot Shots brought some serious heat with its opponents, and this bunch is tame in comparison. They blow on the green and almost always shank the important shots, but they get better as the storyline spools out. The good news is that they aren't congenitally flawed; once you get control of them, they play just fine. Items can improve your abilities, making longer shots possible, and even smoothing out obstacles like wind for one shot. There are even pills you can buy that slow the power-meter, making it easier to nail shots and hit squarely on the sweet spot.

The only thing that really makes the controls here any different from Hot Shots or any other golf game is the option for special shots like the Tomahawk. You also get the "Cobra" and "Spike," each with accompanying over-the-top effects and slightly more involved button combos. Basically, the methods used in 90% of games to add spin to the ball are tweaked by using the (L) and (R) buttons to create these special shots. You can look these up in the manual and try them at any time, but you'll be introduced to them in due time if you play through Story Mode. Other than special shots, you'll find the familiar three-press button timing that launches a power-meter, selects power, and finally determines angle of impact. You can adjust the strike point before the shot, and influence the shot once you've selected power, but that's about it, other than putting. PANGYA: Fantasy Golf doesn't feature a very smart visual for the greens. Instead of a tight mesh that actually shows you the contours of the green, you'll see these dots in a square that end up being pretty cryptic for the first few hours. In theory, it's pretty simple to decode these dots as an indication of what the green is doing, but practical application ends up causing some frustration. Why these guys didn't just go for the familiar tight checkerboard on the green, we'll never know.

Apart from a few gripes or omissions, PANGYA: Fantasy Golf is great arcade golfing fun. Whether you rank this above its obvious competition is a matter of whether you get into the fantasy theme, but there's additional depth to this one that we prefer. The mechanics for collecting costumes and playing across a broad range of fantasy-themed characters work well, the courses are well designed, and both Story and Tour are real gems. About the only thing keeping this from real golfing bliss is the lack of online and that goofy putting. Otherwise, golf fans, get a move on this one.