Hot Shots Golf 2

Hot Shots Golf 2
Also known as: Minna no Golf 2 (JP), Everybody's Golf 2 (EU) Developer: Clap Hanz Publishers: SCEI (JP), SCEA (US), SCEE (EU) Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: July 29, 1999 Released in US: March 7, 2000 Released in EU: April 19, 2000 This game has regional differences.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: There is likely a debug menu, much like the other games in the series Many regional differences. See if any leftover Japanese content still exists in the US/EU versions.

Hot Shots Golf 2 is the first game in the series to be developed by Clap Hanz, and also the first in the series to have a completely different roster between the Japanese and international versions.

Dummy File

The US and European versions have a DUMMY.BIN file which is a 27,000 KB file with empty data.

Oddities

Cut characters

Within the "Secret characters and strategy" sections of the tutorial in the US and European versions, an early version of the character select screen can be seen. This shows the hard mode VS characters which shows some interesting oddities:

• In Sam's place seems to be an older woman with pink hair.
• The hard mode opponents are the international roster rather than the Japanese roster.

Regional Differences

To do: There are a lot more undocumented changes (different rosters, gameplay changes and more).

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

Title Screen

Japan	US	Europe

The Japanese version had a very different title screen, simply being a screenshot of a golf course. The US/European title screens are very similar to each other although they have different logos, different copyright information and the actual image is in a different aspect ratio.

Menus

• In the menus in the Japanese version, there is a bubble which floats across the screen. This bubble was removed in international versions.
• The menu options have a different design in each version. Menu options in the US/European versions use pale borders with green text. In the Japanese version however, menu borders take a darker wood grain effect while the text is larger and a lot more colorful.
• Music is set to on by default in the Japanese version, but it is oddly set to off by default in the international versions.
• The menu background can be set to random in the Japanese version. This was oddly removed in the international versions.
• In the Japanese version, the player can set a menu character who shows up during numerous menus. This was removed in the international versions.
  • Additionally, there is also a chick (known as "Birdy-Chan") who wanders around in the menus in the Japanese version.

Home Page

• The US/European versions have a tutorial section in the menu where the game teaches the player about golf and the game. While the tutorial is present in the Japanese version, it is part of the far more elaborate "Home Page" section. The Home Page section mimics an online webpage with the home page having three main sections:
  • Q&A is the tutorial section found in other versions. The tutorial menus have a different design and the tutorials themselves have different screenshots.
    • The Intermediate tutorial section has an extra section on the unlockables you can gain by leveling up.
  • User is a mockup blog page filled with pages on each of the characters, courses and numerous other things.
  • Download allows the player to download the PocketStation game Minna no DoraKon (Everybody's Driver Contest). The international versions naturally removed PocketStation support.

Characters

The Japanese version has a completely different playable roster compared to the international versions. The Japanese roster is still present in the international versions as the hard mode opponents in the VS. mode and they can be unlocked as secret characters by beating them in hard mode. The international roster does not appear at all in the Japanese version. With the shifted roster, this resulted in numerous differences:

• The profiles in the Japanese version naturally cover the Japanese characters while in the international versions, they cover the international characters.
• In the Japanese version in VS. mode, the player faces off against harder versions of the cast in hard mode with the characters wearing their player 4 color. In the international versions, the player faces off against the Japanese cast in hard mode although the characters wear their default costumes.
• In the Japanese version, the player only has 3 colors unlocked for each character by default and in order to unlock the 4th color for a character, the player has to beat that character on hard mode. In the international versions, all 4 colors are unlocked by default and beating a hard mode CPU instead unlocks a wallpaper of the character.
  • The Japanese characters only have their default costume in the international versions. The Japanese characters are accessed by selecting a character's 4th costume and then holding triangle when selecting the character (after unlocking them by beating them in hard mode).
• After beating Mason, the game naturally plays a different cutscene compared to beating Hawk in the Japanese version. The game still plays the Hawk cutscene in the international version after beating him in hard mode.

Japan	US/Europe

• After beating Gex, the game plays a completely different cutscene compared to beating Vader in the Japanese version. The game still plays the Vader cutscene in the international version after beating him in hard mode.

Japan	US/Europe

• After beating the tour mode, the game plays a completely different cutscene in the international versions compared to the Japanese version. The game also has a different credits sequence with different music.

Japan	US/Europe

While most of the Japanese roster is still present in the international versions, the Japanese version does have one completely exclusive character with Maya. Maya is the default menu character who could be unlocked as an alternate costume for Kumi by beating Kumi in hard mode. Maya is accessed by selecting Kumi's 4th costume and then holding triangle when selecting Kumi (the same way the Japanese characters are accessed in the international versions). Maya is completely absent in the international versions and she received no replacement.

Other changes

• Circle and X have swapped functionality in the North American/European versions compared to the Japanese version both in the menus and during gameplay.
• The Japanese version uses metres for putting while the North American/European versions use feet/inches.
• The Japanese version measures wind in Metres per Second while the North American/European versions measure wind in Miles Per Hour.
• The North American and European versions have a cheat to unlock everything by inputting a specific name when setting up a save file. The code is "2GSH" in the North American version and "2GE" in the European version. The Japanese version has no cheat code to achieve this.