Slightly earlier in the year than usual but Tiger Woods marks the start of the yearly event of sports games released by EA Sports with improvements and updates built in to keep the fans of the particular sport happy again for another 12 months. And to be honest PSP fans of the Tiger Woods series could do with a lot of improvements over last year’s game because although it was brilliant on the larger machines such as the 360 and the Wii, the poor PSP version lacked in so many ways, it really felt like the poor relation and probably a lot of golf fans turned to Everybody’s Golf instead. However, poor relation no more because this year Tiburon has really pulled out all the stops to make the experience on the PSP every bit as good as the other machines, with improved control mechanics, fun mini games and also online play so that you can take a friend on. Control wise the game has been brought much more in-line with the bigger machines including a very challenging analogue stick option, which when you consider the size of the analogue stick on the psp you can understand why it is a challenge. There is also the more traditional three or two button press options which to be honest is my preferred control method even on the 360 and PS3. Your actual shot is also affected by the confidence of your character. This is built up during the course of a round. Fire your shot into the rough or a bunker and your confidence level will drop, however nail a very difficult put and your confidence level will head up into the stratosphere. The game modes available include the usual PGA Tour Season, Play Now and the multiplayer which this year includes an online mode for you to take a friend on. There is also an impressive new mode called Tournament Challenge. Here you take your created golfer to a course and try to match or better an actual real life event that a pro did on that course. Each course offering three different levels of challenge and each has clips of Tiger Woods recounting the events. For some reason and one of the disappointing aspects of last year’s title, mini games were excluded last year but this year they are back with a vengeance. Throughout the rounds you will be prompted to take part in little mini games such as cleaning your ball or picking up debris off the course. Completely unrealistic of course but a lot of fun and you actually pick up attribute boosts if you perform well in them. Graphically the game is very impressive for the PSP. There is the occasionally lack of detail in the long puts and sometimes the camera angles are a little obscure but nothing that affects the game too badly.
Sound wise the commentary is not to the degree of that found on the larger consoles but some would say that is not a bad thing. The sound effects of the ball swings etc are very good though but I wish (as in all EA SPORTS titles) that the crowd was a little more active however. Overall this is a 100% improvement on last year’s title. The fun minigames and the range of gaming options including the fully functional online mode are all a joy to play and will take you a long time to complete – especially the lengthy PGA Tour mode. The graphics have improved and the sound, whilst limited in places, is still an improvement on last year. No longer feeling like the poor relation if you are a psp owner and a golfing fan you really must have this in your collection. | 
PSP 
