System: Sony PlayStation 3

Publisher: Sony

Reviewer’s rating: **

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Sports

Kind of like: “Hot Shots Golf” (1998)

Best feature: New swing mechanic feels more “real.”

Worst feature: It’s the fifth barely different iteration of the same damn game.

The bottom line: Gamers, welcome to the “next generation”! It’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally arrived in a brave new world of technological achievement — a glorious era of such earth-shattering advancement that we only have to purchase a sleek new $400 machine to play slightly sharper looking versions of the exact same games we bought 10 years ago. Isn’t it great?

Seriously, you’ve got to be kidding me. Ten years after the first “Hot Shots” struck a near-perfect balance between family-friendly fun and sophisticated simulation, we get the umpteenth update that’s almost an exact replica of the original. That was two systems ago, people!

The mildly challenging gameplay, the big-headed cartoonish golfers, the colorful caddies spouting the same annoying phrases ad nauseam — all the familiar elements are still there.

Yeah, there’s a new control scheme, and it’s a minor improvement. The modified version of the classic three-click swing forces you to play more by “feel,” just like in real golf.

But is that enough to justify a $60 game?

I guess an upgraded online lobby is supposed to qualify as a “next-gen” feature, but I was enjoying online tournaments in “Hot Shots Fore!” nearly four years ago on my PS2. And you know what? It still works.

Sure, “Hot Shots” is still a fun game — just like it was the first four times we bought it.