Though EA hasn't taken its PSP games online yet, Tiger Woods PGA Tour still offers some great multiplayer options. You can go head-to-head with another player using the built-in Wi-Fi functionality. There are standard stroke, skins, match, and long drive shootout games, as well as the new "Bingo Bango Bongo" mode. BBB is sort of like speed golf, though instead of solely rewarding speed, you're also rewarded for the longest drive and for getting your ball closest to the pin. The pacing in BBB is frantic, and really, it doesn't quite jive with the overall pacing of the rest of the game, which is otherwise much more methodical. The wireless multiplayer in Tiger is honestly a little clunky, allowing both players to have menu controls, which can create a tug-o-war dynamic. But it's still quite usable. More interesting still is the game's party play mode, which lets up to four players compete on a single PSP in short-form skins, long drive shootouts, and stroke games by simply passing it around. This mode seems like it would be particularly attractive for lengthy road trips.
Aside from the breadth of content in Tiger Woods PGA Tour, the most impressive thing about the game is the way it looks. It appears to be running on the same engine that powers the console Tiger games. A lot of the details have been simplified. Specifically, the character models seem to have fewer polygons to them, and the textures are noticeably blurrier. Even still, it maintains a nice, realistic look and even includes a few of the dramatic camera angles that have lent the series a distinctive flavor in recent years. All this "pretty" comes at a bit of a price, though...specifically in terms of time. Tiger Woods PGA Tour has some pretty serious load times all over the place. This would be quite a detriment to more-action-oriented games, but golf doesn't suffer from a more disciplined tempo.
Gary McCord and David Feherty have been the commentary team for Tiger Woods PGA Tour for years now, and you can tell this by how comfortable they sound here. Their deliveries are natural, unhurried, and more irreverent than ever. Even though this means you'll have to hear a few more bad puns from Feherty, it can be amusing when one of the two miscalls a shot and the other chides him for it. Outside of the commentary, the environmental sounds establish a natural feel, though some of the crowd noises are more like gibberish than the vocalizations of excited gallery onlookers. The sound is rounded out by a nice selection of tracks--most of which are relegated to menus--from dance music producer BT. Still, they help establish a uniformly relaxed ambiance to the game, complementing the overall mood nicely.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the PSP is, across the board, the best handheld golf game to date. Though it lacks the online play and a few other details found in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, it's actually a better game in some ways, as it takes the sport a little more seriously. Though there isn't any direct competition for Tiger just yet, this is still one of the best choices a sports fan can make at the US launch of the PSP.
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