Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

"Love golf, Hate golf, We all love Mario Golf!"

The first Mario golf for the Nintendo 64 was a highly successful golf game and got critical acclaim across the board, challenging the other golf kings of the time. Camelot’s newest incarnation of the Mario Golf franchise will not disappoint old fans and welcomes newcomers with open arms.

Gameplay (7)
There are dozens of gameplay modes (actually, about 10) such as ring shot, limited club golf, and doubles play. The real meat and potatoes of the game is tournament mode. Here, you’ll play as any of the characters in the game and go up against 29 other golfers for the lowest one-round score you can get. Winning unlocks new courses. After you beat all the tournaments, you’ll be able to play them all again with harder difficulties. The mode that had me coming back was the doubles play with human teammates and opponents. There’s nothing like taunting your own teammate just for the heck of it, and then blaming him for losing later on. I would give Gameplay a higher score, but while there are plenty of modes, most of them have limited appeal, and you won’t be playing them for months to come.

Graphics/Sound (9)
The visuals impress from the moment you switch on your cube. The intro sequence is one of the best in any Nintendo game…ever. The in-game character models look just about as good as they can without looking realistic. The courses themselves are fantastic. The developers went the extra mile and added long grass to the rough, so that you know you’re in the rough because of how long the grass is and not what color it is (although it is a darker color). Particle effects are great, especially when you hit a perfect shot and the water is the best I’ve seen in any game. The sound on the course is passable. You’ll hear birds chirping, waves lapping up on the nearby shoreline, and even taunts from other players as you line up your putt. The music is quite good, although you don’t notice it as much as I’d like (not because it’s not loud enough, I really don’t know why), but most of it is remixed versions of classic Nintendo tunes; all of which sound nice.

Replay (9)
There is tons to do in this game. Unlock new characters, enhanced characters, new courses, events, and mini-modes. Granted, the single player mode will not last forever, but the multi-player modes are golden. You can play all of them by yourself, but it’s way more fun with real people playing with you. Nintendo’s new promise of posting passwords for tournaments in the future is sure to extend the replay value too. It’s not a game you’ll be playing every day a month or two from now but whenever you pop it in in the future, it will still be fun.

Overall (8.5)
Tiger is still king, but Mario Golf comes in at a close second. More tournaments and an RPG element like the Game Boy Color game would have gotten this game a 9.5 (or even a 10). If you like golf, this game will be fun. If you despise golf…you’ll still enjoy this gem as it puts less emphasis on the little details of the game and just lets you have fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/03, Updated 07/30/03