Mario Golf: Advance Tour

"Isaac errrrr Mario hits the links!"

In the middle of the GBCs life, mario golf was released at met with a huge reception from both fans and critics alike. This game served as the building block for mario golf: advanced tour. So how does the sequel fare and what separates it from the pack?
Infact on the cover of the game it promises "role playing golf" don't be afraid to shout out WTF? when you see this. What makes the game unique is the fact that now your golfers gain "experience points" after completing something like a course or a minigame. Just like in a RPG, these points are used to make your golfers better. Your golfers grow levels and you can eventually turn them in to the best golfer EVAR!
This game was made by the people who made golden sun, and thats why they bare the resemblance in graphics and many other things. It even has a big brother on the gamecube called Toadstool Tour, many agree that this game beats its brother in many ways. How did it fare against the critics however?

Graphics: 9/10
Using the golden sun engine, the graphics don't get much better then this. The camera is never a problem and the courses are (somewhat) detailed. The character sprites are somewhat of a turnoff, but they're fairly easy to ignore. When you see this game in the 3D view, your mouth will start watering. This view looks exactly like a battle in golden sun, it simply looks fantastic. YUMMIE!
Sound: 7/10
I really had mixed feeling here. The music can go from catchy to ear piercingly annoying. However when the ball hit a branch of a tree it would make a different sound then when it hit the trunck. It may not sound like much but you'll really start to appreciate the small things put into this game. Again it sounds exactly like golden sun, which may or may not be bad.
Playability: 8/10
Putting is *****. Something that must be perfect in a golf game for it to work is somewhat disfigured. There are arrows that point which way the hill on the green is facing and the bigger the arrow the bigger the drop. It was just inconsistent for the most part and downright annoying. Bad parts aside that was really other bad part was the fact that you (still) have to hold down the B button to run. People its 2004 for and im still having to push a run button, get with the times. Its a good thing walking/running is really only used on the world map which really is only about 10 seconds long from one end to another. The driving was good and everything else was excellent, its just that putting!
Replay Value: 9/10
There are lots of somewhat amusing minigames that can past your time and make your golfer stronger. Multiplay can be played up to 4 players with only one GBA, when its another person turn, you just switch off. A skin game, strokes play, "star" courses and players to collect, and about 2 mini golf courses and a hole-in-one course make this worth coming back to, IF your a completest. If thats not your thing going through story mode one more time won't kill you, but you wont go more then 2 times through.

final score: 9/10 (not a average)
Nearly everyone will have fun with Mario golf, just the entertainment will vary by person. The game is able to do what its bigger brother is not able to do, make the player want to keep playing. In toadstool tour rewards are scarce and not very good while advances are somewhat cool. Good job on Camelots part.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/04