Mario Golf: Advance Tour

"Finally a way to play a good round of golf without getting heatstroke"

Overview
Mario Golf: Advance Tour plays just like the GBC version. It has elements of being at a fancy golf resort where there are four distinctly different golf courses. There's the Marion, which is fairly easy with open fairways and not too many hazards. When you beat the Marion, you move onto the Palms, which once again is fairly easy, but there are some water hazards in the way of your journey to the green. Then there is the Dunes, which has many sand-traps along the course. And finally, there is the Links, which combines all the elements of the 3 other courses, and multiplies them by 5. Now, these 4 courses would be enough to satisfy any golf junky, but noooooo, there's MUCH more. You get a partner to play with, where you can enter singles or doubles tournaments at the 4 courses. There is a really neat story mode that you and your partner go through where your teacher, Kid, a once great golfer, decides to start playing again, and while you build up your skills and face the club champs, you ultimately get to face your teacher in a super duel. Now, there is also some neat side stuff you can do. Inside of each clubhouse lies a driving range, putting zone, and other places where pros of the game teach you different techniques that will help you destroy everyone. To test you, they give you challenges on what you've just learned where you must get 7 out of 10 of whatever you just learned, whether it be long distance putting or backspin shots. Whenever you complete a task, you are reworded experience points, which you can use to build up you or your partner's abilities. Make your shot straighter, your shot go higher, or everyone's favorite, adding yards onto your drive. And on some tasks, you get a star hole which is a hole from a course you've played, but with things such as piranha plants and chomp-chomps. Now you know why they call it Mario Golf! Out on the field, you can also enter some neat side games, such as a game where u play 3 random holes of one course with 3 random clubs. That ones fun. You can also do a game where you have to play a one whole course that is par 7! There are so many mini-games in this you'll never get bored. Add the fact that there are many secret characters to unlock, and 5 unlockable courses, you've got one great game.

Graphics: 10/10
As you probably have heard, the good folks at Camelot (makers of the Golden Sun series) used the same graphic design on Mario Golf: Advance Tour. This is a GOOD thing. The courses are beautiful, the character models are great, and my favorite, when you take long shots, it shows a view from behind your character where they take a swing, and the character models are amazing. Everything flows nicely, and nothing feels overused.

Sound: 9/10
I love the sound on this game. Each course has its own music style. The Palms has a relaxing rhythm. The Links has a majestic rhythm. The Marion has, what else, a Mario type rhythm! When you hit the ball, you hear the WHACK and there is actually a voice that says “Nice shot!” and “Nice Approach!” The sound doesn't really get that competitive, but I feel that there may have been just little touches that they could have added that would have made this a 10, such as birds chirping or the wind howling. But you know what, with all the other stuff they added to this game, and that being the worst thing, no bird chirping, you know this is a good game.

Gameplay/Fun Factor: 10/10
What more can I say about how fun this game is than I haven't yet said? So many selections of tournaments, courses, and side games, along with great graphics. C'mon, this game is awesome!

Replayability: 9/10
This game will last you for so long that you'll never stop playing it. Now, for the fact of replayability, there are a lot of neat things you can do when you finally beat the game. Things such as unlocking all the new courses, match plays with all the characters, and playing your friends…..on one Gameboy Advance with one game pak! That right there is enough to keep you interested for months to come.

Rent or Buy?
Do I even have to tell you what to do?

Final Thought:
If this isn't enough, there is actually MORE you can unlock. If you have a Gamecube, a Gameboy Advance-Gamecube Link Cable, and a copy of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, then you can transfer over some Badges and EXP points to unlock your favorite Nintendo Characters, but I won't spoil who those characters are, you'll just have to play to find out! So go out and get this game, free up your schedule, cause for the next few months there will only be one thing that you'll be doing: Playing Mario Golf: Advance Tour.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/04, Updated 07/15/04