Mario Golf: World Tour – A Hole In…Fun?

  • Post author:
  • Post category:Reviews

maro-golf-world-tour-logo

That title doesn’t really make any sense, but I figured we need to start being trendy and make puns out of our review titles. What I’m curious about is whether that sounds negative or not. A hole-in-one is a good thing but I imagine a hole in your fun is less desirable. Then again, it isn’t saying there is a hole in a one but rather that the hole was hit in one shot, right? So if you say hole-in-fun would that mean that they made it fun on the first try? If you read through this entire paragraph then I just wasted precious moments of your life. No refunds.

So I should probably clarify that I do think that the game is very fun. I haven’t played any of the previous Mario Golf titles but I have heard good things about them. Well, at least about the Camelot developed ones. I heard those had some RPG elements which sounds pretty cool to me. Camelot did make this game as well but from what I’ve seen there do not seem to be any RPG elements. Sounds like kind of a stupid thing to be disappointed over; not having RPG stuff in your golf game. Still, the game is very enjoyable.

Gameplay

mario-golf-under-waterMy experience with golf games begins here. The only other golf game Keen and I have played was an old version of Microsoft Golf years ago. I’m not even entirely sure how we got it. Maybe it came with the computer or something. So anyway, I don’t have a lot to compare the game to or relate. The core gameplay revolves around hitting the golf ball when a meter fills up to a specified point. This can be done with either the stylus or the buttons. If you put it on manual shot then you get a lot more options. You can add spin to the ball or even determine where you hit it. In manual mode you also have to perform an additional tap or button push when the power meter winds back down. If you hit it exactly at the precise point then you get a perfect shot. Performing such shots is important if you want to use power-shots without reducing your allotment.

There are a lot of elements that effect your ball after you hit it. Wind plays a big part and the power and direction is displayed on the upper-right screen. The type of ground you are on, along with the slant of the terrain, can also effect how powerful your shot is. When your pall is in the rough or sand trap or if its on a hill then you might see a large chunk taken out of the power meter. The terrain level also plays a part and determines how your ball rolls. Wet grass even makes your ball travel less far. I find it all to be pretty fascinating stuff but it’s probably just run-of-the-mill mechanics for golf games.

If the standard golf mechanics aren’t fun enough then you can also play on courses that have more interesting Mario Themes. The style of play actually reminds me a lot of Mario Kart. The courses have boost pads and item boxes that give you various powerups. It’s stuff like mushrooms that make your ball roll farther, bullet bills that make your shot travel a greater distance, fire flowers that obliterate trees in your flight path, boomerang flowers that give your shot crazy curve, and so on. There are also some courses where you don’t even try to sink your ball into the hole, you just hit it and collect coins.

mario-golf-world-tour-3dsCastle Club

The quick-play option is where you get to choose from classic Mario characters but it’s in the Castle Club where it seems the real focus of the game is. Here you play as your Mii and work on building up your handicap. You can take on a few practice challenges and compete in handicap tournaments. When you feel up to it you can try a course tournament and bring home a trophy.

All of the games you play award you with varying amounts of coins. You use these to purchase different stuff in the club shop like clubs, balls, and clothing. All of these different items having distinct looks and provide you with different stat bonuses. I’m not entirely sure what a lot of the different changes mean but I imagine anything with an up arrow must be a good thing, right?

Below the club you can find warp pipes that give you access to special promotional tournaments. Competing in these will award you with special items and you can try and see how you stack up to other players around the globe. The winner of each tournament gets a big pile of coins.

I haven’t looked through many of the multiplayer options but from what I understand there is online play and you can even set up your own custom tournaments.

Final Thoughts

Mario Golf is a lot of fun to play and it’s something that is easy to enjoy in small bursts or even longer gaming sessions. I like finding games that are fun but don’t require a full amount of attention to enjoy, if that makes any sense. I guess I like to, at least try, multitasking. I haven’t played a lot of the Mario sports off-shoots but this one is really fun and way more enjoyable than Mario Tennis on 3DS. It’s definitely worth taking a swing at! (My apologies for that one)

  • I played last night and was able to earn a low handicap of -9! Then I competed in a tournament and improved to a -6. I have no idea if that’s good, but they told me I improved. 😛

    What I think is pretty cool about Mario Golf: World Tour is that you can enter into tournaments with other players from around the world. At any given time there are several tournaments running. I’m pretty sure just by entering you can get a neat prize. I’m going to enter one tonight and see if I can do well.

  • It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely
    donate to this outstanding blog! I guess for now i’ll settlke for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
    I look forward tto brand new updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook group.

    Chat soon!