Mario Golf: World Tour features areas to explore, but they just felt unneeded most of the time. One of the biggest problems I found was that the areas around the Castle Club were not labeled well, so you might spend a good bit just navigating between each location, especially if it has been awhile since you last played. I like a level of exploration in even games like this, but I almost felt like this could have at least given the option to access areas like the shop and courses through menus, rather than having to go look for them. They let you change your gear just by pressing start, but the rest is a task to find a good bit of the time.
Like most Mario sports games, the roster is made up of classic characters you would expect like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, Donkey Kong, and even a few unlockables. This made Castle Club even more disappointing, as you were stuck with the Mii only, when I would have much rather taken control of one of the many Mario characters and taken them through the single player campaign.
As with any game, especially sports related, the controls and physics in the game are one of the most important aspects and Camelot scores a hole-in-one in that department. The Mario Golf series has always managed to maintain the core physics of golf itself, while also managing to amplify them a good bit. You have the option to let the game choose the best club for you to use in specific situations or you can move into manual mode and do things for yourself, once you being a pro at the game.
Moving your targets around the field is one of the keys to your success, while also keeping in mind the wind factor, just like you’d find in a Tiger Woods golf video game. You have the option to just use the analog stick to position your shots as an intermediate player, or you can get fancy and actually use your stylus to draw up shots that introduce fade and many other elements into the mix. This does take a lot of time to learn, so do not expect to become an expert right away.
For those that may get bored by your basic golf game, you can enhance your experience with items made popular by the Mario series. When you have items turned on, you will come across them on the course and will gain access to them by hitting the item boxes with your golf ball. Items like the Mushroom and Bullet Bill will improve your shot distance while others like the Fire Flower will burn through leaves that happen to get in your way on a shot. Adding items to individual matches definitely makes the whole experience a lot more interesting, to where it may be hard to play without them sometimes.
The load times in this game are kind of long a lot of the time when just navigating the menus. When simply going from the main menu to choosing Quick Round and then Tournaments, I averaged having to wait 10-15 seconds each time, even if I was just inside that menu. The wait is lessened by creative load screens that show classic scenes from the original Super Mario Bros., but it is still quite annoying. Having load times before an actual match is one thing, but between areas of the menu is pretty inexcusable.
Due to being reviewed prior to launch, I was not able to actually find any multiplayer matches, but there are plenty of options to choose from when you do. The online match options consist of Stroke Play, Match Play, Skins Match, Speed Golf, and Point Tourney. Within each of these, you have the ability to choose whether everybody votes for the course, the course is chosen at random, or if you as the party creator chooses. Oddly, you cannot do a full 18 hole online match, but rather you can choose nine, six, or three hole courses. You then have the option to choose whether you want things like items and coins, or the type of wind you want. There is also the option for simultaneous play, which is definitely a much quicker option than having to take turns. If you have a friend with the game locally, you can play against one another without having to take the system online as well.
Mario Golf: World Tour is a much needed return to the Mario Golf series after such a long hiatus between titles. The core gameplay and physics are near perfect, with plenty of game modes in which to choose. However, the game does seem to squander the potential of the Castle Club single player campaign a bit, which does not live up to the Mario Golf single player campaigns of the past. The mode is still plenty playable, but really could have done a whole lot more. Regardless, Mario Golf: World Tour is a game that will keep your entertained for many hours, especially with online play. While it may not be a hole-in-one, the game is a solid birdie that very much deserves a spot in your Nintendo 3DS library.
[Editor’s Note: Mario Golf: World Tour was reviewed on the Nintendo 3DS. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
