Mario Golf is a series that has been around perhaps longer than anyone realizes. In America anyway, the first game released June 30th, 1999 for the N64. Just two months shy of it's 15-year anniversary, Camelot Software is bringing another entry back into the limelight on 3DS. In fact, it's been nearly ten years since the last Mario Golf game (crazy to think about). The original game's tag-line was "Tee Up With Mario and His Friends". Here you'll get to do just that, and this time in glorious 3D graphics.


Mario Golf brought us the mechanics and the initial characters. It brought us the premise and set the bar high. A few months after the N64 release a Game Boy Color title released. Then Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, a GameCube gem released in summer of 2003, took things farther with higher-fidelity graphics as well as more Mushroom-Kingdom-esque courses. I'll never forget the joy brought to me by that game that summer and for many years there after. Finally, the last time we saw a club-clad Mario and friends was in June 2004 with Mario Golf: Advanced Tour on the GameBoy Advance which expanded things in a specific direction... RPG-like qualities for character building.

In just two short weeks Nintendo fans will finally be able to play the next installment (which receive an initial year-long delay when it was originally intended to be released in Summer 2013). This title looks to expand on the formulas that made it great while finding a middle ground between the two different tiers that have developed over time.


This title looks to have a ton of features in store and a ton of gameplay opportunity. It keeps it's arcade-appeal with the classic Power-Bar which allows you to decide just how far to hit the ball, and if you're savvy enough, it allows you to put some hook, draw, or angle to the ball as well. For those who are less versed in these mechanics or just want a more simplified experience, you can once again choose to automate the latter portion of the swing. This time around, being on 3DS and all, you can opt to use the stylus to tap the screen in leu of using a button and also you can use the stylus to decide how to affect the ball post-launch.


As you can see from the above screenshots, the game has taken a significantly stronger focus on creative levels inspired by the Mushroom Kingdom, which means I should be getting exactly what I want most from the series. It's uncertain who the final roster will be in the game as playable characters but it is known that you can play as your own Mii and do all sorts of cool stuff. By using your Mii, you can engage in a somewhat altered version of the RPG-like qualities of games' past. Customize your Mii with headgear, clubs, pants, and other features which not only change the design of your golfer but the attributes as well. I'm quite excited to have this customized experience.


Check out the game in the Game Database to find all sorts of videos (though I'll post them on page one of this thread as well) and don't forget to add this to your collection come May when the game releases. Also, if you're still finding yourself without a pre-order, Amazon.com still has the game for $29.99 with the pre-order price guarantee. At three-quarters the original price, there's no excuse not to nab this up day one!

Check out the main website at mariogolf.nintendo.com and see even more content. There you'll also find more details on the online-component to this game which better explains the 'world' in World Tour. You'll be able to play matches online against opponents from anywhere on the planet. This key feature should give Mario Golf fans abundantly more play-time from their cart or download. You can also check out this great impressions article from Daan Koopman over at NintendoWorldReport. It'll detail even more about courses and gameplay, etc.

Now that the game is out, it's time to hit the green and find ourselves in some tournaments! Below are the codes for various Negative World Tournaments. I'll do my best to keep up on these as they change.

Tournaments
Tournament 3: 64-5705-3846-4942
Tournament 4: 03-0537-2193-5082

Community: 50-3155-4188-2450
Reviews

Nintendo Life - 9 / 10

IGN - 8.6 / 10
NintendoWorldReport.com - 8.5 / 10
Destructoid - 8.5 / 10
Eurogamer - 8 / 10
Polygon - 8 / 10

EGM Now - 7.5 / 10
Videogamer - 7 / 10
Gamespot - 7 / 10

Edge-Online - 6 / 10
DigitalSpy - 3 / 5
Joystiq - 3 / 5

Average Score: 7.51/10
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