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:: Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for GCN Review |
Once again, Mario & Co. delves into the world of sports to bring us the third iteration of the golf game with the same name. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. A barely recognizable character in the NES version, Mario now leads even more of his Nintendo brethren into competition.
Booting up the game is quick, even for GameCube standards. You can be teeing off in as little as 20 seconds from the time the round, white Start button is pressed. Saving is also brisk in typical GCN fashion. The menus are clean and simple, with large, very descriptive icons for the different pre-game options and game types.
The game types in Mario Golf: TT are abundant. Whether you enjoy dominating your friends in two to four player mode, or going solo to unlock more venues and a broader roster of golfers, there are plenty of things to keep you occupied.
There are 11 modes of play in single player mode and 10 in multiplayer. The center of attention in the single player game lies between the Tournament and Character Match modes. In the Tournament mode you start with a single course, where you must, at the end of the traditional 18 holes, be a certain ways up in the leader board. Doing so will unlock further courses, allowing you to advance. What I found most addictive was the Character Match mode in which one golfer challenges you at a time for a little one-on-one. You play to win holes, and the player with the most holes won at the end of the day is the champ.
Upon the defeat your challenger, you receive the option to use them as a star player, which results in a greater hitting distance, while compromising their impact zone (which I’ll described later on). The other modes include Stroke Play, Training, and Mario Golf specific Club Slots, in which you only have a select group of clubs to chose from as judged by a slot machine. In multiplayer, the Tournment and Character Match modes are substituted for a mode in which you challenge your human friends.
The courses offered have a vast spectrum of characteristics. You begin with a lone event of a realistic nature but can quickly expand to wonderfully themed places inspired by the very best Mario oriented locals. A round at the Princess Peach Open had me pondering what a traditional Mario for GameCube could have been. But that is a different story.
When you load the game for the first time, you will have 12 golfers ready and waiting for some action on the greens. These vary from the tiny, barely-able-to-hold-a-club Koopa Troopa to the infamous Bowser. A further two can be unlocked later in the game, as well as star versions of all of the above, whose ranges increase 30 to 60 yards. Their stats differ mainly by impact zone, spin and control. Some characters also have a natural curve in their swing, and of course, they all have a different maximum range.
The means of hitting the ball in Mario Golf: TT is very similar to how it is executed in about ever golf game I can think of, as it should be. Covering the far bottom of the game play screen is, among other things, the power gauge. Some good hand-eye coordination ensures a clean hit onto the fairway, or anywhere else adequate for the situation at hand. Depending on the where you have aimed your ball, a corresponding range should be displayed on the gauge where you must try to stop the rapidly moving marker. Here is where you are given options. Your golfer has the ability to curve the ball around a direct obstacle (as determined by their spin stat) by stopping the marker on the way back, inverted of the direction you want the ball to spin on-screen. No edge is given without a price though, as you run the risk of sending your ball veering far off course if the marker is off the impact zone back at the beginning of the gauge (the impact stat determines its size).
The rest of the tools at your disposal include choosing from a vast selection of clubs as well as the point at which the ball is struck. A lower point of impact on the ball results in greater height to your shot to get over obstacles, and a more predicable end to your ball’s journey, as it approaches more vertically to the ground. A higher impact point sends the ball gliding closer to the ground, which can be helpful for making it under certain objects (only in the Mushroom Kingdom people). But, once the ball hits the ground, it bounces farther because of the shallow angle. An impact from a side angle results in a curve, in combination with a well-placed marker at the end of the power gauge. The majority of the time this feature proves useless in avoiding obstructions, and hence is not often used.
The camera angles that present your experienced are a mixed bag. For the most part, they are very enjoyable as you can follow your ball for a 300-yard ride with the best seat in the house, as if the camera was mounted just aft of the travelling ball. When preparing a swing you also have the ability to follow the camera through the intended path of the ball, making sure no obstructions hinder its performance. A satellite type view is also welcome, helping set up your approach to the green in the most efficient manner. On the flip side, in tight spots the camera can become immobilized, making it very confusing to focus it back onto the intended target. Also, as more of a nuisance than anything, sometimes when putting the camera stays on your character rather than following the ball, even past hearing the ball drop in the cup (if your that lucky).
The graphics in Mario Golf are no doubt similar to that of the upcoming Mario Tennis game. The grass textures are crisp and the roughs are bump mapped, bringing life to the lanes. The water is also of a quality similar to what other Nintendo games see. On the other hand, the real world trees as well as rock formations are on the bland side, with details washing into each other. The character animations are smooth, however few there are. The character celebrations become mundane shortly, and are frequently skipped to keep the game rolling at a certain pace.
The aural experience is on the sparse side in the game. There’s not much to hear in golf, but classic Nintendo tunes, some of which I haven’t heard since Mario 64, have been updated to inspire your game. A welcome complement, though they repeat throughout every hole of the course and get old much like the celebrations. Every other sound effect is also repeated immensely, but it is not that evident.
Well, so far everything seems fine and dandy. But, of course, no game is perfect and Mario Golf has some vary obvious shortcomings. Looking at the number of modes this game has to offer it is easy to forget about what really factors in making them all enjoyable. The actually game play. While the game itself is easy to pick up for the first time and enjoy, it has very little depth in the actual golfing experience to keep you coming back just as eagerly. That’s a costly trade off for anyone willing to purchase this game, as it holds little merit for a seeker of golf, but rather the familiar faces associated with it.
Some suggestions: Include more Nintendo mascots into the equation, accompanied with even more golfing events from the places we all know and love. F-Zero, Star Fox and Zelda surroundings would be fantastic in creating an even more unique golfing experience. Also, the learning curve could be made steeper in return for longer life span, or at least the option to raise the difficulty without simply giving the player a handicap.
Considering the low points, I still found Mario Golf very entertaining, finding that I would play it for short stints rather than long stretches. At times, it can seem like the most frustrating thing in the world, and in turn very rewarding when you finally defeat a difficult foe, or win a tournament. I could see myself hitting the fairways months down the line, but only with the accompaniment of some friends, making things the more unpredictable, unlike the AI. I strongly recommend this as a rental first if you are not a follower of the series, otherwise you know exactly what to expect.
Final Rating: 7.3
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| Reviewed by Koren Korok ::
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