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• Mario Golf: World Tour

Mario Golf: World Tour is a sport title for the Nintendo 3DS . It is the third handheld installment of the Mario Golf series , and the eighth installment in the series overall. The game features gyroscope support and Wi-Fi capabilities, allowing players to participate in online Tournaments against other players from around the world. The game made use of downloadable content, in which extra courses and characters could be bought with real money, prior to the 3DS Nintendo eShop service's discontinuation on March 27, 2023. The game also made use of Nintendo Network , but the service was terminated on April 8, 2024, making the game no longer playable online. [1] [2] It is the first Mario Golf game to have been released after its tennis counterpart .

• 2.3 Castle Club
• 3.1.1 Default
• 3.1.2 Unlockable
• 3.1.3 Downloadable
• 3.1.4 Customizable
• 3.2 Non-playable
• 4 Customizable gear
• 7.1.1.1 Stroke Play
• 7.1.1.2 Match Play
• 7.1.1.3 Speed Golf
• 7.1.1.4 Point Tourney
• 7.1.1.5 Challenges
• 7.1.3 Skins Match
• 7.2 Castle Club
• 7.3 Toad's Booth
• 8.1 Regional Tournaments
• 8.2 World Tournaments
• 8.3 Mario Open
• 9 Downloadable content
• 11 Profiles
• 12 Reception
• 13 References to other games
• 14 References in later games
• 15 Regional differences
• 16 Pre-release and unused content
• 20.1 Announcer
• 22 Names in other languages
• 23 References
• 24 External links

Gameplay [ edit ]

The gameplay is similar to past installments of the Mario Golf series. Players have to hit shots while taking into account character attributes, wind, weather, and course topography. The power, accuracy, and spin of shots are determined by the timing when the player taps buttons or the touch screen as a target line slides up and down the power meter. A simplified control system, like the Auto control system from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour , returns where the player has to worry only about the power of the shot, at the expense of being unable to add topspin or backspin. The touch screen can now be used for selecting clubs, initiating shots, and adding spin. Plus, the trajectory of the shot can be altered by moving the circle pad or by using the touch screen as the shot meter is in motion; this is similar to the impact zone feature of past games. A new feature, known as Item Shots , allows players to hit shots with different effects via items. These include burning through trees with a Fire Flower , creating Note Blocks over water hazards, ignoring wind via Bullet Bill , increasing draw or fade by Boomerang , and freezing the terrain with an Ice Flower . These items can be collected by hitting ? Blocks on the course, although players sometimes start holes with items.

Controls [ edit ]

Menu [ edit ].

Golf [ edit ]

Castle Club [ edit ]

Characters [ edit ], playable [ edit ].

The game includes 13 default characters as well as four unlockable characters, with an additional four as downloadable content, making a total of 21 characters. When the bonus characters are unlocked or downloaded, they immediately get a star rank. Miis , Toad , Kamek , Paratroopa , Gold Mario , Toadette , Nabbit , and Rosalina are playable for the first time in the Mario Golf series, though Gold Mario cannot be used in 100 Coins challenges. In addition, Daisy , Boo , Bowser Jr. , Diddy Kong , and Birdo are playable in a handheld console Mario Golf installment for the first time, after previously being playable in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour . With the discontinuation of digital purchases for Nintendo 3DS in March 2023, it is no longer possible to buy the downloadable characters, though they can still be downloaded by those who purchased them when they were available.

Below is a table of the playable characters. Note that Height is on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest-flying shot and 10 being the highest. Sweet Spot and Control are out of 11. When a character curves the ball, it is either called a fade or draw. A fade is when the ball curves in the direction of the dominant hand and a draw is when the ball curves opposite the direction of the dominant hand. When a shot is used with a curve on a hole with a higher surface, the ball can either over-curve or under-curve, resulting in misplacing of the ball.

Default [ edit ]

Stronger Star versions of the default characters can be unlocked by beating them in their respective character match in Challenges mode.

Unlockable [ edit ]

These characters can be obtained by collecting a specific amount of Star Coins in Challenge Mode, after all Mario World courses are unlocked.

Downloadable [ edit ]

Customizable [ edit ], non-playable [ edit ].

These characters appear as either non-playable characters in Castle Club that players can interact with or as background elements in many of the various golf courses in the game.

• Mega Monty Moles
• Koopa Troopa
• Cheep Cheeps
• Big Urchins
• Big Piranha Plant
• Piranha Plant
• Bullet Bill
• Butterflies
• Para-Beetles
• Buzzy Beetle
• Chain Chomps
• Heavy Para-Beetles
• Fishin' Lakitu
• Screaming Pillars
• Big Screaming Pillars
• Giant Chomp
• Hungry Luma

Customizable gear [ edit ]

There is a variety of purchasable gear that can be used to customize the player's Mii that will affect their stats. The game will have 500 customizable gear items. If a player equips a Mii with a full character gear set the Mii will play similarly to that character. At first, participating in tournaments is the only way players can unlock gear that are not available in the store. But it will start selling them once a major tournament has ended. However, players have to enter major tournaments to earn clothing sets themed after these tournaments.

Items [ edit ]

Various items can be used during gameplay to affect the player's shots. At the start of the game, the player is given the number of items equivalent to the number of holes being played on divided by three. More can be received when the player hits the ball through ? Blocks , which give the player random items. If the ball goes through a box with a picture of an item on it, the player gets that item. In player-tournaments, a set amount of items can be chosen for the tournament players to receive before starting.

Courses [ edit ]

Mario Golf: World Tour has the most courses of all Mario Golf games, with 16, including the downloadable courses, making a total of 234 holes. The Castle Club courses have 18 holes and have championships that the Mii can compete in against other characters in the game. The Mario World Courses contain gimmicks based on different Super Mario games and have nine holes. All these courses can be accessed through both Mario Golf (quick round) and Castle Club. The six downloadable courses, which could be bought with real money, are taken from the Nintendo 64 game with updated music and graphics. Some of these courses have changed appearances to look like specific worlds from New Super Mario Bros. U .

With the discontinuation of digital purchases for Nintendo 3DS in March 2023, it is no longer possible to buy the downloadable courses, though they can still be downloaded by those who purchased them when they were available.

Game modes [ edit ]

There are two main modes of play: Mario Golf (Quick Round), and Castle Club.

Mario Golf [ edit ]

Mario Golf (Quick Round) is similar to past Mario Golf games, where the player can select a Mushroom Kingdom character or a customized Mii. It features a variety of modes such as Single Player (including Stroke Play, Match Play, Speed Golf, and Point Tourney, all of which provide coins for the player), Vs. (Local Play, Online Friends, and Community Match), and Tournaments (Mario Open and user-created Private Tournaments). Additional regional and worldwide online tournaments are available on the entry floor of the Castle Club.

Single Player [ edit ]

This mode allows players to take on a round by themselves, and against the clock or a computer opponent, as well as Challenges, where courses, Star characters, and Mii costumes can be unlocked. The first four modes allow the player to select any unlocked course. The following settings can be adjusted: number of holes (three, six, nine, or 18), order of holes (normal or mixed), wind strength, whether or not to use items or club slots or have coins on the course, whether to start from hole 1 or hole 10 (when playing the holes in normal order), what tees to start from (regular, back, or tournament), and whether or not to display the shot trajectory. Playing rounds may earn the player Best Badges and will randomly unlock Mii Gear for the player's Mii to use.

Stroke Play [ edit ]

A standard round of golf, where the player's score is compared to par.

Match Play [ edit ]

The player competes against a computer-controlled opponent. The winner of the round is whichever player wins more holes, although if the players are tied by the end of the game, it will proceed into Sudden Death and go through the selected course again until someone wins. The player may choose the opponents skill level, ranging in five different varieties, two of which need to be unlocked.

Speed Golf [ edit ]

Instead of counting strokes, the player's score is determined by how much time is taken to sink the ball.

Point Tourney [ edit ]

Scored via a modified version of the Stableford scoring system . The player is awarded eight points for an albatross or a hole in one, five for an eagle, three for a birdie, two for a par, and one for a bogey. A double bogey or worse scores zero.

Challenges [ edit ]

Each of the game's courses, including downloadable courses, have ten Star Coin challenges and ten Moon Coin challenges (the latter are more difficult, and unlocked by earning 90 Star Coins). They take the following forms:

Vs. [ edit ]

This is the game's multiplayer mode. Local play is available for up to four players, but it does not support download play. During multiplayer, all players play at the same time, which speeds up play significantly because players do not have to wait until it is their turn to play. However, all players must finish the hole before they are allowed to move on. Players can see the ghost shots of other players and on-screen icons also show how the player's shots measure with the other players' in terms of distance. Players can send taunts or cheers to each other by pressing icons, as well as emoticons. Matches with online friends and community matches can also be played from this menu.

Skins Match [ edit ]

In addition to Stroke Play, Match Play, Speed Golf, and Point Tourney from the single-player mode, Skins Matches are playable, though exclusive to multiplayer. They are very similar to Match Play in that the goal is to earn the most points. However, this mode can be played by 2-4 players, and rather than having a set point goal, the player with the most points after a set number of holes wins. This mode does not support simultaneous play.

To the left of the Caddie Master's booth is the Royal Garden, which has pipes leading to the six Mario World courses, and a passageway to the Royal Room. Entering these pipes will put the player in a practice round on any of the courses, where the player uses the front tees, starts out with a few items and can grab more from Item Boxes around the course, and hits the ball through coins that appear as well. At the far left of this garden is an aura which will summon Kamek when the player approaches it. Kamek can exchange play coins for game coins, change their dominant hand, allow mulligans (the ability to redo strokes), or change the player's swing type, all at a cost of a huge amount of coins. After all three course championships are won, Costume Challenges will begin appearing in the Royal Garden, where players can unlock costumes by completing objectives such as collecting a certain number of coins, finishing in a short period of time, and beating a target score using Club Slots, all on Mario World courses. Unlike in Quick Round, where the challenges only cover three specific holes and the front or back tees are used, Costume Challenges take place on all nine holes and tournament tees are used. To the right of the main course entrances is an area with entrances to training grounds where players can take a golf tutorial (no gate) and practice their drives (purple gate), approaches (blue gate), and putts (green gate). The practice sessions come in different levels, and the goal is to get the ball as close to the pin as possible -- or even sink the ball -- to earn practice points. Succeeding 20 times in the training games each for drives, approaches, and putts will give the player costumes of Bee Mario , Cloud Mario , and Boomerang Mario respectively. Past the practice grounds is the entrance to Sky Island , where the player takes on the One-On, One-Putt challenge, which requires the player to get the ball onto the green in one shot, then putt that ball in the next for nine consecutive holes. If the ball misses the green or just lands on the fringe, or the putt is missed at any point, the challenge is failed. Upon completion, the course will be unlocked and an 18-hole version can be played in Castle Club in its stead. Taking the One-On, One-Putt challenge again and clearing all 18 holes will award the player with a Propeller Mario costume.

Toad's Booth [ edit ]

Hosted by a blue Toad, this is primarily where players can purchase downloadable content. Records for each game mode, including the number of eagles, albatrosses, and holes-in-one made, can also be viewed here. Players can also visit this booth to learn how to play the game, and see a glossary of golf terminology.

Online tournaments [ edit ]

Mario Golf: World Tour features a variety of online tournaments for players to take part in. They can either be made by Nintendo with golf gear as participation prizes (barring DLC tournaments), by other players from across the world in the form of Private Tournaments, or made by Callaway Golf in partnership with Nintendo. SpotPass must be turned on for tournaments to be entered.

After playing through a tournament, the player must upload their score in order for it to be ranked (by score then order of submission) in the leaderboard which can be viewed at any time during the tournament period. Tournaments can be played an infinite amount of times until the deadline has been met, allowing for continuous improvement of a player's score. Most tournaments last for two weeks, those on downloadable courses are one week long, and major tournaments last for almost a month. After a deadline ends for a tournament, the final standings can be viewed in an award ceremony, and both a trophy (gold for the top 10%, silver for the top 20-30%, and bronze for the top 40-60%) and coins are received depending on how the player places. Gaining a trophy in certain regional or worldwide tournaments will allow the player to enter one of four yearly major worldwide tournaments (such as the Castle Tournament or Star Open) that reward the player with a more impressive trophy and a larger coin payout.

Trophies earned from Regional and World Tournaments in the Castle Club appear on the shelf at the back of the trophy hall (a maximum of ten normal trophies can be on display at any one time), and trophies from major tournaments appear in the glass display towards the center of the room. Gold trophies appear beside the screen in the middle, silver ones are seen farther from it, and bronze ones are placed at the far sides of the hall. World tournament trophies appear towards the middle and those for regional tournaments are placed at the sides. The higher the end ranking the player got in a tournament, the closer to the middle its trophy is placed.

Official online tournaments were concluded with World Tour Final, which started on December 20, 2018, and ended on January 10, 2019. Despite this, official online DLC tournaments remained available, with the final DLC Trial Tour 98 on Mario's Star having entries allowed until December 31, 2030, a placeholder date which stayed until the Nintendo Network service was shutdown on April 8, 2024.

Below is a list of the official types of online tournaments:

Regional Tournaments [ edit ]

In the Castle Club's basement, the player's Mii can go into a pipe on the red entry machine to join Regional Tournaments. These restrict participants to those in the chosen region(s). The clothing prizes for these tournaments are obtained individually, and are themed after the playable characters (not the downloadable ones), and some enemies and items. Additionally, Callaway Golf has teamed up with Nintendo to produce Callaway-based regional tournaments, which will give the players sponsored Callaway Gear for the Mii to equip during the tournaments and to keep afterwards.

World Tournaments [ edit ]

On the other side of the Castle Club's basement, the blue entry machine has a pipe leading to World Tournaments, which pit the player against the whole world. The clothing prizes for these tournaments are earned in complete sets and designed like Nintendo gaming devices and themed after the major tournaments.

Major tournaments are like the expert tournaments, only that the flight path is turned on. Four of these happen every year. The Castle Tournament is in the Forest Course, the Star Open is in the Seaside Course, and the Moon Open is in the Mountain Course. In these tournaments, the holes are played in the regular order. The World Championship takes place on all three courses at once, six holes being played on for each course, and the holes are done in a mixed order.

Mario Open [ edit ]

In addition to Castle Club Tournaments, Nintendo has also created Mario Open tournaments which allow the use of Super Mario characters, and are played on Mario World courses and downloadable courses. Tournaments in this category cover nine holes, so on the downloadable courses, either the front nine or back nine are played on. All of these tournaments are world tournaments, but they award pieces of clothing for the Mii in the same way as the regional tournaments. Mario Open tournaments are stroke-play or coin-collecting tournaments, and when there are no item restrictions, players start out with three different items. Fixed-character tournaments limit players to using a specific character, and that character is not allowed to have a star rank. In limited-item tournaments, players can only use a particular item, and they start out with five of it. Players can also make their own unofficial Mario Open tournaments under rules of their choice for other players to enjoy.

Downloadable content [ edit ]

Mario Golf: World Tour was one of two Mario games on the 3DS to provide paid DLC, the other being New Super Mario Bros. 2 .

Demo [ edit ]

On April 17th, a demo of the game was released on the Nintendo eShop for Europe. Mario Golf: World Tour is the second Super Mario game (preceded by Mario & Luigi: Dream Team ) to have a publicly released demo for download. The demo was later released in North America on April 24. It uses 873 blocks when downloaded and offers ten uses (fifteen for the North American demo).

The demo lets the player go through a tutorial covering camera and shot control or play through either holes 1, 2, and 3 of Seaside Course , holes 1, 2, and 6 of Wiggler Park , and holes 1, 5, and 6 of Yoshi Lake . The demo also allows the player to play the Star Coin Collector mode on hole 9 of Peach Gardens , and the Ring Master mode on hole 14 of Mountain Course . The only playable characters available are Mario , Peach , Yoshi , and Bowser .

Profiles [ edit ]

• Nintendo 3DS eShop description:

Go clubbing around the world with Mario™! Tee off as your favorite Mario or Mii™ character while challenging players online. Shoot into warp pipes and dodge piranha plants in Mushroom Kingdom areas or take a shot at the nature-themed courses. Power-up your shots with special items to burn past pesky plants, blast over gaping chasms, or freeze water hazards. The new Castle Club has both naturalistic and Mario-themed courses, a training area to hone your skills, and a pro shop where you can get unlockable gear and outfits. Test your skills in a gauntlet of course challenges, play with friends locally (using emoticons to cheer them on), or take on players around the world in online real-time tournaments.

Grab your clubs and bring fun to the fore in Mario Golf: World Tour on Nintendo 3DS family systems! Join Mario and friends for engrossing golf action on your own, or tee off with players from all over the world in thrilling online multiplayer matches. The Mario Golf series is known for combining deceptively deep golf gameplay with ideas you could only find in a Mario game, and Mario Golf: World Tour is no exception! Master a range of courses sure to test even the most experienced player. It's not all lush greens and blue skies though - take to the fairway on sandy shores, or shoot for the pin on courses inspired by the world of Mario!

Reception [ edit ]

Mario Golf: World Tour has received generally positive reviews among critics. IGN gave the game a score of 8.6/10 (a "great" rating). They praised the game's learning curve, training options, quantity of unlockables, and multiplayer, but criticized the map in Castle Club, saying it was "confusing". [3] Joystiq gave 3 stars out of 5, being more critical, while praising the basic gameplay and online options, criticizing the Castle Club, opining it as sparse and dispensable, while also opining that the game as a whole was too safe in its approach. [4]

Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life compared Mario Golf: Word Tour favorably to Mario Tennis Open . He praised the game for a perceived sense of attention to detail, as well as its skill curve. He gave the game a score of 9/10. [5] The game was scored 83% by Official Nintendo Magazine. [6] Mario Golf: World Tour currently averages a score of 78 out of a possible 100 on Metacritic. [7]

References to other games [ edit ]

• Super Mario Bros. : The loading screens portray various golf scenes that use sprites from this game. The music used in Cheep Cheep Lagoon is a cover of the underwater theme. The music of Bowser's Castle has some parts of the castle theme in it. The overworld theme is heard in part of the music for the credits.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 : The music used in Sky Island is a cover of this game's Athletic Theme. A Super Leaf clothing set and Tanooki Mario costume appear, with golf clubs and balls to go with them.
• Super Mario World : Baby Yoshi and Reznor costumes appear, with golf clubs and balls to go with them.
• NES Open Tournament Golf : A costume, golf clubs, and a golf ball appear based on Mario's attire in this game.
• Super Mario 64 : The music of Bowser's Castle has parts of this game's Bowser level music. Additionally, the stained glass portrait of Peach appears on hole 16 of Mario's Star as terrain.
• Mario Golf (Nintendo 64) : Toad Highlands and Koopa Park return with an updated appearance, while the other four main courses appear in a new iteration. In addition, Peach's Eagle and Birdie animations are similar to her hole-in-one animation from this game as, while she celebrates, her sports uniform turns into her trademark dress (although, in that case, it was deliberate instead of accidental).
• Yoshi's Story : Yoshi Lake appears to be based on this game, even using a cover of the title screen as the music.
• Donkey Kong 64 : Some of Diddy Kong 's voice clips are recycled from this game.
• Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour : The major tournaments function much like the Star Tournaments in this game. The coin-collecting matches are similar to Quick Cash mode in this game. The availability of Petey Piranha and Koopa Troopa costumes, golf clubs, and balls recalls how they were playable characters in this game. Sky Island has a similar layout to Congo Canopy .
• Mario Golf: Advance Tour : The Castle Club has a similar layout to the Marion Clubhouse from this game. Sky Island has a similar layout to Elf's Short Course .
• Mario Power Tennis : Many voice clips are reused from this game.
• Mario Kart DS : The music of Peach Gardens is a cover of the theme used in this game's Peach Gardens .
• Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 : Mario's Star has elements from these games, and various Luma characters appear in Rosalina's post-hole animations. The music used in Wiggler Park is a cover of the Honeyhive Galaxy music. Bee Mario , Cloud Mario , and Luma costumes appear, with golf clubs and balls to go with them.
• Mario Kart Wii : Some voice clips are reused from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii : A Propeller Mario costume appears, with golf clubs and a ball to go with it.
• Donkey Kong Country Returns : The DK Jungle course is heavily based on this game. Donkey Kong's Eagle/Albatross/Hole-In-One animation features him in a silhouetted jungle setting referencing the silhouette levels that originated from this game.
• Super Mario 3D Land : A Boomerang Flower clothing set and Boomerang Mario costume appear, with golf clubs and balls to go with them. A Tail Goomba appears along with regular Goombas on hole 13 of Mario's Star as terrain.
• Mario Kart 7 : Rosalina 's voice clips are recycled from this game. Gold Mario's artwork is based off Metal Mario's artwork in this game, only with a golf club instead of a stack of tires.
• Mario Tennis Open : Mii customization returns from this game. The overall structure of the game is like this one, with sound effects and icons borrowed from it.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 : Gold Mario appears as a playable character. Moon Coins reappear. A Fox Luigi costume appears, with golf clubs and a ball to go with it. The background of Mario's Eagle/Albatross/Hole-In-One animation is the same as that of World Star .
• New Super Mario Bros. U : Layer-Cake Desert, Sparkling Waters, and Rock-Candy Mines are downloadable golf courses of places that originated in this game. A Boss Sumo Bro costume appears, with golf clubs and a ball to go with it. Nabbit appears as a playable character. His Eagle/Albatross/Hole-In-One animation features him running through a series of levels based on this game, complete with HUD.
• Super Mario 3D World : Mario 's and Luigi 's character icons appear as terrain on hole 18 of Mario's Star, while Toad 's appears on hole 12.

References in later games [ edit ]

• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS : A trophy appears depicting Mario in his Mario Golf: World Tour appearance. The trophy itself is even titled "Mario Golf: World Tour."
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate : One of Peach's victory poses resembles her Hole-in-One/Eagle animation in World Tour , only without her parasol. Similarly, one of Daisy's victory poses resembles her Birdie animation. In addition, the music track "World Tour", which plays during national tournaments, appears as an unlockable music track on Super Mario -franchise stages except for Mario Kart -themed stages.

Regional differences [ edit ]

In the British English version of Mario Golf: World Tour , the exclamation marks are missing from the animation for Birdie , Eagle , and Albatross . One is present in the Hole-in-One animation, however. The Hole-in-One text that appears in both English versions are different, the British English version having "HOLE-IN-ONE!", whereas the American English version has "HOLE IN ONE!!", leaving out the dashes.

The character select screen also has multiple differences in the distance for each character, as the letters size vary for different versions, with the British English letters being bigger than the American English letters. The abbreviation for "Yards" is also different, with the American English version having "yd." and leaves a space between it and the number, whereas the British English region uses a "yd" abbreviation with no space between the numbers and letters.

Pre-release and unused content [ edit ]

In some pre-release screenshots, the animations for " Birdie " or " Bogey " had orange circles and letters, whereas in the final game, they're blue. The letters and wording was also different in the final version, with different colors, fonts and sizes. Many holes where different, either moved or changed completely. Dark transparent boxes were also added behind the wording of certain course information, and some things were moved to different parts of the screen.

Staff [ edit ]

Mario Golf: World Tour was created by staff at both Camelot and Nintendo, with localization teams from both Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe also involved, the latter organization involving sixteen translators to bring the game to a variety of languages. Both Shigeru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo were involved as supervisors. Finally, while she was not listed in the game's credits, Kerri Kane portrayed Rosalina via recycled and previously unused voice clips from her earlier work on Mario Kart 7 . [8]

Gallery [ edit ]

Mario , Luigi , Peach and Toad

Seaside Course

Mario's golf ball

Mario's club

Media [ edit ]

Quotes [ edit ], announcer [ edit ].

• " Nice on! "
• " Wow! Nice Albatross ! "
• " Congratulations! "

Trivia [ edit ]

• Cheep Cheep Lagoon and Koopa Park are the only courses whose greens do not have square designs; instead, they use a wavy design and a hexagonal design respectively.
• The course (and mode) music for this game continues after shots on the green and post-hole animations, unlike in previous games, where the music restarts when entering a new hole (there even being a tune for hole overviews).

Names in other languages [ edit ]

References [ edit ].

• ^ @NintendoAmerica (October 4, 2023). As of early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end service for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Thank you very much for your continued support of our products. . Twitter (American English). Retrieved February 17, 2024.
• ^ @NintendoAmerica (January 23, 2024). Update: as of 4/8, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end service for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Thank you very much for your continued support of our products. . Twitter (American English). Retrieved February 17, 2024.
• ^ Albert, Brian (April 24, 2014). Mario Golf: World Tour Review . IGN (English). Retrieved June 25, 2024.
• ^ Hayward, Andrew (May 1, 2014). Mario Golf: World Tour review: In the rough . Joystiq (English). Archived May 2, 2014, 03:59:53 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
• ^ Whitehead, Thomas (April 24, 2014). Mario Golf: World Tour Review (3DS) . Nintendo Life (English). Retrieved June 25, 2024.
• ^ East, Thomas (May 3, 2014). Mario Golf: World Tour review . Official Nintendo Magazine (British English). Page 3. Archived August 30, 2014, 00:56:16 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
• ^ Mario Golf: World Tour . Metacritic (English). Retrieved June 25, 2024.
• ^ " I’ve played the part of a fast kart-racing princess for Nintendo in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Arcade GP DX and a pretty powerful golfer in Mario Golf: World Tour. " – Kerri Kane | Professional Voiceover Artist . Kerri Kane (English). Archived May 17, 2014, 19:24:31 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 25, 2024.

External links [ edit ]

• Premiere trailer
• Official website
• Official American English website
• Official British English website
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• Games with Nintendo Network
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September 2024 is the End of an Era for Nintendo

Rumor: nintendo switch 2 dock may look much different than its predecessor, october 25 is going to be a big day for nintendo fans.

Although many consider  Mario's Tennis for the ill-fated Virtual Boy to be the first-ever  Mario Sports   title, the mustached plumber's first sporting appearance actually came in the late eighties courtesy of  NES Open Golf Tournament . Since then, Mario and friends have gone on to appear in six additional golf games , with the most recent one being 2021's  Mario Golf: Super Rush   for the Nintendo Switch.

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Despite several decades having now passed since the series' debut outing though, the basic formula remains largely unchanged. That's not to say that there haven't been one or two stand-out titles over the years, however, with some Mario Golf   games offering players far better bang for their buck than others. Likewise, a few of the titles have been a little underwhelming, either due to a lack of variety or technical issues tarnishing the overall gameplay experience.

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The game is incredibly limited in its scope, with very few game modes on offer. There were also only three courses available in the original western release of the game, with several of the courses found in the Japanese release being removed during localization. They were at least replaced with a tournament mode though, which gave western players a little more to do than their Japanese counterparts.

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Mario Golf: Super Rush is far from a bad game, but it's hard to argue that it isn't an incredibly underwhelming one when it's compared to some of the series' earlier offerings. Granted, it's definitely the best-looking  Mario Golf game to date and the actual golf mechanics are pretty solid. However, just about everything else about the game could be seen as a massive step backward from many of its predecessors.

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The post-putt animations are mediocre when compared even to the ones in  Toadstool Tour ; a game that was released for the GameCube almost two decades prior. When combined with the limited number of courses and game modes, the short story mode , and Camelot's decision not to include any unlockable characters, this leads to a game that is not only a lot less fun to play, but also far less replayable.

5 Mario Golf: World Tour

Mario Golf: World Tour   features more playable characters and courses than any other  Mario Golf  title. Granted, many of these were added into the game as paid DLC, but it provided a level of variety far beyond anything that players had seen before. Castle Club, which serves as the game's main story mode, is also an excellent addition to the series and is arguably what  Super Rush 's Golf Adventure mode should have been.

The online tournaments, varied game modes, and enjoyable multiplayer elements supplement Castle Club perfectly, offering yet more variety when it comes to how players choose to experience the game. The price of the DLC did leave a sour taste in the mouths of some, and many of the new items added into the game feel a little unnecessary, but it's still a great golf game nonetheless.

4 Mario Golf: Advance Tour

There was a time not too long ago when it felt like almost every big home console release also received a handheld version. Some of them were truly terrible , but those involving Nintendo IPs - particularly Mario - usually ended up being pretty good. Mario Golf: Advance Tour  continued this tradition, impressing both critics and players alike with its excellent mini-games, challenging courses, and solid visuals.

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With seven courses and a wide variety of game modes, the game really does put some of the series' more recent offerings to shame. Its biggest flaw is perhaps that only eight of the eighteen playable characters are actually from the mainline  Mario  series and four of those need to be transferred over from  Toadstool Tour . Aside from that though, it's a really fun game that still holds up fairly well today.

3 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

Following the series' impressive debut on the N64, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour  felt like the natural evolution of the series, with Camelot opting to perfect the formula rather than trying to rewrite it entirely. That's not to say that there wasn't at least some innovation, however, with plenty of new mechanics being added as well as some of the best multiplayer game modes to have graced the series to date.

The game features 16 classic  Mario characters , four of which will need to be unlocked by completing various challenges. It's also possible to transfer over Neil and Ella from  Advance Tour , with their stats also being carried over. All in all, it's an excellent game that improves on the original in almost every aspect. Unfortunately, however, two areas where it failed to do so were its clunky controls and cumbersome camera, both of which can at times lead to frustration rather than fun.

2 Mario Golf (GBC)

Like most games on the system , the Game Boy Color port of  Mario Golf hasn't aged all that gracefully. At the time, however, it was as impressive as it was ambitious, with Camelot somehow able to capture the essence of the N64 version of the game and package it together in a way that was both pleasing to the eye and easy to control.

These were the days before cell phone games were really a thing and so to be able to play  Mario Golf on the go was really quite something. Of course, it was nowhere near as enjoyable as the real thing, but like low-fat ice cream to somebody who's trying to watch their weight or an alcohol-free beer to a designated driver, it was a whole lot better than nothing.

1 Mario Golf (N64)

More than a decade on from Mario's first time teeing off, everybody's favorite Italian plumber returned to the links in  Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64. As one might expect, the leap to 3D completely transformed the series and the increased cartridge capacity of the system helped Camelot to cram considerably more content into the game than the original.

Impressively, the game features ten distinct game types, including a wonderfully-implemented mini-golf mode. The game also features 14 playable characters, ten of which need to be unlocked. Despite the game being named after him, Mario is one such character, with players only able to control his baby form when they first start out. Japanese players also missed out on Metal Mario, who is only available in North American and European versions of the game.

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The Best (and Worst) Parts of the Game

Mario golf: super rush complete guide.

• Mario Golf: World Tour

Mario Golf: World Tour review

Fantastic fore.

Let's hear it for the three-click swing system, eh? Pioneered by Nintendo itself in 1984 NES game Golf, this simple but effective mechanic has been a staple of golfing video games ever since. It's endured because no one's really managed to better it: some would argue the case for Tiger Woods' analogue control, and Nintendo might point to the remote-based mimicry of Wii Sports Club . But neither quite captures the elegance and rhythm of a perfect swing the way this does.

Mario Golf: World Tour is a particularly fine exponent of the three-click system. You tap A to begin your backswing, once more as your club reaches its peak to start bringing it forward again, and again to connect with the ball at the right time. It's the physical satisfaction of that final click that makes it. Analogue and particularly motion control lacks that all-important layer of abstraction: the closer you get to the real thing, the more you notice the differences. So while the camera might zoom down the course to track the path of your shot, without that sense of connection between club face and ball, it's like you're forever taking practice swings.

Here, the bar moves at quite a fast pace - a full-blooded drive is easy enough to do fairly regularly but you'll need good timing to hit peak power every time. And middling the ball is an even finer art. Sure, after a while you'll be attuned to the rhythm of a perfect shot at full power, which zips down the fairway with the obligatory rainbow trail, but what about when you need to give it a bit less? What about when you're in the rough or the bunker and that sweet spot shrinks to just a pixel or two in width? Or when you're deliberately trying to catch a bit of draw or fade to curl it around an obstacle?

Each sticky situation increases the margin for error. There will be a moment where you're stuck in a sand trap and the smart thing to do would be to play the percentages; to chip out and onto the fairway so you can aim for the green on your next shot. And yet you'll notice that a three-wood is enough to get there in one, assuming you can deal with the tiniest of sweet spots and a power bar that's been halved thanks to your awkward lie. You'll need to quickly adjust to swing forward and connect cleanly, otherwise you'll whiff it and likely end up in even worse bother. Decisions! Strategy! Flagrant risk-taking! It's all in those three clicks.

Simply by virtue of its extremely solid implementation of the three-click swing, World Tour is already comfortably in 7/10 territory. All it needs for a really big score is a varied selection of well-designed courses, a generous number of options for solo play and versus modes, and a solid single-player structure underpinning it all.

Well, as famous golf fanatic Meat Loaf once crooned, two out of three ain't bad. World Tour's biggest problems lie in the second of the two options available from the main menu. Castle Club is a campaign of sorts for your Mii, but it's nothing like the RPG modes in Camelot's previous two portable golf games. Instead, you mooch around the titular venue, a plush, attractive setting in which you can talk to wandering Shy Guys, Koopas and Monty Moles, who'll either offer tips, observations about the club itself, or banal comments on your progress.

Eventually, you'll stumble across the place you're meant to be, which is outdoors, at the Forest Course gate. You're invited to play a practice round, and then complete a tournament to establish your handicap, before finally tackling the course championship. Win, and you'll unlock the Seaside Course, and the process begins again. Beat that, and the tricky Mountain Course awaits. Triumph there, and I'm afraid that's your lot. And if you've played a Mario Golf game before, you won't need more than one shot at the first two courses, and maybe a couple of attempts at the third before you win the triple-crown.

That's not to say there isn't more stuff to do. If you're struggling to deal with heavy winds or uneven terrain, you can take a series of lessons that will help you acclimatise. You can test your skills with driving, approach and putting challenges at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Head past the practice areas and a real test awaits: the gorgeous, moonlit Sky Island hosts a nine-hole pitch-and-putt where you've got a single shot to land your ball on the green and one more to sink it, with a single failure forcing you back to the first tee. It's frustrating and fun all at once, and Castle Club is sorely lacking more of these interesting asides.

Still, it gives me cause to address the pachyderm on the putting green: the season pass DLC and day-one downloads. Just over £10 gets you six additional courses and three new characters, which seems like fairly reasonable value on the face of things. In reality, it's rare that DLC released on launch day or soon thereafter was actually completed during development, but in light of the Castle Club's featherweight campaign, it feels like Nintendo's axe has left a visible mark.

While that might leave a slightly bitter taste, everything outside the Castle Club's doors is a good deal sweeter. Those three courses are joined by several more from the Mushroom Kingdom, which are steadily unlocked by completing challenges. Some ask you to complete three holes within a strict time limit, while give you Star coins to collect or rings to shoot through en route to parring the hole.

The placement of coins and rings is wonderfully devious, particularly from the third course onward: you're almost always forced into playing risky shots to reach them, and then it's all about extricating yourself in time to hole out. Club Slots challenges make you complete holes with just three clubs selected from spinning reels, and you'll unlock Star versions of existing characters - in each case giving their shots greater distance at the cost of fine control - by beating them in a nine-hole round of Match Play.

The courses are every bit as vibrant and challenging as the ones in the GameCube's excellent Toadstool Tour. Peach Gardens is lined with topiary sculptures, while boost pads are scattered across its pink fairways, giving you an extra 10 yards or so if the ball rolls across them. Wiggler Park shrinks you down to the size of a Pikmin to play amongst the undergrowth, as flowers, Goombas and Koopas tower overhead, while Cheep Cheep Lagoon's underwater greens are predictably slow. Yoshi Lake takes its visual cues from the fabric aesthetic of Yoshi's Story, with patchwork trees, orange greens and springy floating platforms that resemble airborne mattresses.

Then there's DK Jungle, which might be the pick of the bunch: there are TNT barrels surrounding the hole on the par-three third, while the seventh has a green in the shape of DK's mighty foot, and bunkers that resemble a pointed finger. In each case, there are hazards that can help as well as hinder, from stone statues that blow out gusts of air to Bob-ombs whose explosive tendencies are almost as likely to blast you to a decent lie as out of bounds.

It really does benefit from that dose of Mushroom Kingdom charm. Sink a birdie putt as Mario and he'll collect a Starman and dash around gleefully. Win a hole as Waluigi and he'll pose and pirouette to celebrate. Toad gets his own cheer squad to pep him up after a bogey; an eagle prompts a crowd of supporters to rush onto the green, the camera zooming up and out to reveal they've formed the shape of a super mushroom. The music's great, too, adopting an ominous tone when you've got a 15-footer to save par, and getting all tense and excitable when you're potentially heading for a birdie or better. Only the lacklustre 3D effect spoils the otherwise immaculate presentation; indeed, with the slider down the frame-rate is more consistent while anti-aliasing smooths over those jagged edges.

And while you can't get rid of each course's unique features, otherwise you can tailor the game to your needs. You can spread patterns of gold coins across even the standard courses, or have the fairways strewn with item boxes containing power-ups that range from note blocks for a higher first bounce to fire flowers that allow your ball to burn through obstructive foliage. In other words, you can have as outlandish or as pure a game of golf as you like, and that includes turning the predicted flight path off, the wind up and playing from tournament tees. You can even use the stylus to play your shot, with the touch-screen segmented into panels that allow you to set the impact point or add topspin or backspin. Finally, there's an Auto swing type for beginners which only requires you to set the power, though the trade-off is the loss of fine control over your club's impact.

The natural comparison is with Everybody's Golf - which, of course, developer Camelot was responsible for in the first instance - and while the Vita game has, by a distance, the superior single-player structure, World Tour is more than a match for it in the quality of its courses and the breadth of its options. Both play a great round of golf, because both are founded upon a game mechanic that is the Holy Grail of sports games: easy to learn, difficult to master, reliable enough to empower players while leaving room for the unpredictability of human error. Click, click, click, BOOM .

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Mario Golf: World Tour guide - How to unlock all the secret characters and courses

Mario Golf: World Tour is pretty great.

It's a terrific sports game, with a smart mix of golfing realism and wacky Mario brilliance, only let down by a severely unambitious single player campaign.

It's also packed to the clubhouse rafters with bonus content, with secret characters and courses kept under lock and key. Luckily for you, we know how to unlock the lot.

This spoiler-filled guide will tell you how to get all the golfers, unlock all the courses, and get every star character. Ready?

All bonus characters and unlocked by completing challenges, which can be found under 'Quick Round - Mario Golf', 'Single Player', 'Challenges'.

These tricky puzzler-like challenges might involve collecting coins, hitting the ball through hoops, using a limited selection of clubs, or playing under a tight time limit.

You'll need a certain number of coins for each golfer. Here's how many:

Most of the course are also unlocked by completing challenges, which can be found under 'Quick Round - Mario Golf', 'Single Player', 'Challenges'. Here's how many you need:

You can unlock Star Characters by beating each golfer to a character match in the challenges menu. Here's where to find each golfer's character match.

Mario - Wiggler Park Luigi - Cheep-Cheep Lagoon Peach - Peach Gardens Yoshi - Yoshi Lake Daisy - Forest Course Donkey Kong - DK Jungle Bowser - Bowser's Castle Wario - Seaside Course Waluigi - Seaside Course Boo - Mountain Course Bowser Jr - Mountain Course Diddy Kong - Sky Island