What I Think of: Mario Golf: World Tour

Mario has the best life ever. You rarely see him working, he gets to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, he can drive his car as fast as he wants, he hasn't aged a day in about 30 years, and he gets played by Captain Lou Albano!

He also gets to play (and be the best at) any sport he ever plays. Which leads us to the newest way for him to show off how Mario is the master of everything: Mario Golf: World Tour for the 3DS. So does this turn into a real Sunday Drive, or does it end up a Bunker Buster? (Wordplay is FUN, kids!)

Let's a-go! It's a-mFORE!

The presentation feels a lot like Mario Tennis Open, you boot up the game, you get a quick "How-To" tutorial on the basics, and you are sent into the menus with a pat on the rear and a "Go get-em, Tiger" (golf reference....just so we are clear). The layout is even similar to Tennis: with all the action on the top and the controls listed on the bottom screen.

The control scheme can be switched on the fly between "Auto" and "Manual". The 'Auto' option is the old 2-click style where you just set the power and the game does the contact part. The 'Manual' option is the typical 3-click approach where you set the power and the contact point, where you can put a little spin on the ball depending on how far away from the sweet spot you get. If you have played a golf game in your life, you know exactly how these mechanics work.

Oh yeah! Luigi tiFORE!

The main 2 options are "Quick Round" and "Castle Club". In "Quick Round", you can play a round quickly (I know, right?). You get the options to do Single Player modes like Stroke Play, Match Play, Speed Play, and Point Play. You also can jump into the VS. Mode and play against local players or online competitors. Also, you can join online tournaments. The online portion is pretty substantial so I will cover that later. Also, worth noting, you can play as any character in this mode, including your Mii.

In "Castle Club" you play as only your Mii and this is the "story mode" of World Tour. It's essentially a giant hub. When you first walk in, you are vaguely told about where to go, to the point where when the text was done, I didn't know what just hit me. After wandering aimlessly for a while, opening several doors, talking to random Koopas and Goombas, and yelling "Where do I go?" at my 3DS, I finally found the way out to the first course.

Insert Wario catchphrase heFORE!

Once you find the first course you are asked to do a practice round so the game can decide your starting handicap. Honestly I was a little surprised to see a game like this even mention the word 'handicap' let alone incorporate that into the gameplay. Once your handicap is set, you can play a handicap tournament and then eventually the Course Championship. The overall goal is to win the Championship on all 3 courses.

When you complete a round, you are awarded coins which you can spend in the boutique to unlock apparel and equipment, which can boost your stats in various ways, giving you more power and better control while also making you look dapper. I recently unlocked the Game Boy themed clothes set which include a fancy Game Boy branded visor. Ladies, look out!

You'll see this outfit at Augusta next year, guaranteed

In the basement of the Castle Club is where the action kicks off and begins my talk on the online play. There are 2 pipes you can travel through in the basement, one takes you to regional online tournaments, and the other takes you to international tournaments.

Let's clarify what I mean by "Tournaments" here first. There are set tourneys that Nintendo has made that have a set beginning and end with a specific ruleset and course. There is one where you can only play as Mario, there's one where you have to collect the most coins while also posting the best score, there's one for the DLC course, etc. You can play the tourney as many times as you want, but when the cutoff date passes, the tournament is over and coins are distributed to the best performers. You can keep track of your place on the leaderboards and also see who is doing the best and where they are playing from (your nation's flag appears next to your name).

That's pretty cool, right? Now let's add in the "Private Tournament" option. These are user-created and you can set all sorts of parameters, like which characters can be used, if items can be used, if the course can be random, how long the tournament runs for, etc. There are already a few of these out there and you can choose whether to post them for all to participate in, or generate a code you can give to your friends so only they can jump in. You can personally have 2 tournaments running at a time. I have one called "Luigi Time" happening where you can only play as Luigi (since I am Team Lean Mean Green Machine!).

The online potion of World Tour is what's going to keep this game going, it is excellent and already where I spent most of my time.

..........YoshFORE!!

Also worth noting is the future DLC plans for World Tour. You can (as I did) purchase the season pass for $14.99 and get access (when released) to 3 more courses and 3 more characters. You can also have access to Gold Mario after purchasing the Season Pass, or after buying all the DLC packs when released. Word is that they all should be availbe around June/July.

It is a 3DS game after all, and I'm finding that Nintendo has figured out how to make 3D work and look great. All of their trademark franchises has implemented 3D excellently and it shows again here. You really get a feel for how far away the hole is by looking into the "distance" of your screen.

My only real complaint is when I am on the green, my character seems really in the way, they do make him/her transparent to make it easier, and maybe it's my aging eyes, but it's a little hard for me to read the green. Doesn't break the game in any way and in the long run, doesn't effect my score too much, just worth noting.

Hello, I am Donkey Kong, I am going to hit this ball, just a heads up.

When all is said and done, I am surprised my 3DS hasn't caught fire with how much I played this yesterday. This is the 2nd game (apart from Mario Kart 7) where I legitimately pushed the battery to its limits. While I kinda feel the "Castle Club" seems shoehorned in (honestly, I would prefer some RPG element to the likes of Advance Tour for the GBA), the overall experience is absolutely enjoyable, the online functionality and suite of features is superb, and I can not recommend this title enough to anyone with a 3DS.

Man, I love my 3DS. It's an XL. Impressed? :)