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MARIO GOLF (GBC)
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Publisher: Nintendo.
Developer: Camelot. Released: October 1999 (Europe). Genre: Sport > Golf. Posted 25th January 2020. By Tom Clare © 2020 |
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Like its sporting stablemate Mario Tennis, Mario Golf was a miniaturised miracle of Game Boy Color design. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps it hasn’t quite enjoyed the recognition it deserves. Somehow cramming a deep, involved, five course adventure on to a tiny cart, it’s fairway and putting effects remain remarkable feats of design ingenuity. Better still, it offered a supreme mix of accessibility and depth, perfect for a portable golfing experience. So good was this 1999 release that despite the GBC’s modest hardware specs, it still ranked among the best and most playable golfing experiences available at the time.
Nintendo wisely enlisted the talents of Camelot, the brains behind the brilliant PlayStation golf extravaganza Everybody’s Golf. Mario Golf retains a recognisable facsimile of EG’s streamlined-but-challenging play mechanics, making for an instantly enjoyable game that suits both quick sessions and long-term play. This is largely thanks to an involved and thoroughly charming story, which sees the player competing in a range of matches and tournaments, across four different clubhouses.
Nintendo wisely enlisted the talents of Camelot, the brains behind the brilliant PlayStation golf extravaganza Everybody’s Golf. Mario Golf retains a recognisable facsimile of EG’s streamlined-but-challenging play mechanics, making for an instantly enjoyable game that suits both quick sessions and long-term play. This is largely thanks to an involved and thoroughly charming story, which sees the player competing in a range of matches and tournaments, across four different clubhouses.
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Camelot managed to recreate the look and feel of Everybody's Golf, which is no mean feat.
A light dusting of RPG elements proves key to the experience. Having a chin-wag with club members is handy, not only for the myriad of useful little tips they’ll bestow upon you, but because there’s also a number of putting and chipping challenges, insightful tutorials and secrets. Practice rounds and repeat plays are rewarded with experience points, which in turn lead to improvements to your shot power and aspects of your swing. You can even challenge the four clubhouse champions to a Match Play game, the last of whom in particular provides a stern test.
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Viewed from a top-down perspective, the courses are an exercise in smart design that makes colourful, common-sense use of the GBC’s limited colour palette, creating a variety of visages that are distinctive and easy to navigate. When you’ve decided on a direction of aim, the game switches to an impressive, behind-the-player 3D effect, allowing the player to make small adjustments, and survey the lie with regards to trees and potential hazards. In such instances, smart use of dithering effects help to give the backgrounds (especially the skies) an appreciable sense of scale and depth.
The courses themselves are great. Marion and Palm clubs offer recognisable, open courses that help to work players into the game, and even these simpler courses remain a lot of fun to tackle as you improve. Dune club ups the ante with longer tees, strong winds and more in the way of scenic impediments, before you arrive at the Augusta of Mario Golf: Links club. Don’t be fooled by the picturesque setting; this demonic course will take ages to master, thanks to some extremely narrow fairways, devastatingly tricky heaths and a tiny margin for error when aiming to land on the greens. Beat all of these, and you’ll unearth the highly unconventional Peach course, which is a little bit bonkers.
The courses themselves are great. Marion and Palm clubs offer recognisable, open courses that help to work players into the game, and even these simpler courses remain a lot of fun to tackle as you improve. Dune club ups the ante with longer tees, strong winds and more in the way of scenic impediments, before you arrive at the Augusta of Mario Golf: Links club. Don’t be fooled by the picturesque setting; this demonic course will take ages to master, thanks to some extremely narrow fairways, devastatingly tricky heaths and a tiny margin for error when aiming to land on the greens. Beat all of these, and you’ll unearth the highly unconventional Peach course, which is a little bit bonkers.
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The NPCs talk a lot of sense, so it's always worth sticking around for a chat.
It’s quite remarkable how little Mario Golf sacrifices in terms of the small details. Wind affects shots, particularly high approaches, whilst side-spin adds some useful but risky options for bending shots around trees. The lie of the ball has a bearing on the hitting range, and the amount of power the player can generate. These factors vary further depending on whether you’re playing from the rough, heath, bunkers or wasteland. It even makes good brilliant use of slopes to, showcased at their most effective on the putting greens through arrows of various size and direction, and this aspect, which could so easily have felt wanting next to “big-screen” golf equivalents, turns out to be tremendously enjoyable.
Not a fan of golf games? Mario Golf may just change your mind. As a technical achievement, it’s an extremely impressive handheld title, capturing far more of the Everybody’s Golf experience than you would have thought possible on a Game Boy Color. Camelot’s adventure and exploration elements pay off admirably, adding a level of depth and longevity unmatched at the time of its release.
Not a fan of golf games? Mario Golf may just change your mind. As a technical achievement, it’s an extremely impressive handheld title, capturing far more of the Everybody’s Golf experience than you would have thought possible on a Game Boy Color. Camelot’s adventure and exploration elements pay off admirably, adding a level of depth and longevity unmatched at the time of its release.
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VERDICT
"Adventure and exploration elements pay off admirably, adding a level of depth and longevity unmatched at the time of its release... Not a fan of golf games? Mario Golf may just change your mind." OVERALL: 9/10 |