Mario Golf: Super Rush — Par for the course for Nintendo

Part racing game, part RPG, part 3D platformer — all under the disguise of golf

Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom has taken up golf, for some reason. It’s as fun and zany as you would expect from its predecessor on the N64. At its simplest, Mario Golf: Super Rush is a one-button game: (A) Start swing, (A) Set power, (A) Set accuracy.

Or, you can dive into a surprising level of gameplay depth: (Y) Check map, check wind, check slopes, (Arrows) select club, (Left stick) line up shot, (A) start swing, (A) set power, (A, B) set shot type, (Left stick) set spin, (A) set accuracy.

…And hopefully after all this, you get a satisfying “NICE SHOT!” from the game’s narrator. Or, you end up deep in a canyon with no hope to make par. Or your ball has been swallowed by a piranha plant.

It’s even more fun when you’re in a hurry, in Speed Golf. After you hit the ball, the game gives you 3D platformer controls and you chase after your ball. Initially, it doesn’t seem fun to have to chase your ball after every shot. However, with 4 players, and the use of rechargable boosts, it becomes a fun racing game all about managing your stamina, timing your boosts, and knocking opponents out of the way.

Collecting a heart will replenish your boost stamina, while collecting coins will charge your super shot. Each character has a unique super shot ability: Yoshi’s shot turns everyone’s balls into eggs, Bowser’s makes the hole invisible, and Pauline breaks out in song.

Adventure mode takes your Mii character on a journey from amateur to pro, but the storyline is mostly boring and ignorable. You’ll learn some proper golf terminology: Run, approach, ___, and ___. A score of 3 under par is called an Albatross.

There are 6 courses that incrementally teach you how to play the game. In _____, you learn cross-country golf. Here, there are 9 holes at the same time, and you get 30 shots to clear all of them. The order is up to you, and strategy is important due to elevation differences and rampant tornadoes plaguing the course.

After completing a challenge, your Mii character will gain experience and level up. Each level-up gives you a skill point to spend on Power, Agility, Speed, Control, or Spin.

Additionally, you earn coins to spend at the in-game pro shops. You can buy special items that help you on each course, such as a 6-iron that is immune to lightning strikes, a driver that is less affected by wind, or shoes that allow you to walk through quicksand.

Online mode is broken

[Screenshot: Error]

Most of the time, trying to join an online game doesn’t work. This is par for the course for Nintendo. You must keep trying to join games until you get lucky and a session actually starts.

Then, the game can’t seem to handle if a player leaves during the match. If 1 of your 4 players leaves, it’s game over: Communication Error. This is problematic when one player hits their ball into a gorge and ragequits. When Online does work, it is a fun game mode that increases the replayability of the title.

Verdict

Mario Golf: Super Rush is a fresh take on video game golf. Just as Camelot made Mario Tennis play like a fighting game, they made Mario Golf play like a racing game, an RPG, and a 3D platformer combined. The mixed elements make for a fun, unique gameplay experience, although the game falls short of anything amazing or “must play”. 7.5 / 10, and still my favorite golf game since Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge.