Mario Golf

If nothing else can be said about Nintendo, you could say that they're very practical. Camelot had a massive success developing the original Hot Shots Golf for Sony to put on the original PlayStation. Naturally, Nintendo called them up and asked them to do the same thing for the Nintendo 64, even letting them use the Big N's most popular characters. This collaboration produced the original Mario Golf, and, while I will admit that I am a little spoiled by the creativity present in the GameCube sequel, I still find the first game to be an enjoyable time on the links that has held up quite well.

Like with the PlayStation game, Mario Golf is chock-full of content. In fact, it actually provides more bang for the buck than Hot Shots. There are six regular courses, one mini-golf course, six game modes, and fourteen characters to choose from. The alternate modes are actually rather clever like the Ring Shot mode where you have to send shots through rings to boost your score. The issues with this breadth of content are really just nitpicks. It does take a lot of experience points to unlock a single course (though at least those points add up faster than in Hot Shots). The four characters that are available at the start are very generic anime-like characters; the famous faces have to be beaten to be unlocked. Four additional characters are only available if you use the Transfer Pack with the Game Boy Color version of the game which just seems too gimmicky. Finally, the courses, while very challenging mainly due to dramatic elevation changes, are very generic. Aside from the goofy looking trees, there's nothing to indicate that this is the Mushroom Kingdom. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the courses in the sequel.

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The gameplay is a carbon copy of that in Hot Shots. The meters and display are almost the same as the prior game. There are a few differences, and most of them are improvements. Controlling the impact point on the ball is much easier than before; you just hold the L button and the thumbstick in a direction while shooting. Power shots are available as well, and this game allows you to save them from being used if you pull off a "Nice Shot". The only real issue is that there is a strange input delay on the swing meter, just like with Hot Shots, that can cause some irritation.

Mario Golf has stood the test of time. While I still contend that the GameCube sequel is the best in the series, the Nintendo 64 original came remarkably close. It still looks pleasant even on an HD screen, it still plays well, and it has enough content to keep anyone busy for a while. Mario scored an ace here.