So Mario Golf 3DS came out here in the UK today. I always liked the Mario Golf series despite not actually liking real life golf. I guess I made this topic because there are no other topics on this board other than the demo impressions thread which seemed a little odd to me, I guess this game had a stealth release or something.
I will go in to the good stuff about this game but I want to talk about just one or two minor niggles I have with the game. For a start there is no "Gimmie" option in the game which seems a little odd. For those who don't know a "Gimmie" is a term described for a putting shot that is so close to the hole that it's basically impossible for the player to mess up. Certain golf games just assume you can make the shot and automatically give you the putt, not in Mario Golf though. Kind of annoying as the game seems really polished and that a lot of time has been put in to this game so this seems like an weird admission.
The second niggling thing I wish to talk about is day one DLC. OK I will be frank, there are 10, 18 hole courses (3 Normal and 7 "Mario/Crazy" type courses, more on that later) (EDIT: Found out that the Mario courses are only 9 Holes after further playing, opps) that come with the game which for a golf game is really generous. The game also comes with a bunch of characters also. Here's the thing though, Nintendo are selling £10.78 worth of DLC packs (there are 3 of them) which come with extra courses (2 per pack, remastered from older Mario Golf games) and Characters. (1 per pack) I am not against DLC but it does seem a little weird that they are selling all of this stuff on Day 1. Again I would like to point out that there is a lot of content already in the game so it's no as bad as it could of been but it does feel a little weird, well at least to me anyway.
OK now for the promised "good stuff" and man this game seems really well made. There are a ton of courses and characters, each of them have their own animations which are much more elaborate than in previous golf games. The presentation in general is really wonderful and pleasant to look at, especially the more "outlandish" Mario courses which are adorned with a ton of Mario style trappings. There is also a new shot power-up system where you can collect items by hitting your ball in to Mario Kart style boxes. The online game modes and tournaments all work well and are very fun, especially the tourney mode as you are also seeing the ghosts of the other players make their shots at the same time as yours. There a plenty of game modes both offline and on and there is a Tour Mode (where you play as your Mii) where you start off as a rookie and eventually by practising enough to get a passable "handicap" (or average for non-golf players) you can compete in tournaments against the AI. Eventually you will unlock more courses as well as gear for your golfer.
Now let's talk controls. Mario Golf has always used the "3 click" system and it's the same in this game. I was a little worried about this because I figured Nintendo would try to cram stylus controls in to the swings but they did not. However the style can be used to hit the ball in certain spots creating "spin". Using the stylus for the menus is quick and simple but the same could be said for just pressing a button I suppose. In short I think NIntendo has nailed the controls in this game. The game also presents all the information you need to make shots (Wind, Hill Gradient, Ball Trajectory ect.) very clearly as well which is a must for a golf game. Selecting from you clubs and shots is also easy to do. The "3 Power Shots per game" is still in the game, complete with it's 'perfect shot' refund bonus where if you hit max power and hit the sweet spot if the ball you get a free power shot back. Item shots are one use types of deal but you can pick up more by hitting them on the courses like I explained before.
Overall I am very happy with how this game turned out. This was one of the main reasons I decided to pick up a 3DS and I am now glad that I did. I recommend this game to anyone who wants a good 3DS game to play right now. Yes, even for those who are not in to golf per say because the great online modes, interesting courses and item shots as well as the general Nintendo style of presentation (which again, is excellent in this game) makes this much more interesting than your average golfing game. This game games a huge thumbs up from me but as you can probably tell I really like Mario Golf games.
EDIT: An Correction ~ It appears only one of the packs is playable right now, the other two will be released some time within May and then June respectively. So the £10.78 "Triple Pack" is in sorts a "Season Pass" type deal.
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