Mario Golf - Game Boy Color - Review

“Everyone who tries golf falls in love with the sport”. Well, that is at least according to the stylish intro of Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color. And while the 10 year old me, who was dragged around cold, damp fairways at ungodly hours by my Dad, would certainly have taken issue with that statement even I can’t deny that that there is something strangely addictive about the pursuit. Surely far better though is the ability to play the game from the comfort of your own home without all of the expense, pomp and physical exertion. If only I could have convinced my Dad…

Mario Golf was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999, nearly a decade after Mario first made his Golfing debut on the original Game Boy. That game was a simple-but-effective, no frills, simulation of the sport and had a choice of two courses and, well not much else really. It’s certainly considered something of a classic but such a simple premise wasn’t going to cut it in 1999. Mario Golf would need to find a way of fleshing out the game beyond the course to get the Pokémon obsessed kids of the day to part with their pocket money.

Camelot were assigned to take on the task, a developer who at the time had only recently partnered with Nintendo, having previously been with Sega developing titles in the Shining Force series. Mario Golf would be the studio’s first sports title but seemingly they weren’t quite ready to leave their comfort zone just yet. In a genre defying move Camelot would integrate a never-before-seen JRPG inspired story mode into the game, a move that not only raised a few eyebrows in the gaming press but one that also managed to pique the interest of the monster catching kids who had so recently discovered the joys of JRPG genre.

The game begins with the player needing to pick and name their in game character.  The budding golfer is then introduced to the local club; the Marion. The Marion is bustling with characters, who range from fellow newbies, up and coming amateurs, enthusiastic coaches and a group of seasoned pro’s known as the Club Champs.

The Club Champs are the envy of golfers everywhere and each of them represent a different a club in the area. The player first comes across the fearsome foursome in the Marion Club lounge where they take pride of place.

The mysterious Gene Yuss of the Links Club is introduced as the top player, followed Tiny of the Dune Club. Next in line is Grace of the Palm Club, and finally Putts who is the Marion’s own champion.

Only by beating each of the Club Champs in each of their respective club tournaments can you hope to challenge the true champion; Mario. Yes it would seem that when the portly plumber’s not stamping on turtles he’s lighting it up on the fairways. Is there anything that man can’t do? As a hapless newbie however you’ve got a long way to go before you can hope to challenge the goomba-stomping extraordinaire and so you’re going to need all of the help you can get on journey to the top.

As a stroke of luck the Marion Club is filled with enthusiastic players who readily share tips about the game and offer advice on common pitfalls. As well as this there are a few practice areas where the player can focus on individual aspects of the game and even take on the odd challenge.

The challenges are designed to teach the player the basics of the game from driving with a driver, putting with a putter and ironing with an iron…? In any case, the controls will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played pretty much any golf game ever. Press A once to activate the cursor on the bar, press A again as the cursor moves left to select the power of the shot and then press A once more to stop the cursor when it arrives back at the start line. Stopping the cursor slightly away from the start line will cause the ball curve in the air and failing to stop at all will cause the player to whiff the shot completely. In later lessons you’ll also learn that you can add spin to the ball by pressing the desired direction on the d-pad whilst the cursor is in motion, and also add extra power by pressing the B button whilst selecting a club.

These lessons are entirely optional however each time a new lesson is passed the player is rewarded with valuable experience points. As the player gains more experience points they’ll level up and with each level gained they’ll be able to improve a few stats such as driving distance, height, and control.

Once you feel like you know your fairways from your bunkers and your bogeys from your birdies it’s time to take on the pros. If you like you can first play a practice round to learn the layout of each hole or even challenge Putts to a one on one match, but the ultimate goal in the Marion Club is to win the club tournament. The tournament can be attempted at any time and it’s here that you’ll need to put all of your skills into practice as you tackle the 18-hole Marion course.

Just like in real golf each hole is given a ‘par’ score which is considered the typical number of strokes a decent player should be able to complete the hole in. To be crowned as the overall winner you’ll need to complete the course in fewer strokes than any of the other players.

The majority of holes in the Marion Club are beginner friendly but even so most contain some kind of hazard such as sand bunkers, lakes, or trees. The fairways are for the most part wide but are surrounded by areas of long grass (known as the rough), and beyond that, areas that are considered out-of-bounds. Playing a ball from the rough or bunker means that the shot will have a negative effect on both range and accuracy.  Shots that result in the ball falling in the water or going out-of-bounds will land the player with a penalty stroke. The variable winds also need to be taken into account as a strong wind can send a ball flying off course and a painfully long way from its intended target. Just like in real golf careful planning and accuracy are the key to success.

Of course practice makes perfect and thankfully the player is rewarded with experience points at the end of the tournament regardless of where they placed. Playing through the entire 18 hole course takes a while but with the addition of XP even failed attempts feel worthwhile.

The Marion Club shouldn’t prove too difficult though and before long you’ll be putting Putts’ putting to shame and then after a quick bit of pomp and ceremony it’s time to leave the confines of the Marion Club in search of the remaining Club Champs. First on the list is the Palm Club and its resident champ; Grace.

Connecting the other clubs there is small world map of sorts to navigate where the player can take on extra challenges and tutorials in order to learn more advanced techniques and gain more experience points. To begin within most paths are blocked but as the player progresses in the game more become unlocked. As well as extra tutorials and mini-games there’s also a coach who can assess your swing and club maker where you can trade clubs. It’s pretty limited in scope but it all adds to the RPG vibe in quite a charming way.

When you reach the Palm Club course you’ll find it’s aptly named with its abundance of palm trees which surround and litter the fairways. Despite some tricky greens, the course is fairly forgiving and not even Grace herself manages put up much of a challenge, typically only scoring -3 under par. Let’s hope she’s graceful in defeat then.

The next challenge comes in the form of the Dune Club which is notable for its dusty brown landscapes and spikey cactus’ which guard the fairways. The fairways are themselves are narrow and crooked and the greens are small and sloped making this are a far more tricky course than either the Marion or the Palm club. The club champ Tiny typically scores a respectable -5 too, so beating him is no small feat.

The final champ, Gene Yuss is found at the Links Club which is a luscious coastal course. Here the fairways are narrow and filled with areas of heath which trap the ball. Parts of the fairway allow the ball to roll for longer than normal which often deviously sends it straight into the heaths or into the surrounding rough. The greens are often small and bumpy requiring intricate and careful putting and they are often surrounded by water streams, which eagerly wait to punish any misjudged shots.

To make matters worse Gene Yuss is a master of the course and consistently scores an intimidating -9. This means that you realistically need to be scoring a birdie on every other hole to even be in with a chance of beating him. Are we intimidated Gene? Yuss, yuss we are.

Even with a high level character, it will undoubtedly take numerous attempts to perfect the nuances of each hole and discover the safest routes to reach the green in the fewest possible strokes. It’s a tough challenge and one that requires patience and persistence, just like golf really.

Persisting enough to win the Links Club tournament is enough to get the player a pat on the back from in the form a quick ending and a credit roll. It’s the games way of saying, ‘look you’ve done really well, there’s no shame in stopping now’. It does this because it knows full well the level of challenge that comes next. But we didn’t start this journey trying to beat Gene Yuss, we aimed for the top; for Mario.  

Upon returning to the Marion club the player is told to head back towards the Links Club, and sure enough just outside a letter falls from the sky. The letter is an invitation from Princess Peach herself to play in the Peach’s Castle Tournament and with that a new path opens.

The Peach’s Castle course is a gruelling test of everything you have learnt on your journey and not only that but you’ll be up against the best players in the mushroom kingdom including the moustachioed wonder boy. 

With a typical final score of -11 under par, you’ll have to play faultlessly to have any hope of beating him, and with barmy layouts of the course and the many bunkers, trees and water traps between you and each hole that’s an almighty task. And it’s not just Mario who’ll put you to shame, seemingly every denizen of the Mushroom Kingdom is a dab hand at the sport. Even a Goomba and Bob-bomb managed to finish on -10 and -9 respectively and they don’t even have any hands.

Of the 40+ hours I put into my play through of the game I think it’s fair to say that at least half were spent attempting to win the Peach’s Castle tournament. Time after time I would see a misjudged shot fall hopelessly into the water and with it my chance of success. Even after faultless attempts managing to finish with a score well under par I was always still a long way short of Mario’s own efforts. It’s a nigh on impossible task. Nevertheless, to the credit of the game even when the frustration began to kick in, I was always still spurred on to improve and try again.

It must have taken me over hundred attempts before all of the stars aligned and I finally managed to play the game of my life scoring an almighty -15 under par. It was a momentous moment, weeks in the making and by far one of the hardest challenges I have ever managed to overcome in gaming. And strangely the first thing I felt like doing after the credits had finished rolling was to play another round. Such is the brilliance of Mario Golf, and even now having completed everything there is to do in the game I’m still not quite ready to put it down.

That’s the joy of the game. It’s creative courses, perfect physics and encouraging experience system all blends to make a game that you just don’t want to put down. It’s a game perfectly suited for the Game Boy Color too with the ability to stop at save at pretty much any point making it perfect for pick up and play.

Beyond the core gameplay and the surprisingly enjoyable story mode I could also sing the praises of the graphics and music which are both excellent for the Game Boy Color, and I could mention the addition of link cable support but I think this review is long enough already.

Overall Mario Golf is an essential game for any Game Boy Color fan to have in their collection. While its story mode doesn’t exactly have Final Fantasy VI levels of character depth and storytelling, with it Camelot dared to something different and for what it is, they did it brilliantly. It (along with its N64 counterpart) also paved the way for Mario to star in numerous other sports titles in subsequent years, each with their own twists on their respective genres. Apart from all that though, it’s just great fun.

So if you like what you’ve heard then why not pick up a copy of Mario Golf for your Game Boy Color. It’s an addictive and charming adventure that’ll hook you in as take on the pros of the Marion Club and beyond as you journey from a hopeless newbie to a golfing master.