''Mario Golf'' is a 1999

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Camelot Software Planning (trade name, doing business as Camelot! Software Planning) is a Japanese video game developer established in 1994 and headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It is known for developing sports games, particularly in Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mari ...

and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

. It is the successor to ''

NES Open Tournament Golf ''NES Open Tournament Golf'', known in Japan as is a 1991 sports video game developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo R&D2 and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth golf game to feature Mario as a player ...

'' and, although the first to bear the name, is observed as the second game in the ''

Mario Golf There have been numerous sports games featuring ''Mario'' characters, based, among others, on tennis, golf, baseball, soccer, and various sports featured in the Olympic Games. The ''Mario Kart'' and ''F1'' series are not included in this list. ...

'' series. Players control ''

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

'' series characters participating in the sport of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

on themed courses. Unlike previous golf titles, the gameplay is simplified to provide an easier experience while retaining common elements such as character statistics and variables affecting ball shots. In addition to traditional stroke play, there are other modes such as

mini golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of poi ...

and a skins match. There is also a

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

version, which adds

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

elements. The

version was re-released on the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

and

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

, and on the

Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...

service, in 2008, 2015, and 2022 respectively, while the GBC version was re-released on the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

in 2012, and on the Nintendo Classics service on March 12, 2024.

Gameplay

Players choose from a variety of characters including Mario,

Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' game as Princess Toadstool. She is the Queen regnant, princess regnant and hea ...

Yoshi Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in '' Super Mario World'' (1990) on the SNES as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Throughout the mainline '' Super Mario'' series, Yoshi typically serves ...

Wario is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise that was designed as an Archenemy, archnemesis to Mario. Wario first appeared as the main antagonist and final Boss (video games), boss in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mar ...

, and a few original characters. Players can then select from a number of courses which have features adapted to the Nintendo world. As a "pick up and play" game, it simplifies the game of golf, without its complicated real-life aspects. Although the game is easy to play and simple in appearance, its engine has many variables that can affect a shot, such as wind strength and direction (indicated by a Boo), rain, characters' individual attributes, spin on the ball, and relief of the land. The variety of gameplay modes include speed golf, ring shot,

, and skins match. Every character in the game has voice samples which can be used to comment on opponents' shots. The

Transfer Pak The Transfer Pak is an accessory for the Nintendo 64 (N64) controller. It features a cartridge slot compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color (GBC) games. When plugged into the controller's expansion port, it allows for the transfer of data bet ...

connects the Nintendo 64 and

versions, to exchange characters and data. A GBC character earns experience points with each round.

Development

originally started development on a golf game for the Nintendo 64 tentatively titled ''Golf''. Some time later, they recruited

to create a role-playing game, but Camelot wanted to make a simpler game to get accustomed to the Nintendo 64 hardware first. Nintendo was impressed with Camelot's prototype that they canceled their other golf game and assigned Camelot to develop ''Mario Golf 64''. This new golf game was announced in the February 1999 issue of The 64Dream.

Reception

The Nintendo 64 version received "universal acclaim", according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Reviews of the GBC version aggregated slightly stronger than those of the Nintendo 64 version. ''IGN'' called the GBC version "an absolutely brilliant rendition of golf, and a perfect game for the go". In Japan, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave both versions a score of 30/40.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Mario Golf'' Game Boy Color site in Japan
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Golf (video game) 1999 video games Camelot Software Planning games Game Boy Color games Games with Transfer Pak support Golf video games Mario Golf Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo 64 games Nintendo Classics games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba Virtual Console games for Wii Virtual Console games for Wii U