Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour impressions

Nintendo and Camelot are currently putting the finishing touches on their latest golf game, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for the GameCube. One of the things that Nintendo was quick to point out about the latest Mario Golf was that it was developed as a Mario game first, whereas the previous games placed the golfing aspect ahead of the subject matter. The result is essentially a series of courses that are a little crazier and more dynamic than what you would normally see in a golf game. For example, the Donkey Kong course takes place in the treetops of a massive jungle, while other courses will feature chain chomps, thwomps, piranha plants, and a variety of other Mario Bros.-inspired objects and obstacles.

Unfortunately, we only had the opportunity to check out some of the more typical courses, but they still gave us a good idea of what to expect from the gameplay. Interestingly, Camelot has incorporated both an automatic swing and a manual swing. The automatic swing basically doesn't involve any timing, so you don't have to worry about putting too much or too little strength behind your swing. The manual swing involves initiating your swing by pressing A on the GameCube controller and then setting the desired strength by pressing B. You'll then be responsible for the timing of the swing. In most cases, the automatic swing does a pretty good job of placing the ball in a reasonable spot on the course, but it lacks the precision of the manual swing.

You'll find that the golf engine in Mario Golf has all the other standard features of the genre. You can put backspin or topspin on the ball by moving a small dot around--via the GameCube D pad--on the ball icon in the bottom right corner of the screen. In addition, you can determine where you want your shot to land by moving a grid around on the course. Similarly, you can do the same with putting, which is often quite useful, since your shot usually has to come in at an angle. In any case, the mechanics in the game are relatively easy to use--in fact, we were able to get an eagle on a par-four hole just seconds after jumping into the game for the first time.

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour will support up to four players, and it will also include an unspecified connectivity feature when the game is connected to the Game Boy Advance version of Mario Golf. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is scheduled for release on July 28.