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Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is a sequel to the Nintendo 64 game Mario Golf. It was released on the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, and features more characters, courses, and extras than the original. The game was released in North America on July 28, 2002; in Japan on September 5, 2002; in Australia on February 11, 2003 and in Europe on June 18, 2004. It also earned the Player's Choice rating, released in North America in 2004 and Australia in 2005. It also features Game Boy Advance to GameCube connectivity so you can get exclusive characters for each version of the game. It was developed by Camelot, and published by Nintendo. It is rated E for everyone.
Opening[]
The game's opening starts with Mario and Luigi looking at a shiny trophy and commenting on how nice it looks. Peach and Daisy call on them saying it's tee time on the planned golf course. As the four friends are shown making excellent tee shots, Wario and Waluigi are shown from behind, extremely jealous of how well Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy do. The two hear a noise and turn around to see Yoshi and Koopa Troopa together to start their round of golf. Wario and Waluigi clench their golf clubs while laughing, and prepare to join them. They all take turns hitting their golf balls, and Yoshi hits near a Chain Chomp. When he tries to get it back, the Chain Chomp wakes up and barks at Yoshi, scaring him and making him fall over. Wario attempts to hit the ball out of the bunker, but just manages to fling sand into Waluigi's face. Minutes later, Waluigi attempts to putt the ball into the hole, but fails miserably after a few tries - resulting in Yoshi and Koopa Troopa falling asleep.
Meanwhile, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong walk past the sleeping Yoshi and Koopa Troopa; Wario and Waluigi attempt to challenge them next. After Donkey Kong shows his golf prowess to Diddy, Wario and Waluigi, Wario, despite his terrible swing, attempts to hit the ball a long way, until it goes out of sight into the forest. Wario and Waluigi start celebrating until they hear a loud roar. The ball suddenly flies back and lands in front of Wario. The two look up and see Bowser coming out of the forest completely enraged because he has a black eye from the golf ball. Bowser gives chase after Wario and Waluigi in his Koopa Clown Car and starts firing Bob-ombs at the two as they run around Lakitu Valley past Birdo and Boo, who were playing a game of golf on their own. Fortunately for Wario and Waluigi, they find a yellow Warp Pipe that is too small for Bowser and his Koopa Clown Car to fit through. Wario and Waluigi come out the other side of the pipe and stop to catch their breath; however, Bowser and the Koopa Clown Car appear right above them seconds later. Bowser takes out another Bob-omb threatening to drop it, resulting in Wario and Waluigi screaming in fear for their lives.
Meanwhile, Mario is preparing to take a shot on that same course with Luigi, Peach, and Daisy observing from behind. As Wario and Waluigi still try frantically to escape from Bowser's looming threat by going through an enormous metal door, Mario hits his ball with his golf club. Wario and Waluigi manage to open the door and continue their escape attempt. But as they did so, Mario's ball hits Wario and Waluigi, giving them black eyes as well, and knocks the Bob-omb off Bowser's hand. This ultimately results in an explosion claiming Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser as the victims. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy witnessed it from afar, completely baffled as to what caused the blast that came out of nowhere.
Gameplay[]
The game differs greatly from that of the previous game in both controls and visuals. The game uses 3D renders for the designs of characters and courses, changing the camera view to be able to view much more of each hole in detail. Pressing X or Y allows the player to view an overview of the hole and allows them to study the topography of the whole of it or just the green, in order to adjust their shot, and can look around using C. The green also now displays moving topographic lines that follow down its path, increasing in speed the more the green slopes. A new control system has also been added, with a manual and automatic swing. The automatic swing is used by pressing A to set the power for the shot and then letting the game decide where the sweet spot marker ends up. A manual swing involves pressing B when choosing power, then pressing either A or B to set the sweet spot impact marker. This allows the use of a new feature, spin, to be used on shots. Backspin, topspin, super backspin or super topspin can be used, affecting the ball's line of movement on the ground. Topspin sends the ball rolling forward while backspin causes the ball to roll back; these spins make the ball roll a shorter distance than their super versions. Different characters' spin will be more powerful with higher spin levels. The ability to change where the ball is hit is also present from the two previous games, allowing different types of shots to be taken. Approach shots, used when players approach the pin, appear, as well as the limited number of power shots. Power shots have longer drives than normal shots, and only six can be used at a time. If a player does a perfect power shot (meaning they have aligned the first bar at the far left and perfectly aligned the second bar), it is not used up.
Playable Characters[]
- Mario
- Luigi
- Princess Peach
- Princess Daisy
- Yoshi
- Bowser
- Koopa Troopa
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Donkey Kong
- Diddy Kong
- Birdo
Unlockable Characters[]
In-game cameos[]
- Pikmin flower patch - Once you spot a flower patch, try to shoot your ball into it. Once you do, you'll see multiple different Pikmin flying in the air after the impact of the golf ball.
Ring Attack Missions[]
"Target Bullseye Tour" Version[]
On July 28, 2003, Nintendo of America released Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (Target Bullseye Tour Included -- Exclusive Version) through Target stores. This version allowed players to play the Bullseye Tour in the Special Tournament mode. Codes issued from this version of the game could be submitted through the official website. Nintendo prizes were mailed out to the winners. The promotion ended on August 31, 2003.[2]
Trivia[]
- This game's scoreboard features many characters from other Mario games, including Goombario and Hammer Bro. Possibly coincidentally, one of the referenced characters has actually never been seen since the Super Mario Adventures comic, where he was a minor hero.
- Professional golfer Gary McCord recommended the game in his book Golf for Dummies, notably referring to Mario as "the mustachioed plumber from Donkey Kong".
- This was one of the last games Nintendo published to have the "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" label on the box and the disc, as Nintendo changed the label in late-2003 to read "Official Nintendo Seal". A Player's Choice box was released after 2003; however, on this version, the "Official Nintendo Seal" appears on the back only, while the "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" appears on the front and the disc.
References[]
- ↑ Date info of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour from TMK, retrieved 11/26/2012
- ↑ Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (Target Bullseye Tour Included -- Exclusive Version) Game Profile. IGN GameCube. Retrieved on March 29, 2008.
External links[]
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour at GameFAQs
- Japanese site
- UK site