More Thoughts From Me #29: Golfing With Mario

I’m not a sports fan. I avoid watching sports on TV, get annoyed when they pre-empt my favorite shows, and never go to watch them live either. I also don’t care about sports video games. Well, for the most part anyway. There are a couple of exceptions to the sports game rule. I really liked Wii Sports. And also…I’m addicted to Mario GOLF. What?! I like a golf game?! Yes, I like the Mario Golf series. Let me try to explain why!

My dad and I played Mario Golf the first time during the Gamecube era. We rented the game one time just to see if it was any good and liked it a lot. The game didn’t have traditional multiplayer though. You had to pass your controller back and forth when it was the other players turn. We weren’t a huge fan of that, but we loved the game anyway. The characters, the bright colored graphics, and the excellent control scheme made Mario Golf for the Cube a blast. And we were both not bad at the game and it became addicting. So, of course, both of us were interested in the 3DS version when it came out.

Nintendo released a demo of Mario Golf and it was just as fun as its Gamecube counterpart. For some reason though, we didn’t buy the game when it came out. I suppose its because there was just too many other games to buy. I finally got a downloaded copy of Mario Golf recently and I’m glad I did. The game is just as fun as its demo. My favorite mode is the quick round of golf. The controls on the 3DS are simple to learn, hard to master. I also really like the player selection! Waluigi is the funniest, although I really do bad when I play as him. I would say that playing golf as a Boo is the strangest. I’m probably the best when I’m playing as Luigi! All of the characters are unique and fun to play though. The game also has a tournament mode, online, local, and challenge modes.

In tournament mode, you play as a Mii and you can unlock new courses to play in. Playing as a Mii isn’t as fun as playing with the Mario characters, but it does remind me a lot of Wii Sports Golf! I haven’t had a chance to play online or local yet. I’m a bit nervous about playing online right now. And my dad hasn’t bought Mario Golf yet, so I’ll have to wait on playing the game in local mode. As for Challenge Mode, it can be pretty tough, but its definitly worth taking on to unlock new characters! The whole game is just as addictive as the Gamecube Mario Golf.

Mario Golf for 3DS may have a ton more modes than the Gamecube version, but the main gameplay hasn’t changed a bit. And I’m very glad of that. Mario Golf is a really fun series. Even if you don’t like golf, you may find yourself addicted to the series. I’m not a golf fan and I love it. A quick round of Mario golf when I’m bored always cheers me up! If you need an addictive game to play on the go, then I highly recommend Mario Golf World Tour for 3DS.

Have you played any of the Mario Golf games? Which one is your favorite?

Next week: My 30th More Thoughts From Me! Wow. Have I written that many of these?! (actually a bit more if you consider the special editions). Time really flies. What will my 30th column be about? Well…

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts presented here are mine and mine alone. Yes, I did just avoid the question of what my 30th column would be. Ok, back to playing Mario Golf!