Gameboy Advance - Mario Golf Advance Tour

Format
Gameboy Advance
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Camelot Software Planning
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
Sports

Mario Golf Advance Tour

By David Rasmussen
30th Dec 05

With the exception of Madden NFL ‘05 (which I am reviewing this week) I haven’t played any sports game for the GBA except for this one, and I played this ‘cause of it’s unique little gimmick of it being a RPG Golf game… yes, you heard me right, an RPG Golf game.
You don’t just play golf, you earn experience playing golf and use it to level up and become a stronger player… and at least you don’t have to play the game as Mario if you don’t want to.

In storymode you play as either a boy or girl character who work as a team, working together playing either Single or Doubles tournaments in order to earn the trophies you need to gain recognition as the best damn golfer in the whole wide -- game. Well, that’s good isn’t it? Yeah.
Besides winning trophies in tournaments you can also play versus challenges against other golfers to earn their characters for use when not in storymode (which has a nice selection of games to play quickly when you want to take a break from the story mode, or want to play against another human opponent via link).
Then there’s the nice selection of mini games which are also nice, though I wish the game had a nice mini-golf game ala Hot Shots Golf Fore! (though the other games are nice). However, on the bright side, at least this didn’t steal any game mechanics from Hot Shots Golf like a certain game from a cert-- oh, who am I kidding! Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006 stole from Hot Shots Golf! (bleep)!!

The game is easy to pick up and run right off the bat since it’s set in this very easy mode, meaning you only need a two button push to hit your ball (one to set the meter in motion and one to set the power of your shot). The computer handles the rest, which of course you can turn off if you’d rather do the 3 push chain of setting your shot ala Hot Shots Golf (so if you are familiar with that then you know what to do here).
Each golf course is set into two areas, one being the actual golf course and the other a practice area where you can take various challenges for experience points (though I finished the game without finishing all the practice challenges so ace-ing these doesn’t seem to be a clear requirement to finish this game).
The experience you earn via tournaments or whatever rakes up fast, but you need to manage it by dividing it up between you and your partner (the other person you didn’t pick) in order to make sure you keep your team balanced as you level up and become better… though for me I guess I didn’t notice it very much since it didn’t seem like I was becoming any different no matter how much my skills upped, and as for the partner? Is it me? Sometimes I think my partner is fudging shots on purpose -- is this for real?
Thankfully I found a surefire way to make sure a first place win each and everytime… save often. Save everytime you get to a new hole before exploring it, you know, just in case you have to -- cough cough -- “reset” and redo a shot, especially if you’re in doubles play and your partner fudges his or her shot (which will probably happen more than you’d want it to happen).

There are also custom clubs and balls you can earn, but again I somehow don’t seem to notice very much difference between the play using the different gear, and since the only way to swap out gear is to go back to the club maker and chose a new gear you’ll not be able to quickly go through your gear to find what works for you which is kind of sad… but I guess that’s OK.
Oh, and you have to check stuff -- don’t forget to check everything -- you know, since this is an RPG Golf game and they hid things here and there -- you know, stuff, which probably could help.

Ok. The real treat of the game is that it is addictive golf. The golf is fun, and dear god at least I’m not playing as Mario (or playing a Tiger Woods game which I probably would not like, though sooner or later I guess they’re going to add Michelle Wie to the cast of playable Tiger Woods characters since she is so… well… “hot”… but you won’t see me tooting her horn, that’s the job of Hawaii’s print and TV media who I have in-affectionately dubbed “the Wie-ites”). Anyway for a GBA golf game it does have some nice quirks, the game is fun, it’s easy to play right off the bat for a quick satisfying game of golf, and you’ll find enjoyment in this no matter what mode you chose. That’s the important thing, isn’t it? Yeah.
Breakdown time. Let’s get this over with.

Mario Golf Advance Breakdown
What’s Hot?
Well if you’re going to have to play some golf while you are away from home, own a GBA, and have the choice between Mario Golf Advance Tour and the latest Tiger Woods golf game? Well, for me I’d chose this, but then again I have not played Tiger Woods so MAYBE -- maybe -- I might like it… but since I happen to like this game I’m going to tell you to check this out… mostly ‘cause it’s actually good, and the fact that you have a game that isn’t another Tiger Woods game of golf (too bad Hot Shots Golf hasn’t made the translation onto the GBA yet -- then again I guess it’d suck so maybe not…).

What’s Not?
Well despite my few complaints above there really isn’t all that much to say ill against the game.
It is short, though, just so you know. You should be able to play through this game in about 20 or so hours (finishing at the big tournament run by Princess Peach)… though actually you probably can’t say you REALLY REALLY finished the game since you do have the Star tournaments (the really hard courses) to play through so there’s still some game left… and then there’s the non storymode games for quick golf… so ignore me, I have no real major complaints.

Moments to Remember?
Uh -- well -- you do have rivals in this game… lazy rivals that seemingly do nothing to -- well -- rival you.
What’s the point of having rivals if they do practically nothing to -- well -- oppose you? That’s -- is that memorable? Hmm -- well, the golf is the memorable thing actually and some of the practice games which are actually kind of neat (like using a golf ball to attack an offshore squid monster for instance), so that’s really memorable.

What to Ignore?
Some of the characters need something -- therapy. Oh, and no matter who you chose to play you end up with a partner that you have to drag through the tournament a lot of times (no matter how much he or she levels up it barely seems to help)… what’s with that anyway?

Overall?
For a quick roadtrip game of golf that gives you something to play while away from your console here you go. But then again if you are that obsessed with golf then you shouldn’t have time to play GBA golf games since you should be studying your meeting notes for your next board meeting in Oslo or Frankfurt.
Is anyone except the business class and those in golf school playing golf games 24/7 like it was life itself? Anyone? Anyone at all? Otherwise you’d rather play Advanced Wars or some other fun game.

-- David Rasmussen 30th Dec 05

Gameboy Advance Mario Golf Advance Tour Images