Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour [GC]

When you're all lined-up and ready for a shot, the controls take a much improved turn for the better. Now we've got some choices to make on how best to smack the lumpy little ball, and they offer a bit of gameplay depth that we're happy to enjoy. Toadstool Tour uses the standard sliding bar method like so many golf games before it, but the key to a great shot is more in the choice of buttons pressed than just the typical timing routine (which also remains a factor). Hitting the A button fills the meter from right to left, and if no other buttons are pressed, then you'll see Wario wind up and relax as if only taking a practice swing -- in his case, a very angry practice swing.

As the meter fills, players can choose to hit one of two buttons to mark the strength (i.e. distance) of their shot. The A button can be used by beginners or just lazy players in general who don't want to bother with the game's more refined shot controls, as using it will firmly stop the meter in place without worry of stopping it a second time. But real men (and real women) use the B button to stop their meters. This will mark its peak and send it sliding back to the right for the all-important second alignment stop that determines hook and slice. You can use B again to stop it's descent, or if you're a real man (or real woman), then you'll quickly press a two-button combination of choice using A and B to pick your desired ball spin: A-A for topspin, B-B for backspin, A-B for super topspin, or B-A for super backspin. This lets players choose to punch their shots straight through the air or loft them high for straight drops to the turf. The emphasis placed on the B button definitely requires some mental conditioning to keep from hitting the default, fat A button when stopping the meter, but like anything, it's easily learnable, and we definitely appreciate the depth of the two-button system.

Toadstool Tour should also pack a fair amount of Nintendo personality into the final version, as players of the E3 demo can use the D pad and C sticks to both taunt and compliment their multi-player opponents (similar to the previous N64 version). So just as you're lining up for your perfectly spotted birdie putt and slowly drawing your backswing, a small text window pops up along with character voiceovers such as "Don't blow it!" or "I know you can do it!" Neither is very helpful, and that's pretty much the point. While it helps to give waiting players something to pass the time and annoy their friends to no end, the E3 version definitely requires more tuning, as we can now literally flood the screen with enough spam to completely smother it, not to mention drive our ear buds insane.

Considering the lengthy amount of time that Mario Golf fans have been begging for a sequel on the GameCube, it's truly sad to show up here at Nintendo's E3 2003 booth and not be overwhelmed with the quality sequel that we all know Camelot and Nintendo can deliver. Whatever happens between now and the end of the year, we have full confidence that the development team is still hard at work addressing the game's obvious limitations witnessed here on the show floor. The game definitely has a lot of potential, so we'll be closely monitoring its progress in the coming months and will keep you posted. Until then, check back soon as we grab our video caddies and head back into the show to snag a healthy batch of downloadable footage for you to gaze upon yourselves. Stay tuned!

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