Mario Golf

Golf is perhaps the last sport you would expect as the basis of a great video game, but Mario Golf proves the opposite. It takes one of the slowest and calmest sports and transforms it into surprisingly addictive arcade fun, in which a decision made in a tenth of a second turns into a long flight of the ball across the whole course.

The heart of the game is a swing system built on a power and timing meter. You press a button to charge power and, with a second press at the right moment, determine the shot's accuracy. To that you add topspin or backspin, factor in the wind and the slope of the terrain, and watch how your decision plays out in the ball's trajectory. This simple loop is so well tuned that every shot brings both tension and satisfaction, whether it lands well or badly.

Mario Golf cleverly balances between realistic sport and arcade playfulness. The characters from the Mario universe each play a little differently, the courses are inventive and the overall tone is lighthearted and accessible. At the same time the game offers honest depth for players who want to master reading greens, working with spin and the perfect timing of each swing.

Besides classic rounds, the game offers tournaments and duels that give it long-lasting appeal, and just as with other Mario sports titles, it brings the most fun in company. Competing for the lowest number of strokes or direct duels between players evoke the same tension as faster sports, only in a more elegant, more tactical package.

Mario Golf launched a successful sports subseries that still releases on new consoles today. Together with its tennis counterpart it showed that Nintendo can turn any sport into an accessible and catchy arcade in which what matters above all is the joy of playing.

Why play it: For unexpectedly addictive arcade golf with a perfectly tuned swing that is fun alone and in company alike.