Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
American box art For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developer	Camelot Software Planning
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo GameCube
Release dates	Original release: July 28, 2003 September 5, 2003 September 26, 2003 February 11, 2004[?] June 18, 2004 Player's Choice Release: April 29, 2004 2005[?]
Languages	English Japanese French (Europe) German Italian Spanish (Europe)
Genre	Golf
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] ACB: - General[?]
Mode	1–4 players
Format	Nintendo GameCube: Optical disc
Input	Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo GameCube Controller
Serial codes	DOL-GFTJ-JPN DOL-GFTE-KOR DOL-GFTE-USA

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is a Nintendo GameCube game that is the sixth game in the Mario Golf series and the fifth home console installment. Its handheld console counterpart is Mario Golf: Advance Tour on the Game Boy Advance. About a year after its release, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour earned a Player's Choice re-release in North America in 2004 and Australia in 2005. It is the first Super Mario spinoff to include substantial content from Super Mario Sunshine (released the previous year), such as Bowser Jr., Shadow Mario, and Petey Piranha making their respective second appearance overall and playable debut; it is also the first to include Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong games, effectively taking Donkey Kong Jr.'s previous role as secondary Donkey Kong character in Super Mario games following the acquisition of Donkey Kong Country assets from Rare.

Opening cinematic

Daisy, Peach, Luigi, and Mario celebrating the results of excellent tee shots.

The game's opening starts with Mario and Luigi looking at a trophy and commenting on how nice it looks. Peach and Daisy call on the brothers, exclaiming that it is time to play as the four form a quartet and go on an exploration in freestyle exhibition golf. Peach gets her turn first, then comes Mario, then comes Daisy, and last comes Luigi, whose shot strikes the flagpole of the hole, impressing the crew. 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 entering the frame before they begin their round of golf. Wario and Waluigi clench their golf clubs while laughing, and prepare to join forces with 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, which causes sand to spray into Waluigi's face in recoil. Moments later, Waluigi attempts to putt the ball into the hole, but fails miserably after a few tries, resulting in Yoshi and Koopa Troopa dozing off.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong walk past the sleeping Yoshi and Koopa Troopa, so Wario and Waluigi attempt to challenge them next. After Donkey Kong shows his golf prowess, 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 an ominous "Ow!". The ball unknowingly deflects back and lands in front of Wario. The two look up and see Bowser coming out of the forest, completely enraged due to him having a black eye from the golf ball. Bowser gives chase after Wario and Waluigi in his Koopa Clown Car and starts throwing 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. Wario and Waluigi find a yellow Warp Pipe that is too small for Bowser and his Koopa Clown Car to fit through and come out the other side of the pipe and stop to catch their breath. However, Bowser flies right above them seconds later, intending to drop another Bob-omb and making them run for their lives.

Mario attempting another shot as Daisy, Luigi, and Peach watch from behind.

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 open the door and continue their escape attempt, but Mario's ball hits them, giving them black eyes as well. The ball then strikes Bowser's hand, causing him to fumble the bomb. This ultimately results in an explosion claiming Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser as the victims. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy witness the explosion from afar, completely baffled in terms of what was the cause behind it.

Screenshots

• 

  Mario and Luigi are by the trophy.
• 

  Peach makes her move.
• 

  Daisy makes her move.
• 

  Wario and Waluigi enter the frame.
• 

  Waluigi gets pumped up.
• 

  Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong see Yoshi and Koopa dozing off.
• 

  Donkey Kong makes his move.
• 

  Wario and Waluigi run from Bowser.
• 

  Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy stroll around.

Gameplay

Gameplay of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

While playing fairly similarly to the previous two games, particularly Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64, this game makes various additions and alterations to the formula present in both controls and visuals. The game uses 3D renders for the designs of characters and courses, like the previous home console game, allowing for the camera to be changed to view more of each hole in detail. Pressing or allows the player to see an overview of the hole and study the topography of the both the course and specifically the green. In order to adjust their shot, the player can use the aforementioned controls and look around using . 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 manual and automatic swinging. The automatic swing is used by pressing 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 when choosing power, then pressing either or 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 makes a return from the two previous games, allowing different types of shots to be taken. Approach shots, used when players approach the pin, appear in this game, 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.

Controls

Menu

• - Confirm
• - Back
• - Select
• - Left-Handed Character
• - Star Character
• - Change Clubs (only available when data is transferred from Mario Golf: Advance Tour)

Golf

• - Start Swing/Choose Power (automatic)
• - Change shot type/Choose Power (manual)
• + - Topspin
• + - Backspin
• + - Super Topspin
• + - Super Backspin
• / - Change Direction/Change Clubs
• - Increase Power Bar
• - Decrease Power Bar
• / - Change Camera
• - Move Camera angle
• / - Change ball meet area

Scores

Depending on how many strokes the player required to take to hit the ball into the hole, players receive a score and a name for the score. The following is a list of them, from best to worst scores:

Name	Image	Description
Hole-in-One		The player has sunk the ball in the hole with one stroke. It is easiest to receive this result on a par 3, but it is possible to attain a Hole-in-One on a par 4 or 5 as well.
Albatross		The player has sunk the ball three below par. The game awards this for a score of 2 on a par 5, or 1 on a par 4. Without linking with Mario Golf: Advance Tour, this is a very hard task; however, it is not as hard as a hole-in-one on a par 5 hole.
Eagle		The player has sunk the ball two below par. On a par 3, the game records this as a Hole-in-One instead.
Birdie		The player has sunk the ball one below par.
Par		The player has sunk the ball with a neutral score for the hole.
Bogey		The player has sunk the ball one above par.
Double Bogey, Triple Bogey, or worse		The player has sunk the ball the number indicated above par. The highest score a player can take is equivalent to triple par (i.e. +6 for a par 3, +8 for a par 4, and +10 for a par 5). Selecting Give Up will penalize the player with a triple par score and retire the hole.

• NOTE: The US version of the game has a glitch that records Hole-In-Ones on par 4 and 5 holes as Albatrosses. This is fixed in the PAL and Japanese versions.

Terrain, hazards, and other features

Terrain
Name	Image	Description
Fairway		A large and common terrain that is the easiest to hit the ball from. It has no effect on the golf ball.
Fast Fairway		Similar to fairway, except there is less friction between it and a regular fairway, meaning balls bounce farther and higher and roll more.
Green		The terrain where the pin, hole, and flag are located. It is surrounded by a Fringe, and golfers need to use putters if they are on the green.
Tournament Green		Similar to regular greens, but, as with fast fairways, there is less friction in the ball, meaning it rolls farther.
Fringe		The area of grass surrounding the green, with a topography in-between the green and the fairway.
Bunker		The most common negatively affecting terrain, bunkers affect the ball's lie and the ability to hit the ball accurately. Sand wedges are typically used to get balls out of bunkers.
Beach Bunker		Found only in Blooper Bay, these act similar to regular bunkers, except they do not negatively affect the ball's lie as much as them. As their name suggests, they are found next to the ocean.
Grass Bunker		Found only in Bowser Badlands, these bunkers are heavier than the heaviest rough and greatly affect a ball's lie.
Semi-Rough		Semi-Rough is found in the fringe area, between fairways and the rough. They slightly affect the ball's lie.
Rough		Roughs are deeper than the semi-rough. They affect the ball's lie more than semi-rough, but less than a bunker.
Heavy Rough		The heaviest rough, these greatly affect the ball's lie, even more than a Bunker or Beach Bunker. They are located on the deepest areas of the rough, usually before an O.B.
Flower Patch		Uncommon terrain that affects a ball's lie found only in Peach's Castle Grounds, however, not as much as bunkers and the rough. Whenever a shot lands in a Flower Patch, Pikmin will be shot out, wailing.
Rock		Terrain that does not have much friction and causes balls to bounce out of it. When a ball lands on it, it hurts the ball's lie, though not as much as Grass Bunkers or Heavy Rough.
Brick		Like Rock, terrain that does not have much friction and causes balls to bounce out of it, and also hurts the ball's lie. Brick has a very harsh, echoing ricochet sound.
Wood		Similar to Rock, Pipe, or Brick, where the ball frequently bounces off of it. Like those three terrains, it also hurts the ball's lie.
Pipe		Terrain that also does not have much friction and causes balls to bounce out of it. Like Rock, Brick and Wood, it adversely affects the ball's lie. They are only found on Peach's Castle Grounds, where they are usually used to transport balls from one part of a hole to another (similar to Warp Pipes); however, some pipes are used as tunnels, where the ball will roll through the pipe and land out of the other side from where it entered (usually into rough).
Waste Area		Waste areas have high friction and prevent a ball from bouncing. They affect the ball's lie, though not as much as Rock.
Heath		Found only in Bowser Badlands, this terrain very heavily affects a ball's lie the most, moreso than the deep rough and grass bunkers. The player must time their shot perfectly if they want to get out of the heath.

Hazards
Name	Image	Description
Out of Bounds		These are designated areas of the course that players cannot land their balls in. These include endless pits, being too far off-course, water, lava, and areas with Chain Chomps occupied in. When players receive an O.B., they need to redo their shot with a cost of a stroke penalty. The hazard is signified by a Koopa Paratroopa.
Water Hazard		If a ball lands in water or lava, it is considered an O.B. and players need to reshoot the ball with a stroke penalty. The hazard is signified by a Lakitu.
Tree Hazard		If a ball gets stuck in a tree or lands too close to a tree, players need to reshoot the ball with a stroke penalty.
Warp Pipe		Warp Pipes warp balls to another location on the golf course.
Bouncing Mushroom		Located only in Peach's Castle Grounds. Bouncing Mushrooms causes balls to bounce off of the mushroom.
Boo		Located only in Bowser Badlands, these enemies act as walls to flying balls, slowing or stopping a ball's progress through the air.
Thwomp		Located only in Bowser Badlands, if a ball rolls underneath a Thwomp, the Thwomp smashes the ball, which heavily hurts its lie. Thwomps also act as walls to block balls.
Whomp		Located only on holes 16 and 17 of Bowser Badlands, Whomps squish the ball, causing the player to get a stroke penalty.
Bob-omb		Located only in Bowser Badlands, if a ball hits a Bob-omb, it explodes, sending the ball backward. It affects flying balls more than grounded balls. When the Bob-omb explodes, it leaves behind a bunker.
Piranha Plant		These enemies eat balls that roll into their Warp Pipes, and then spit them out to a spot. Some Piranha Plants spit balls into O.B. zones.
Chain Chomp		These enemies occupy certain O.B. zones. If a ball rolls into an area with a Chain Chomp, the Chain Chomp wakes up and an O.B. is called.

Weather
Name	Image	Description
Wind		Wind causes the ball to travel in the direction it is blown at. Higher wind means the ball is more affected by the wind. Crosswinds (ie winds that blow from the left or right of the direction of the player's aim) affect the ball more than winds that blow from front or behind. In addition, balls with a higher trajectory are more affected by the wind than balls hit with lower trajectories.
Rain		Rain lowers the drive distance of the ball, as well as increasing ball friction so that the ball rolls less, especially while putting.

Game modes

The title screen to the game.

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour offers a wide variety of game modes, including tournaments, training sessions, collecting coins and shooting the ball through rings. Multiplayer for up to four players is supported, and can be played with one to four controllers. All of the game modes are explained briefly below. Note that multi-player game modes not marked with an asterisk (*) can also be played with 1 player and AI opponents.

Single-player

• Tournament - The player competes against others for first place in an 18-hole round of golf and to earn best badges on specific holes. The lowest score at the end of the tournament is the winner.
• Character Match - Compete in a one-on-one challenge against a computer character on any course using match play rules. Star Characters can be unlocked by accepting challenge from characters and winning.
• Ring Shot - Compete by hitting shots through various rings on a course while still finishing at or under par.
  • Challenge - Complete Ring Shot holes to earn stars which unlock even more holes! Complete them all to unlock a special surprise.
• Speed Golf - Complete a round of golf in the fastest time possible.
• Training - Practice golfing on any hole. During gameplay, the player can select a course and hole, adjust the wind strength and direction, switch between sunny or rainy weather, front or back tees, and regular or tournament greens, and change the pin's location.

Multiplayer

• Doubles - A 2-on-2 game of golf. For 1-4 players.
• Club Slots - Play using a limited amount of clubs. When playing with four slots, there is an added gimmick for the fourth slot (i.e. no wind, double points, extra mulligan, etc.).
• Ring Shot - Hit the ball through all the rings and finish the hole in par or better.
  • Face-Off - Play six holes against opponents to see who can complete the most holes successfully.*
• Coin Shoot - Hit the ball near coins to collect them. Earn the highest coin total to win. The coins make up various patterns, such as the Triforce from the Legend of Zelda series, while another looks like the Nintendo GameCube.
  • Quick Cash - Collect as many coins as possible in two shots under par (for example, on a par 5 hole, the player has 3 shots to collect coins), without worrying about sinking the ball.
  • Cash Cup - Collect as many coins as possible and finish the hole with par or better. Failure to do so will result in 0 coins for the hole.
• Stroke Play - Get the fewest total strokes on a course to win. Beat courses in tournament mode to unlock them here.
• Side Games - Fun challenges that test and improve your golfing skills.
  • Birdie Challenge - Compete on Congo Canopy to see how many consecutive birdies you can earn.
  • Practice Games - Hone your approaching and putting skills by playing these unique challenges. There are novice, intermediate and expert difficulties.
• Match Play - Standard golfing with a different scoring system. Winning a hole by finishing with less strokes earns players a point; earn the maximum amount of points to win. For 1 vs 1 and 2 vs 2 matches only.
• Skins Match - Similar to Match Play, but does not require two teams. The player who finishes with the lowest score on a hole earns a point. Whoever has the most amount of points at the end wins.
• Near-Pin - Compete in Congo Canopy to get the shortest total distance from the pin in one stroke. If your ball is not on the green in one stroke, it will count as being 100 feet away.

Unlockable

• Star Tournament - Unlocked once the tournament mode on Bowser Badlands is beaten and a star version of a character is obtained. Same as tournament mode, except the player will compete against tougher star characters while using the back tees and tournament greens. Beat these to be able to use the tournament greens in other game modes. For 1 player.
• Side Games
  • Birdie Challenge
    • One-On One-Putt - Unlocked by beating birdie challenge on all 18 holes (which will also unlock Bowser Jr.). Similar to birdie challenge, except the first shot must land on the green and the second must go in the hole (resulting in a birdie). If the first shot is not on the green, the player will lose. The player must clear this with 1 player to unlock the tournament greens for Congo Canopy. For 1-4 players.
• Special Tournament - Unlocked by holding on the title screen and pressing the button.
  • Hole-in-One Contest - Like the Near-Pin Contest, except the game is played on the Par-3 holes of a selected course. For 1 player.
  • Password Tournament - The player must compete in special tournaments with preset rules by entering certain passwords. For 1 player.
• Ace Computer Difficulty Mode - Different unlocking criteria dependent on the version:
  • American version - The player must place first in every Star Tournament with all (non-GBA) characters. Whether the characters are in their regular or star form does not matter. 102 tournaments in total (six normal tournaments needed to unlock Star Tournament).
  • Japanese and European/Australian versions - The player must accept the challenge from Bowser and win in Character Match mode. This will also unlock Bowser's star form.

Playable characters

Including transferable characters, a total of 18 playable characters are featured in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, consisting of 12 default characters, 4 unlockable characters, and 2 transferable characters. Daisy, Koopa, Diddy Kong, Waluigi, Birdo, Bowser Jr., Boo, Shadow Mario, and Petey Piranha are playable for the first time in the Mario Golf series, with Bowser Jr., Shadow Mario, and Petey Piranha also making their overall playable debuts. This is also Diddy Kong's first appearance in a Super Mario game.

• Drive - How far the ball travels in the air for on a perfect shot with a driver (1W).
• Height - How high or low the ball travels in the air. The higher the ball travels, the more affected by wind it is, the higher it bounces, and the more it is affected by spin. The lower it is, the less it gets affected by wind; additionally, it makes the ball bounce further, roll more and get more affected by lie.
• Shot - What trajectory the ball travels in when hit. For right-handed players, if the ball curves to the left, it's a draw; to the right, a fade; far to the left, a hook or far to the right, a slice, and vice-versa for left-handed players.
• Impact - The amount of the sweet-spot marker left for certain shots. Less makes bunker shots much harder to land and often results in mis-hits.
• Control - The amount of movement away from the targeted spot when hit off the perfect impact point. The higher the amount, the less the ball moves from the target spot.
• Spin - The amount of affect spin has on the ball. Having a higher amount will mean that the ball will roll further with the use of spin.

Impact, Control, and Spin are on a scale of 21. Numbers in parentheses for all stats indicate how they are shown when selecting Advance Tour Clubs. The quotes above the stats are each character's challenge invitation and instruction manual profile.

Default

Character	Drive	Star Drive	Height	Shot	Impact	Star Impact	Control	Spin	Quote
Mario	212 yards	280 yards	High (+4)	Straight (±0)	11 (+1)	6 (-4)	6 (-4)	15 (+5)	"It's-a me! I've been on fire lately, but I hope you'll challenge me!"
Luigi	206 yards	240 yards	Low (-4)	Fade (-3)	13 (+3)	10 (±0)	12 (+2)	7 (-3)	"Oh dear... I've practiced, but no one will play me. Will you play against me?"
Peach	203 yards	235 yards	Moderate (-1)	Straight (±0)	14 (+4)	11 (+1)	13 (+3)	5 (-5)	"Hey! I adore golf! It seems you do, too! Want to play a round of 18?"
Daisy(new)	213 yards	270 yards	High (+5)	Draw (+4)	11 (+1)	7 (-3)	7 (-3)	14 (+4)	"What's up? I'm new, but golf is my thing! And I'll go toe-to-toe to prove it!"
Yoshi	208 yards	250 yards	Moderate (±0)	Straight (±0)	13 (+3)	10 (±0)	10 (±0)	10 (±0)	"Golf is perfect for me, 'cause I love to roam! Why don't we square off?"
Koopa(new)	200 yards	230 yards	Moderate (+1)	Draw (+1)	14 (+4)	13 (+3)	14 (+4)	8 (-2)	"Hi! I may be small, but I'm a huge fan of golf! Care to match skills?"
Donkey Kong	215 yards	285 yards	Low (-3)	Slice (-6)	11 (+1)	5 (-5)	6 (-4)	12 (+2)