Golf

Golf is a game for the NES released in 1984. It is based on the. The golfer has been identified as Mario in supplemental material, albeit not wearing his traditional shirt and overalls. However, the game Captain Rainbow would instead identify the golfer as Ossan, which happens to be a generic internal name Mario had during the development of Donkey Kong. Additionally, the Game Boy conversion of this game would feature Mario on the Western cover art but not the Japanese version.

, developed by, was released for the Virtual Boy in 1995. In it, Mario is replaced by a generic golfer lacking a mustache. This version was titled T&E Virtual Golf in Japan, Golf* in America, and Nintendo Golf on the in-game loading screen. Aspects of its gameplay would be incorporated into Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64.

A copy of the original game was embedded in Nintendo Switch firmware. Activating it required the internal system clock to be set to July 11—Satoru Iwata's —and performing his iconic "" hand gesture with both Joy-Con controllers on the HOME Menu. If successful, a voice clip of Iwata from a Japanese 2012 presentation would confirm the input, and an emulator of Golf with added motion control support would promptly boot up. Golf has significance as one of the first video games Iwata programmed himself for Nintendo while working at HAL Laboratory. This version of Golf was overwritten as of the 4.0.0 update, making it unplayable. Aside from the NES game's inclusion on the Switch, the international version of VS. Golf was later included on Arcade Archives.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Golf is relatively simple. The player is given a ball, and a map on the right side of the screen shows the hole that they must hit the ball into. The obstacles on the way are also displayed on the map. The player gets more points depending on how many times they hit the ball to get it into the hole. Many different types of clubs are also available to choose from by pressing Up/Down on the + Control Pad.

Description from the Nintendo eShop
''Bogey, par, birdie, or Eagle. ''The score is up to you. ''Golf is 18 holes of realistic links action. Each hole has tricky hazards, so strategy is a must. ''Read the wind direction, check the distance, select a club, adjust your swing and keep your eye on the ball. Now drive it home. ''From twisting fairways and hungry sand traps to big water hazards and deceptive greens, Golf is packed with challenges. ''This version of the game does not have multiplayer functionality.

Levels
Golf features 18 holes separated into nine labeled "OUT" and nine labeled "IN." Each hole features some green and some woods, and every hole except hole 11 features sand traps. Holes 2, 3, and 5 feature inland ponds; holes 7 and 16 feature rivers; and holes 6, 9, 13, 15, and 18 have water covering the majority of the map. The other holes do not have water. Once the player gets the ball close to the target (the actual "hole," marked by a flag) on each map, the section of the screen that previously showed a map of the entire course shows a zoomed-in map of the putting green.

VS. System
The game was released for the VS. System, for which the game is also known as Stroke & Match Golf. Three versions of this game exist: The Japanese and international versions of VS. Golf feature the same male character as the NES version, but VS. Ladies Golf, which was never released in Japan, features a female player. The arcade versions are more difficult and have a mode for competing against a computer opponent. They also randomly select 18 of 21 possible holes for each playthrough. In VS. Golf, 17 of the holes are tweaked versions of the NES release with the other four being new. In VS. Ladies Golf, all 21 holes are brand new. The Japanese version of VS. Golf has an attract mode showing gameplay, while the international version and VS. Ladies Golf have attract modes with instructions.

Game Boy
The Game Boy conversion contains 36 different holes split into two courses: Japan and U.S.A.

References in later media

 * Super Mario-kun – In the second volume of the manga, Mario reminisces of his time in Golf.
 *  – Nine of the holes in Golf reappear as the 9-hole course in this game.
 *  – The same nine holes that appear in Wii Sports reappear as the back nine of this game's course in the same order.
 *  – The first hole from Golf reappears in the Golf game in this game.
 * NES Remix – Several challenges are based on this game.

Trivia

 * Nintendo planned to release an 18-hole golfing game as a launch title for the Family Computer, but software companies declined the project and believed that it could not be done with such limited memory at the time. Then-HAL Laboratory employee Satoru Iwata was eager to prove this technical achievement and program the game himself, which required him to create a custom data compression routine.
 * Golf is the second released video game that Satoru Iwata programmed for Nintendo, after Pinball.
 * Like in , the red-colored character on the North American NES box art is actually the second player.
 * Golf is a playable NES game in Doubutsu no Mori for the Nintendo 64 and its GameCube port, Animal Crossing.