Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is the third game in the Mario Golf series and the second home console installment. The game was released for the Nintendo GameCube and is the counterpart to Mario Golf: Advance Tour on the Game Boy Advance. It also earned the Player's Choice rating, being re-released in North America in 2004 and Australia in 2005.

Opening
The game's opening starts with Mario and Luigi looking at a shiny trophy and commenting on how nice it looks. Peach and Daisy call on them, exclaiming that it is tee time on the planned golf course. As the four friends are shown making excellent tee shots, 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 together to start their round of golf. Wario and Waluigi clench their golf clubs while laughing, and prepare to join 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, but just manages to fling sand into Waluigi's face. Minutes later, Waluigi attempts to putt the ball into the hole, but fails miserably after a few tries, resulting in Yoshi and Koopa Troopa falling asleep.

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 a loud roar. The ball suddenly flies back and lands in front of Wario. The two look up and see Bowser coming out of the forest completely enraged because he has a black eye from the golf ball. Bowser gives chase after Wario and Waluigi in his Koopa Clown Car and starts firing 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, threatening to drop another Bob-omb and making them scream for their lives.

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, and knocks the Bob-omb out of Bowser's hand. 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 as to what caused it.

Gameplay
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, withmanual 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.

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:


 * 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.

Game modes
There are a wide variety of game modes offered in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, including tournaments, training sessions, collecting coins and shooting the ball through rings. 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 pattens, 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 earns you a medal; earn the highest amount of medals or mathematically eliminate the opponent to win. For 2 players only.
 * Skins Match - Similar to Match Play, but for 2-4 players. 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. This game marks the first playable appearance of Bowser Jr., Shadow Mario, and Petey Piranha, as well as Diddy Kong's first appearance in a Mario game. Note that Impact, Control, and Spin are on a scale of 21. Drive - How far the ball travels in the air for on a perfect shot with a driver (1W). Trajectory - What direction 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. 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. 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.

Transferable characters
Neil and Ella can be transferred into the game by connecting Mario Golf: Advance Tour for the Game Boy Advance with the Nintendo GameCube. Up to four different pairs can be linked via different save files, with each pair wearing different colors.

"Target Bullseye Tour" version
On July 28, 2003, Nintendo of America released Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (Target Bullseye Tour Included -- Exclusive Version) through stores. This version allowed players to play the Bullseye Tour in the Special Tournament mode. Codes issued from this version of the game could be submitted through the official website. Nintendo prizes were mailed out to the winners. The promotion ended on August 31, 2003.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: In the character select screen, Princess Peach sings the first few notes of the overworld theme. A remix of the underground theme is heard during the player's attempt to score a birdie.
 * Super Mario 64: Shifting Sands is possibly based on Shifting Sand Land from this game. A remix of the Peach's Castle theme is heard in Peach's Castle Grounds. A remix of the Bowser boss fight music is heard in Bowser Badlands. Hole 8 of Peach's Castle Grounds has a mountain with a similar layout to the one in Bob-omb Battlefield, and Big Bob-omb appears there, too. Shadow Mario’s voice clips are mostly taken from this game but edited to be slower.
 * Mario Party: The sound effect that plays when Toad trips on the menu screens is taken from Mario Party, as is the sound that plays when attempting to use a Power Shot when out of them.
 * Donkey Kong 64: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's voice clips were reused from this game.
 * Pikmin: Whenever a player's golf ball lands in a flower patch, Pikmin fly out.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Blooper Bay is heavily based on Gelato Beach, an area in Isle Delfino.

References in later games

 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The countdown timer sound effect is reused in this game to signal the start of the race or battle for the characters.
 * Mario Power Tennis: The opening logos are reused.

Regional Differences
As the game was first released in North America, the NTSJ and PAL versions of the game were subjected to further refinements.
 * Ball in-flight trails were made much shorter in length. Most full-power shot particle effects were toned down as well, excluding those of Mario, Bowser, Shadow Mario, and Bowser Jr.
 * Various fonts were changed, including the ones used for the "PAR" indicator at the upper left corner of the screen in gameplay and the post-shot distance/lie description.
 * The text colors for messages like "Nice shot!", "Excellent!", and so on were revised.
 * Various menu transitions were made much quicker, most notably when opening the pause menu and moving on to the scoreboard from the character celebration animation.
 * New sounds were created for fire when the ball is given spin and when the ball skips over the hole.
 * Computer-controlled characters are much quicker to calculate their shots and cycle through clubs faster.
 * The method for unlocking the “Ace” difficulty was changed. Rather than needing to finish first in every Star Tournament with every character, it is unlocked by defeating Bowser’s character match challenge.
 * A glitch that records Hole-In-Ones on par 4 and 5 holes as Albatrosses was fixed.
 * In the PAL version, Shadow Mario has proper taunts instead of repeated period punctuation marks.

Trivia

 * This game's scoreboard features many characters from other Mario games, including Goombario and Hammer Bro. Possibly coincidentally, one of these referenced characters has actually never been seen since the Super Mario Adventures comic, where he was a minor hero.
 * Professional golfer recommended the game in his book, notably referring to Mario as "the mustachioed plumber from Donkey Kong".
 * This was one of the last games Nintendo published to have the "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" label on the box and the disc, as Nintendo changed the label in late-2003 to read "Official Nintendo Seal". A Player's Choice box was released after 2003; however, on this version, the "Official Nintendo Seal" appears on the back only, while the "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality" appears on the front and the disc.