Mario Golf Super Rush (25th June 2021)

[darksnowman]

6 hours ago, Glen-i said:

That desert chipping challenge is driving me mad! 9 shots, and you need 80 points! That green is annoyingly hilly!

This Hammer Bro needs a reality check!

You're not joking! I ended up moving on from that one but will return when I put more points into control to see if that helps. I can get 27+ points on the first three holes but after that bounces are killing me.

[darksnowman]

Rolled credits earlier on adventure mode. The ending is very abrupt and just happens... not exactly out of nowhere, though you still kind of think there might be more golf to be played, but no. So yeah, if reviewers sprinted through they could definitely have clocked it in the sub-five hours that's being bandied about. I wouldn't recommend taking that approach though. It's sub-ten, absolutely, and can be enjoyed for the short adventure it is without the need to "rush", as it were. 
 

Overall, adventure mode is fine but it could have been more. When I say more, I don't even mean a 3D version of Mario Golf on Gameboy Color, I mean they could have just done more with what they made here--more golf on each course, events, tournaments, types of tournaments, cups and trophies that take advantage of the same hubs and courses that are here already. Just vary the wind and pin placement and away you go! But no, the content dwindles for each area until, as I said, the ending just happens. It tries to ramp up and be epic but pretty much just peters out. 

Pretty sure it was the first event in the starting area, you have to make the cut or you're out, and I was thinking here we go: golf! If this is how it starts, are we building up to competing over multiple rounds with big leaderboards of NPCs where you have to make the cut or start over? These badges are going to be an achievement to come by! Well, erm, no. Almost all the golf is done over 3-9 holes at pace, running from one stroke to the next, which gives you no time to take in your surroundings, ponder the implications of each stroke, and see what happens with the ball to know why a shot went askew so you can correct your technique next time. Also annoying is when you're stuck with computer opposition that obstructs your view on the green and stutters between their running/ putting/ celebrating animations in front of you when you're trying to line up and sink your own putt against the timer. You're 3-2-1ed into each hole like Mario Kart (sans Lakitu) then it's hit and run hit and run hit and run until you get a badge and move on with no time to think about the golf itself. Could this be a distraction from a shallow control scheme? I couldn't tell you because I haven't had time to settle with it and find out. Looks like that's not what adventure modes about. And don't get me wrong, this concurrent style of running speed golf is all right in itself and a welcome addition to a turn-based sport, I just don't think it should have made up pretty much every event in adventure mode. But I guess you are feeding your Miis speed and stamina stats so they gotta be put to use.

Oh, and could someone take the pin out of the cup when I'm putting, thanks!

Mario Golf and Tennis used to be golf and tennis first, with some side modes to "kartify" the sports. Ring shots, speed golf, literal Mario Kart 64 item boxes in battle mode in Tennis 64. And it was great to have these unconventional modes but over the years those side modes have become more and more amped up until they've now infested the main sport and taken over. It's up to you to do the work to figure out how to play a bit of sport with the Mario characters and rock-solid Nintendo controls we are so used to. In my opinion, they've got it back to front, but the games must sell bucketloads which is why they double-down on the in-your-face zaniness.

Anyway. During the adventure, I reckon I checked every door, bed, fridge, locker, all drawers, crates, barrels, jars, sinks, spoke to everyone each time they had a fresh speech bubble and here is what I got:

Spoiler

Spoiler

An extra 800 coins from a toad in the desert area.

 

On a fun note:

Spoiler

@RedShellI'd be first in the queue if you do a golf line!  

So... time to check out the other modes, and frantic Mario Snooker when?

[martinist]

Cross Country golf can do one! I hope I never see it again.

[darksnowman]

23 minutes ago, martinist said:

Cross Country golf can do one! I hope I never see it again.

What was so bad about it? The shot limitation was really generous.  The only issue I had was discerning on the map the upper levels from the lower, as there didn't seem to be a way to know at a glance. Other than that I thought it was a breath of fresh air!

Edited June 27, 2021 by darksnowman

[Mokong]

I've never played a Mario Golf game before, never had interest in them...however I would love a new Wii Sports Golf. With the motion controls in this does it make for a good new Wii Sports Golf substitute? Can all game modes be played with motion controls or only certain modes?

[BowserBasher]

4 hours ago, martinist said:

Cross Country golf can do one! I hope I never see it again.

It took me a while to figure that the best way to do that is know your route before hand and then just take it easy. I think I had around 6 shots to spare at the end. 
 

45 minutes ago, Mokong said:

I've never played a Mario Golf game before, never had interest in them...however I would love a new Wii Sports Golf. With the motion controls in this does it make for a good new Wii Sports Golf substitute? Can all game modes be played with motion controls or only certain modes?

from the looks of it it gives you the option of buttons or motion control before every game, so I’d say yes they can all be played with motion controls. 

[Glen-i]

9 hours ago, Mokong said:

I've never played a Mario Golf game before, never had interest in them...however I would love a new Wii Sports Golf. With the motion controls in this does it make for a good new Wii Sports Golf substitute? Can all game modes be played with motion controls or only certain modes?

@BowserBasher is right.

But keep in mind that if you join a person online who has set their preference to button controls for whatever reason (Drifting Joy-Cons, in my case), you have to use the same control scheme.

My guess is to make sure everyone is on the same level field. Motion controls add a level of realism that I'd imagine make shots more difficult.

Edited June 28, 2021 by Glen-i

[darksnowman]

38 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

if you join a person online who has set their preference to button controls for whatever reason (Drifting Joy-Cons, in my case), you have to use the same control scheme.

O rly. Time to undock the joy-cons and condemn whoever joins for some four-ball to the drift.

[martinist]

18 hours ago, darksnowman said:

What was so bad about it?

 

14 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

It took me a while to figure that the best way to do that is know your route before hand and then just take it easy. I think I had around 6 shots to spare at the end.

It's the elevation changes that really screw up my shots. The tornadoes also don't put my ball where i want it, usually ends up bouncing off of a cliff face again and again. I got through it last night, hopefully I don't have to do any of it again.

[BowserBasher]

20 minutes ago, martinist said:

 

It's the elevation changes that really screw up my shots. The tornadoes also don't put my ball where i want it, usually ends up bouncing off of a cliff face again and again. I got through it last night, hopefully I don't have to do any of it again.

They were totally getting me at first too. That is where planning your route comes in though. You need to plan it around them so you can line up shots to use them without getting messed up. 
It’s a nice alternative along with making your own route around the course, but I wouldn’t want it a constant thing in the game. Restricted to the one course is ok. 

[darksnowman]

2 hours ago, martinist said:

It's the elevation changes that really screw up my shots. The tornadoes also don't put my ball where i want it, usually ends up bouncing off of a cliff face again and again. I got through it last night, hopefully I don't have to do any of it again.

Yeah, I thought displaying the elevation could have been handled better. It was difficult to quickly open the map and assess things. 

I just played the ball through the tornadoes as if it was a normal shot and it seemed to end up where I expected, just up a level.  Were you trying to land the ball in the tornadoes or what?

2 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

They were totally getting me at first too. That is where planning your route comes in though. You need to plan it around them so you can line up shots to use them without getting messed up. 
It’s a nice alternative along with making your own route around the course, but I wouldn’t want it a constant thing in the game. Restricted to the one course is ok. 

Added some nice variety to the golf, I agree, and made adventuring around the course with your Mii more interesting too because you had to plan a route for the ball as well as yourself. 

But there should have been XC challenges and tournaments on each course in adventure mode. There, I said it.  And a koopa the quick NPC for recurrent speed golf challenges... and other pros that only do traditional golf... and a proper ladder to climb to number one in each style... and your rival rookies could flourish in a different type of golf each... so many untapped possibilities that could've been done within the adventure mode framework they built.  Such a pity. 

[nekunando]

On 27/06/2021 at 9:29 PM, Mokong said:

I've never played a Mario Golf game before, never had interest in them...however I would love a new Wii Sports Golf. With the motion controls in this does it make for a good new Wii Sports Golf substitute?

I'd love to give you a confident YES but you may have to make do with an unconvincing maybe..

I haven't been able to play Mario Golf Super Rush as much as I would have liked since Friday but I've had a chance to play a few rounds with both button and motion controls.

In terms of being a good Wii Sports substitute, it certainly has the potential to be but even after a few days with the game I'm still having difficulty with getting consistent results with the power of my shots

Obviously, that could well be my fault.. but when you hold the L or R button (depending on which Joy-Con you are using) to take practice swings, I almost always get wildly different results despite feeling like I am taking exactly the same strength of swing. Not ideal!

I'm hoping this is something that I will eventually get on top of (heck, the motion controls are still fun despite this issue) but I do wonder if the inconsistency is a result of covering most of the Joy-Con with my hands which was well known to cause some connection deficiencies earlier in the life of the Switch. I think drift stole the thunder of that particular problem over the years

[martinist]

23 hours ago, darksnowman said:

I just played the ball through the tornadoes as if it was a normal shot and it seemed to end up where I expected, just up a level.  Were you trying to land the ball in the tornadoes or what?

When i was playing the ball through the tornadoes there were no problems. But if i landed close to one that I needed to use then the ball would get pushed upwards then end up hitting off of the cliff wall and back to where it started.

It's not as frustrating as I make it out to be. I was probably making it harder for myself than it should have been. The stroke limit is very generious in hindsight.

[darksnowman]

32 minutes ago, martinist said:

It's not as frustrating as I make it out to be. I was probably making it harder for myself than it should have been. The stroke limit is very generious in hindsight.

This is why it's not Pichu Golf. 

[darksnowman]

Been doing some normal rounds with DK and some of the others. Haven't tried Rosalina yet to see what her game's like.

I've noticed a few things that I missed during the speed golf-centric adventure mode, none of it positive , but I'm going to throw out a comment on the music to see what @Glen-i thinks. Part of the tune for Bonny Greens really reminds me of the goofy soundtrack for DKC 3 on GBA. Have you picked up on that too?

[BowserBasher]

Think I’m getting close to the end of the single player mode, I have the silver badge and just got the 

Spoiler

Lob wedge and the special shots for it  

Also just unlocked my first set of star clubs for Daisy. She can now have a drive or 220y instead of her tiny 190 odd. Should hopefully be able to get some Albatross scores with that. 
Tried motion controls for a bit and they aren’t too bad but will certainly need to get used to. I think that would be much more fun with four people around one tele rather than online games. 
There’s a feature that never seemed to come back from the N64 games, taunting and cheering when in multiplayer when the other player was taking their shot. If I could have one thing added it would be that. 

 

[darksnowman]

11 hours ago, BowserBasher said:

There’s a feature that never seemed to come back from the N64 games, taunting and cheering when in multiplayer when the other player was taking their shot. If I could have one thing added it would be that. 

I can't decide if this didn't make the cut (...!) because they knew it would be a horrific spamfest of sound and the screen being plastered, or if it is just another corner they cut.  

Maybe they could add in the short messages you can send that pop-up discretely in the corner in Super Mario Maker 2, and put a time limit on it to cut down on the spam factor?

[Glen-i]

5 hours ago, darksnowman said:

I can't decide if this didn't make the cut (...!) because they knew it would be a horrific spamfest of sound and the screen being plastered, or if it is just another corner they cut.  

It's no coincidence it got dropped the moment Mario Golf went online.

In the first two games, you always had the option of punching your friend in the arm if they went overboard.

[nekunando]

I think I've probably played enough to be able to start giving some early impressions of the game.

Before I go into it, I will just clarify that I'm glad I picked it up, I am enjoying it and am  sure I will continue to have a lot of fun with it..

..but man, it's a little disappointing so far!

I've sprinkled a few rounds of Mario Golf: World Tour into my last couple of weeks and it's such a shame to see Super Rush tamper with the formula enough that it's easy to make a case that it's an inferior game at this stage.

We're all aware of the adjustments to the swing meter, none of which I would really consider an improvement, but even pressing the X button to select where to aim your shot has been unnecessarily changed and you can now bring up a scanner with R to get a different perspective.. but it's still just not as convenient or helpful, in my opinion.

Also, the courses themselves (from the 3 I've played so far) seem to lack the character that all of the 3DS courses and DLC ooze.

I haven't experienced enough of the Speed Golf to know if it's fun yet or not so I'll post about that at a later date (as I will do when I finally try Battle Golf) but it may be a little hard to shake off some of the criticisms, despite the fact that it's still fun to play!

With the amount of Wii U ports, and perhaps some 3DS ports to come, Mario Golf on Switch feels like it may have been wiser to simply port World Tour and add in a couple of enhancements, such as motion control. 

Despite already owning it on 3DS, it may yet prove to have been a preferable option!

[Nicktendo]

9 hours ago, nekunando said:

I think I've probably played enough to be able to start giving some early impressions of the game.

Before I go into it, I will just clarify that I'm glad I picked it up, I am enjoying it and am  sure I will continue to have a lot of fun with it..

..but man, it's a little disappointing so far!

I've sprinkled a few rounds of Mario Golf: World Tour into my last couple of weeks and it's such a shame to see Super Rush tamper with the formula enough that it's easy to make a case that it's an inferior game at this stage.

We're all aware of the adjustments to the swing meter, none of which I would really consider an improvement, but even pressing the X button to select where to aim your shot has been unnecessarily changed and you can now bring up a scanner with R to get a different perspective.. but it's still just not as convenient or helpful, in my opinion.

Also, the courses themselves (from the 3 I've played so far) seem to lack the character that all of the 3DS courses and DLC ooze.

I haven't experienced enough of the Speed Golf to know if it's fun yet or not so I'll post about that at a later date (as I will do when I finally try Battle Golf) but it may be a little hard to shake off some of the criticisms, despite the fact that it's still fun to play!

With the amount of Wii U ports, and perhaps some 3DS ports to come, Mario Golf on Switch feels like it may have been wiser to simply port World Tour and add in a couple of enhancements, such as motion control. 

Despite already owning it on 3DS, it may yet prove to have been a preferable option!

Yeah, I'd struggle to disagree with any of this. 

Not a big fan of the new swing meter. Courses are uninspiring so far. Game seems a little bare-bones (I'm sure that will change with free updates). 

It's okay, but not up their with typical Mario Golf fare. I had similar feelings about Tennis, but the gameplay in that was so good, it was much easier to overlook some of the drawbacks and I ended up putting a ton of time into the game. There is nothing in this game that I feel can really match 64 / Toadstool Tour so far. 

[Hero-of-Time]

It’s such a shame the Mario sports series has went this way. There was a time when both the golf and tennis games were seen as premium products that could compete with the best of them. Now they seem to be happy with drip feeding the content across the space of many months instead of releasing a finished product. They kinda seem to be stuck in between wanting to make a game like the older titles and something more like a GaaS game.

I had my suspicions this would end up like the tennis game and that’s why I held off my purchase of it. Plus, why they chose to change the tried and tested method of the swinging mechanic is beyond me.

Are Camelot just not up to scratch anymore when it comes to making these games? It seems like ever since HD console development became a thing they have really found it hard to find their footing. I keep wishing they would go back to making JRPGs but at this point I’m not even sure they would be able to pull it off.

[Nicktendo]

11 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Are Camelot just not up to scratch anymore when it comes to making these games?

I think this is the issue. They’re clearly a great team and a have a long history with good sports games and RPGs, especially on weak hardware like the GBA and GBC. Their three HD games have been very low on content and have lost a lot of the “magic” which made their older games special. I think it’s clear they are not up to modern HD development with the likely very small team they have. It’s a shame, but I don’t see it changing unless they expand or get much better support from Nintendo. 

[darksnowman]

31 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

It’s such a shame the Mario sports series has went this way. There was a time when both the golf and tennis games were seen as premium products that could compete with the best of them.

I don't even think there was a splash--either visually or aurally--when I put a ball in the drink. There are so many lacking touches that make the game seem cheap and a long way from being close to premium. It is really unfortunate.  

Everyone else is probably hitting the fairways and greens in regulation so hasn't noticed that. I've been experimenting with applying the curve arrows with and against the wind, and let me tell you, if you have a character with three curve segments on the power bar and you're on a hole with good strong wind, try applying maximum curve with the wind... it's like the crazy curve ball cheat from Fifa International Soccer!  Just need to find a practical use for it.

[BowserBasher]

1 hour ago, darksnowman said:

don't even think there was a splash--either visually or aurally--when I put a ball in the drink.

I’m sure I’ve done that a few times and you’re right, no water splash. It’s like there’s not really water there. Just a “no you can’t go there message” plus all oob areas are just called penalty area. Not water hazard, or something. 

[nekunando]

My brother finally received the game from Amazon yesterday and we played 6 holes together

It was fun but we both landed in the bunker from the first shot on one of the Par 4 holes. With me winning the game by a couple of shots, I decided just to take a risk by just using one of my most powerful clubs to reach the hole rather than play safe and chip it out onto the fairway.. and it just worked

It annoyed me as I felt I should be punished for having to play out of the sand but it's like there was no punishment at all. And then to prove it wasn't just good luck, my brother did the same and got even closer to the hole!

I wasn't expecting the feel this way after a week!