The partnership between Nintendo and Camelot with sports spin-offs linked to the world of Super Mario continues fruitfully also on Nintendo Switch:
after tennis with Mario Tennis Aces, we return to an old love of the studio, that of golf, born first in Sony with Everybody's Golf, and then declined on various incarnations strictly branded big N, from the very first Mario Golf in 1999 on Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color to the new, delirious Mario Golf: Super Rush, available from 25 June exclusively on the console most loved hybrid around.
" Delusional ", of course, in a good way, very good : yes, because if you expect a serious simulator and faithful to reality, you risk being partially disappointed, but if you are looking for healthy fun, alone and above all in company, possibly holding an Iron 9, well then you are in the right place.
The offer proposed by the Japanese studio is rich and varied, suitable for all palates and skill levels. For purists, let's start by saying that the game offers two macro-areas, one called Golf Adventure, similar to a real single-player campaign, and one called Free Golf, where you can take a few hit and run games when you have a few minutes available., or why not, do some practice. It is in the latter that a standard Golf mode is included, which allows you to experience the discipline without too many crazy variants (the real highlight of the experience).
If you want zero jokes and jokes, you can embed the varied cast (from Mario to Wario, from Pauline to King Bob-omb) in very classic clashes, alone or in multiplayer (local, online and managed by the AI), in which you will have an iron to choose from (with an indication of how far you will send the ball more precisely), a power bar to load (with the flag icon on it when you approach the hole), and if necessary also the effect to be impressed, also alternating swing, half swing and hit types (such as topspin and backspin) with which to make every action even more precise. Optional, but there is also the impact that the wind has on the shot in influencing the game, as well as climbs and descents on the fairway and on the green that require attention, so as to avoid jumps in sand or water bunkers that penalize and make it more difficult to continue.
The highlight, however, as mentioned, lies in the twist made in Nintendo that Camelot has reserved for players: the Speed Golf mode stands out, which as the name suggests, rewards the speed of golfers, but not only. In this crazy mode, the 4 competitors strike at the same time and move freely on the fairway (from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 18, divided into various "worlds"), having to go to the ball in order to continue the progress towards the mug.
In the meantime, it will be possible to perform special shots, which if done at the right time, can slow down or stun the opponents, taking care not to consume all the energy, and at the same time collecting coins. As a last resort, shot after shot, you can also accumulate special energy with which to execute a special shot, which can reach the hole more easily, or even put a spoke in the wheel of other golfers. The important thing is that you are the fastest, and at the same time the most effective ones: whoever takes fewer strokes and less time wins, so be careful not to be overwhelmed by haste.
If the adrenaline-pumping delirium of Speed Golf was not enough, the Battaglia golf takes care of making evenings with friends more heated: here the concept of the aforementioned Speed Golf is brought to exhaustion with more compact arenas full of obstacles, and with more holes close together to be centered before the others. The first who conquers 3 holes (blowing them definitively to the opponents) wins, only this time you will also have bombs that rain from the sky, Categnacci and unnerving distractions, which push you to act quickly, to the detriment of the quality of the shots.
A mix of strategy and instinct that amused us and not a little, especially by adopting the movement controls instead of the classic keys, with a lot of stroke to physically simulate by holding the Joy-Con, making us feel like expert golfers (even if it requires a little 'of time to be mastered). Also very appreciated is the possibility of playing in 4 on the same console, or in 2, using the pair of controllers present by default in the console, for improvised matches but no less felt or fought for this.
As anticipated, however, Camelot has also decided to offer a real story mode, or career, with which to entertain players and extend the already solid longevity: the Golf Adventure sees us play an anonymous Mii, a rookie from the world of golf., and embark in his shoes on a journey far and wide through the Kingdom of Mushrooms in the name of holes, tournaments and challenges at the last Par.
Our advice is to start from here, even if only for the useful tutorials and the numerous practice sessions that will help you and not a little even in online and non-online challenges, such as challenges in which you have to stop the ball at a certain point on the green, or you learn to master spinning shots. At first, some races seem too prohibitive, but once you become familiar with the controls, you will be able to grind victories with a certain ease.
It is an interesting mode also and above all for the sense of progression it offers to the player: first of all, you will see your Mii improve, not only in parallel with your skills, but also thanks to a real growth system that, by accumulating experience points and levels, will allow you to enhance various statistics (from the power of the shot to the speed of race, up to the resistance of the breath). At the same time, as you move from one part of the world to another, you will see fields and the general atmosphere change, sometimes even drastically, with challenges, obstacles and finds that are thrown into the cauldron to complicate life more and more, and psychologically prepare you for the harsh law of stronger than you breathe in online matches, between trees that hinder your trajectory, "terrace" fields that plan to overcome steep walls, and even tornadoes to exploit to your advantage,The variety of situations proposed is very good, and gives Mario Golf: Super Rush that pinch of madness necessary to distinguish it from the “usual” sports titles, as well as from the “usual” canonical Super Marioos.
As well as very good, as usual, is the graphics sector, both in handheld, its natural size, and in docked mode on the TV, where, however, the inaccuracies are more noticeable. Particularly evident is instead the polygonal poverty and not only of the overworld of the Adventure mode, which allows you to move freely in tiny locations that separate the various training and competition fields from each other, complete with NPCs with which to chat and from which to obtain advice, but there is a certain laziness in the general implementation and a quality level, we reiterate, at least off the pitch, a little lower than Nintendo standards. However, this is an extra: with Joy-Con and iron in hand, the level returns to the stars.
Mario Golf: Super Rush is a now classic, delirious spin-off of the timeless Super Mario saga, strongly focused on the fun component and multiplayer, local and online, able to give emotions and laughter not so much in the more standard declination of golf, as well as in the crazy experiments of Speed Golf (which by now we also want IRL) and Battles, in a formula now common to all Mario's sports titles, but from time to time reinterpreted in ways that are always different and pleasant.
Conclusion
The Golf Adventure, a real single-player campaign, is the icing on the cake : undermined only by a not exactly brilliant side dish, it is actually crucial to better prepare and deepen the many mechanics proposed by the game, which under its soul playful and fantasy actually hides, for those who want it, a very high challenge rate and a more serious approach, thanks to the versatility and customization of each game and mode. A very full Par, in short!
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