Mario Golf

Mario Golf is a sports game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. In the game, Mario, his friends, and his enemies play golf on a variety of Mario-themed courses. It is the second game in the Mario Golf series (though the first to carry that name). Its tagline was "Tee Up with Mario and his Friends".

Mario Golf was re-released on the Virtual Console in Japan on September 30, 2008, in North America on October 6, 2008 and in Europe on January 23, 2009.

Gameplay
Players can play as a variety of characters including Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Yoshi. The game also included new characters including Plum, Sonny, Harry, Maple, and Charlie. Players can then select from a number of courses which have features adapted to the Nintendo world. Mario Golf is also very easy to play (also known as a "pick up and play" game) as it makes golf very simple, because it does away with many of the complicated real-life aspects of the sport that are found in games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006. Although the game is easy to play and simple in appearance, the game's engine is very deep and there are a multitude of variables that can affect a shot, such as wind strength and direction (indicated by a Boo), rain, characters individual attributes, spin on the ball, and relief of the land. There is a variety of gameplay modes, including speed golf, ring shot, mini golf and skins match. Every character in the game has recorded voice samples which can be used to comment on opponent's shots.

Transfer Pak
This game features Transfer Pak compatibility with the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf. Players can upload characters and data found on the Game Boy version to the Nintendo 64 version. That way, you can play as these characters in full 3D. Additionally, data from the Nintendo 64 version is saved onto the Game Boy Color version of the game. However, the characters imported onto the Nintendo 64 version are not saved onto the cartridge; you must upload the characters again to play as them on the Nintendo 64.[citation needed] After playing a round with a GBC Character, that character will earn experience points. Transfer Pak functionality is not included in the Virtual Console version.

Playable characters

 * Toadstool
 * Baby Mario
 * Birdo
 * Boo
 * Bowser
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Daisy
 * Charlie
 * Diddy Kong
 * Donkey Kong
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Luigi
 * Mario
 * Metal Mario
 * Plum
 * Peach
 * Petey Piranha
 * Shadow Mario
 * Waluigi
 * Wario
 * Yoshi

Reception
GameSpot describes the game as easy to play, by having simple features and by "removing the guesswork for gamers who are not familiar with the subtle nuances of golf" that may put off many players.[citation needed]

Sequel
A sequel to this game, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, was released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003.