ario anything is generally the great no-brainer in the video game world. He races, he swings rackets, and he plumbs (or whatever plumbers do) better than any other digital character in existence. Mario Golf is no exception, and earns its almost custom-built place as the GameCube’s best golf game. However, I can’t help thinking our plunger-wielding paisan phoned this one in.

The new control interface is user friendly and definitely caters to beginners. If you so choose, an automatic swing only requires you to pick the power of your shot. Otherwise, you can manually adjust back- and topspin. Putting is refined over the 64-bit predecessor as well, and things like wind direction and terrain effects are easier to determine. This game swings clubs with the best of them.

I always welcome the Nintendo clique of peeps in my games. The gang’s almost all here from the outset, unlike most golf titles which start you with a skeleton crew and require you to unlock the rest. Their skills don’t differ a whole lot, so who you pick is mostly a matter of aesthetic preference. Accept an opponent’s challenge and beat him or her, and you earn a stat-enhanced star version of that individual.

Medals are earned for birdies, eagles, and holes in one. Pick up a certain amount, and you’ll get a few more playable costars. That’s the extent of the RPG elements or rewards available. Modes like Ring Golf and Coin Golf are okay, but when I get nothing for beating them, I’m not motivated to play them. Mini-Golf from the N64 Mario Golf is noticeably absent.

I have a love/hate relationship with the game’s courses. The first few are decently designed, but they’re blander than you’d expect in a Mario offering. Once you win a few tournaments and get more courses, business picks up. The beach-themed one has fun shapes for islands and sand traps. Peach’s own course adds warp pipes to the mix. Bowser’s has enemies scattered around that will put a hurtin’ on your ball.

I have more issues with this game than most Nintendo-published products, which makes me worry that the company’s quality assurance department may be slipping. Things like the camera not always panning toward the hole on putts or large-nosed characters’ schnozzes getting in the way of reading the green just shouldn’t happen. Leaves on trees have the physics of rubber walls when hit. Character models are inferior to those in Super Smash Bros. Melee. I also loathe most of the music – save for the Super Mario Bros.-inspired tune when you putt.

Mario Golf takes the same requisite strides in detail and graphical quality that go along with the bump in console technology, but doesn’t strive to do much more. It pales in comparison to the PlayStation 2 Greatest Hit Hot Shots 3 in nearly every way, and is just slightly better than Swingerz Golf. Mario worshippers will be entranced. To the rest of us, it’s just a fun little golf game.   

MATTHEW KATO   8 This may sound strange, but I rate this as a slightly un-Nintendo game. Now, let me explain. Mario Golf is no disappointment. Developer Camelot knows its stuff, and this title is every bit the golfing good time you’d expect, barring a few gameplay problems. First of all, compared to a rich series like Hot Shots Golf, Mario comes up short. The unlockables are nowhere near as good, and – surprisingly – it doesn’t have as much character. See? Isn’t that a strange thing to say for a Nintendo title? Apart from a few cool courses utilizing various icons from the Mario games (and some darn tricky holes), unlocking a star version of Diddy Kong just doesn’t whet my whistle. Also, the camera can hinder – a problem I wouldn’t expect Nintendo to allow. You will certainly have a blast with Mario Golf, but the company has to realize that as time goes on, our expectations get bigger, not smaller.