Whether or not you’ve been around since the Nintendo 64 iteration, Mario Golf is a series of titles that have offered some of the best golf sim experiences on each of the Nintendo systems they have been released on.
Returning to consoles for the first time since the GameCube’s Toadstool Tour, Mario Golf: Super Rush allows players to return to the green and battle it out with an intrepid cast of Mario-game characters who all want to get a hole-in-one as they sprint through vastly different locales.
While the actual mechanics on offer in Mario Golf: Super Rush aren’t anywhere near the more pure experiences you could find in one of the Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy titles, this arcade-like iteration makes each round a battlefield.
Speed and accuracy are more important than perfect form and number-crunching scorekeeping, while the various modes keep things interesting enough to make this one of the better sports titles on the Nintendo Switch.
Mario Golf: Super Rush Review — Back to the Green
As your journey begins in Mario Golf: Super Rush, you’ll be offered to take part in the Golf Adventure mode, which is a mix between deep-dive tutorials and lite sports-RPG. This mode features an open-world village where you’ll be able to meet other competitors and the green’s caretakers, albeit in the shallowest way you’d expect from an RPG, but with enough to make exploration worthwhile.
Super Rush first insists on teaching you the basics and takes the time to understand the basic principles of the game of golf. This portion of the game is a bit too slow-paced, especially considering the controls are so simple. You’ll probably end up wanting to fast-forward through to more of the meaty portions.
In true RPG fashion, you’re offered a skill tree where you can improve your swing or power, while also getting better clubs along the way. As you make your way through this mode, you’ll find things get way better as you make your way towards its conclusion. The courses and narrative grow as you progress through Golf Adventure mode, but things are never heavy-handed or all that serious. This is a Mario game first and foremost.
Additional modes available allow for more of your replayability, between the online multiplayer and split-screen options for those looking to compete with friends. Solo Challenges where you’ll attempt to beat your own score or time, and the award-winning Battle Golf mode that offers the quirkiest experience with its speedy fight with friends to complete three holes in gladiatorial fashion are both featured in Mario Golf: Super Rush as well.
The gameplay itself is also pretty simple across the board, especially if you’re using the motion controls that simplify the mechanics even further by removing some of the accuracy abilities you can utilize when using a gamepad or the joy-cons.
Besides choosing a direction, power, spin direction, and curvature of the ball, you’re only other options are to use a special ability that each character can activate to blow opponents out of the way or turn the opponent’s golf balls into eggs, for example.
From there, you’re simply trying your best to get the best score possible or running as quickly as you can to be the first to complete each hole, depending on the mode you have chosen. This makes for something the golfing purist will probably feel is a bit of a lackluster experience, but for those who play Mario Party or Mario Kart and are looking for a golf-themed couch co-op experience that’s just plain fun, then you’ll have your hands full with Mario Golf: Super Rush.
Mario Golf: Super Rush is visually impressive with locations that vary enough to be unique, while not really being full enough to keep your attention off the task at hand. The upbeat soundtrack adds to the arcade experience, keeping you moving forward as fast as you can.
The game does lack slowdown thankfully, and overall things are pretty snappy. Overall you should have an experience that will not test your patience outside of getting caught in a sand trap or behind a tree.
Mario Golf: Super Rush Review — The Bottom Line
Pros
- Arcade gameplay is fun and fast-paced
- Visuals, locations, and soundtracks are phenomenal
- Golf Adventure mode is a major plus for sports-RPG fans
- Ability to play online or couch co-op makes things easy for friends
Cons
- Gameplay is very simple, which can get monotonous.
- Golf Adventure mode doesn’t get as deep as previous entries
Mario Golf: Super Rush is an exciting and easily playable experience for friends around the globe to get together and enjoy some shenanigans across 18 holes. While some of the aspects aren’t nearly as developed as would have been requested by the solo gamer, enough is given to allow for a positive experience for those playing alone as well.
Between all of the positives on offer in Mario Golf: Super Rush, it’s hard to find a complaint for anyone looking to play this in a way that you’d expect from other titles in Nintendo’s Switch catalog. Even if things could be a little deeper or more difficult, this game is just too much good, old-fashioned fun to let those things get in the way.
[Note: Nintendo provided the copy of Mario Golf: Super Rush used for this review.]
