Mario Golf: World Tour Demo Impressions, DLC News

It’s been over ten years and two generations of Nintendo hardware since we last saw a Mario Golf title, and the wait is finally over with Mario Golf: World Tour for the Nintendo 3DS. The demo came out this week and we took it for a spin to see if this should be on your radar.
The demo lets you play as Mario, Yoshi, Peach and Bowser, with Bowser being the only character with a hook, and you get to take them through nine holes. These hole range from normal Seaside Course, the normal-but-visually-different Wiggler Park and your more Mario-esque Yoshi Lake complete with Yoshi Story-themed hazards. These courses show the range of what to expect when it comes to Mario sports games and do them in a non-threatening manner, though the full game will have some monstrous locales that’ll test your might on the green. The last two courses are based on different modes you can experience in the game: Star Coin Collector and Ring Master, which makes you launch your ball through coins and rings respectfully and then making it into the hole.

The gameplay is pretty much what you expect from a golf video game: pick your club, aim your shot, and gauge your power while keeping track of various variables in your way, such as wind and hazards. While hitting the ball is fairly realistic, it can be livened up with Mario items like mushrooms and Super Mario 3D World’s Boomerang Flower. Throughout the demo, I had no complaints with the gameplay at all, other than my lackluster ability, but even I was getting used to everything by the time I played through each hole once.
There was a lot the demo didn't cover, like the RPG elements of the clubhouse or the online portions, but it thankfully did have a tutorial that more or less showed you the ropes. It seems that Camelot has done it again and delivered another quality Mario sports game for everyone to enjoy, whether you’re more down-to-earth or prefer something more lighthearted. The full version of Mario Golf: World Tour will launch next Friday, May 2nd, both on the eShop and in stores.

In other Mario Golf news, World Tour will have DLC and, for the first time in a Nintendo game, a season pass. The cartridge will have 126 holes from 10 courses, but the season pass, which consists of three separate DLC packs, will add 108 more to that tally. Each of the three $5.99 packs will also add a new playable character (Toadette, Nabbit and Rosalina in that order), and a fourth gold Mario if you decide on the $14.99 season pass. Expect the first pack day one on May 2nd, the second later in May and the third in June.