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Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA) Status: Finished playing I started playing this game on Wednesday 1 November, 2006 // I stopped playing this game on: Monday 4 December, 2006
Current opinion of this game
Different. It really is like an RPG, though I've only played 20 mins.
December 1, 2006 03:57:52 PM
I stopped playing this game because it started to become so...hmm... non-exciting. To give you an idea of what I mean, I won the Links championship (after which the game's credits rolled), and then? Well, nothing special really. It's back to business as usual... no super finale, no dramatic event, nothing special. I thought that maybe Mario would show up and challenge me to a golf-duel... or something exciting like that. Oh, I thought. Maybe it's because I haven't defeated "Kid" (my coach, mentor and renowned golfing super-star). So, I challenged him and defeated him as well! And? Nothing. No reporters jumped out of the bushes to document this amazing sporting feat. C'mon! I just beat the Mario-Golf equivalent of Tiger Woods! So, in retrospect, I guess the RPG-flavor this game has is just that, flavor. Let's add improvable characters, but not really any story, drama, or depth to the characters. or maybe I haven't played it enough? I hear that you can max out your character at level 99, and I only got to about 30. Hmm.. maybe I'll read about it somewhere online...'cause I don't think I'll go back to playing the game... on the other hand, the other night I was channel flipping and there was some golf tournament on. I couldn't believe myself when I realized that I actually felt something (empathy?) towards the golfers! I have a really weird sense of appreciation for golf that I didn't have before..
November 21, 2006 10:56:24 PM
I've been playing this game for quite a bit now...and I've been waiting to write something terribly profound, insightful, or at least clever. I guess I'll have to settle for mediocrity. :-) I've already been significant (I think) progress in each of the tournaments that are available. In typical RPG form, you have to win them in order..and I'm currently stuck on the final(?) one which is called "Links". Well, I don't think it really is final since supposedly you get to play against Mario at some point. Will the game radically change when that happens? Is that when it'll turn into Crazy-Mario-Golf? So far, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what each of the stats means. I'll probably look them up on GameFaqs, which is kind of lame. But hey...anyways, I've been having fun and learning some of the nuances of a sport I've never really cared for. Maybe now I will?
November 10, 2006 04:28:55 PM
Having never played a golf game before, I must say that I'm learning about the nuances and intricacies of this sport. Yeah, now I know what a Birdie is! The most entertaining thing about this game so far (and I'm really enjoying it!) is that it's basically a golfing RPG! You compete in tournaments and little side-games, gain experience, improve your stats and gain access to new tournaments. Since it's a Mario game, I keep waiting for crazy Mario stuff to happen. You know, moving platforms and weird monsters swallowing the balls, that sort of stuff. So far, it's an honest-to-goodness fun game of regular golf. Nice! However, I've been having trouble with: 1) Figuring out what my stats/skills are used for. (whenever I go up a level and can improve them, I don't really have an idea of why I'd pick a particular stat over another) 2) Understanding some of the nuances of the interface. This actually was worse initially, but I've slowly been picking up on when I'd want to use top-spin, or backspin as well as the effects of missing the timed button presses. So far, so good!

Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA)