A classic case of “first installment syndrome”.

I will say that the characters that were in the game are great, even ones like Plum and Maple, its got a soothing ost, the golf courses are really good and creative, especially Mario Star, and I gotta say, particularly love the mini-golf courses (that should’ve been something other Mario Golf games did more often). However, again, definitely can tell it’s the first Mario Golf game. It’s incredibly hard to get a proper idea of where you’re hitting the ball, the wind can be too powerful than given, some of the actual characters can be unbalanced, and the enemy AI is absolute BS to deal with. Trust me when I saw it was harder than it should be to do the VS matches. It’s not horrendous, but it’s also not the best. It’s right in the middle of being “meh” or “mediocre”.

As a side note: it’s a Mario game and Mario isn’t even playable at the beginning of the game? Let alone one of the last characters you need to unlock? What kind on nonsensical nonsense is this?!

One of the biggest struggles playing a game, and I've played a lot. This game is HARD. The CPUs and pars for each whole pull no punches and require pinpoint accuracy both in terms of aiming your shot as well as the actual button press timing. Missing a hole can (and usually will) cost you your whole game. This was one of my first golf games, so I don't know if the difficulty is this high for other games in the genre. Don't be fooled by mario and friends on the box man this game will whip you 6 ways to sunday.