Hey!
Nintendo recently gave us an in-depth tour of Mario Golf: Super Rush, and we learned
a ton of new things about it, including the core golf controls, the fun-looking Speed
Golf mode, as well as a much deeper look at the single-player campaign: Golf Adventure.
And although we’ve also posted an in-depth discussion about everything we saw, we decided
to boil down the highlights right here!
With all that out of the way, let’s get to the 12 Things we learned about Mario Golf:
Super Rush.
Nintendo confirmed there are 6 courses in the game, each featuring full 18 holes, which
through the process of simple math that honestly, even I struggle with, means there are 108
holes total.
We also learned their official English names too, being
Rookie Course, which as you might have guessed, is great for beginners, followed by
Bonny Greens, Ridgerrock Lake
Balmy Dunes Wildweather Woods
And Bowser Highlands.
Oh, and there’s also a Random option too for those who just can’t decide.
And there are two main ways to play on each of those courses: Standard Golf or Speed Golf,
where it’s a mad dash to the finish as everyone hits the ball before chassing after it to
do so again in an effort to be the first one in.
But even within those two modes are a couple more ways to play.
First, for standard golf, there’s Stroke Play, which is probably the form of golf you
already know, where you’re aiming for the lowest score across a variety of holes, but
there’s also Point Play, which is based on which player wins the most holes overall.
In addition, you can choose whether to play in turns, like standard golf, or if you don’t
have time for that, you can have it so everyone hits the ball at once, which should speed
the game up dramatically.
Though if you’re playing local multiplayer, you can only play this way with up to 2 players
on the same screen.
Speed Golf also has two ways to play.
In High Score, it’s a straight-up race to the finish, where each player’s position
determines the amount of points for the hole, with 1st place getting 4 points, 2nd 3 points,
and so on.
Whereas in best time, not only is the clock always ticking, but every stroke adds 30 seconds
to the clock.
So while the goal is to be the one with the lowest amount of time, you’ll want to try
and avoid making a ton of mistakes along the way.
Be quick, but not too quick, ya dig?
When playing in Speed Golf, each character has access to a Special Dash that’ll give
them a major speed boost--which is especially useful when you find yourself in rough terrain
that would otherwise slow you way down.
And not only can you use the Dash to charge through other player, causing them to drop
coins and lessen their Special Shot meter, but you can also use it to plow through some
course hazards too, like the Brolders in Ridgerrock Lake.
Just be aware that you can only dash for as long as you have Stamina, which refills over
time
Whether you’re playing standard Golf or Speed Gold, there are a variety of options
available to you to further customize your game, including the number of holes you want
to play, whether it’s 3, 6, 9 or 18, and which hole you start from, along with the
wind conditions.
Furthermore, If you’re playing standard golf, you can also choose which Tee to start
from, and whether Special Shots are Allowed, and in Speed Golf, you can choose whether
everyone tees off at the same time, or if you prefer players to have a head-start.
Mario Golf: Super Rush has two main control options: button controls and motion controls--and
no, they can’t be mixed, so make sure you choose carefully.
The standard button controls are similar to past games, in that you tap the button once
to start the Power Meter, then tap it again to lock in the strength of your swing.
But what’s a bit different this time is how you apply spin, which is done immediately
afterward by holding left or right on the control stick during your swing--as indicated
by the arrows that appear on the meter.
And this is a useful tool if you find yourself on a steep slope, helping to counter its effect
on the ball--as indicated by the Power Meter curving to one side or the other.
In addition, you can apply Top Spin or Backspin by pressing A or B a second time respectively,
or even Super Backspin by tapping it twice.
But interestingly, there’s no Super Topspin option this time.
As for Motion Controls, you swing the Joy-Con just like you would a golf club to dictate
the amount of power.
Thankfully, you can take as many practice swings as you like beforehand to make sure
you hit the ball just right.
And you’re playing Speed Golf with Motion Controls turned on, you’ll want to shake
the Joy-Con to run--almost like you’re running in real life.
That’s right, the announcer Toad from Mario Tennis Aces is back--and serving a pretty
important role.
Because there’s often a lot going on in Super Rush, you probably can’t keep track
of it all yourself, which is where the annoncer Toad comes into play, offering constant updates
on the course via simple messages in the corner of the screen, whether it’s the current
Wind Speed or Slop at the start of the course, or relaying what your opponents are up to,
such as winding up for a shot, or activating their special powers.
Speaking of help, Mario Golf Super Rush features a useful Golf Guide that you can pull up from
the main menu or at any time during Golf Adventure, that’ll break down all of the Golf Controls,
such as how to curve your shots or Putt, as well as a Lexicon for all of the Golf Terms
you might not know, like Albatross, or All Square, or Address--yeah, I only know one
out of those 3.
You can even filter them by category, such as Equipment or Rules.
Neat.
Yes, Mario Golf: Super Rush has online--and not only is nearly every mode supported, including
standard Golf, Speed Golf, and Battle Golf--which we sadly didn’t get to see--but we confirmed
that you can play with both Friends as well as Strangers as well via matchmaking.
Oh, and up to 2 people can play online from the same console, which is nice.
And while you can use your powered-up Mii characters from Golf Adventure online, you
can also choose to disallow them in your room.
Golf Adventure is the main campaign in Mario Golf: Super Rush, offering an RPG like experience
in which you explore a world filled with NPCs and take on all kinds of golf-related challenges.
You can even level-up to increase your status, and buy gear to augment your abilities.
Your adventure begins in Bonny Greens, which is the birthplace of golf in the mushroom
kingdom.
And while we don’t know a ton about the story yet, we do know that Wario and Waluigi
play a significant role, as they’re on the lookout for some kind of mysterious treasure.
Hmm.
And it’s an adventure that’ll take you across all 6 of the courses, with each featuring
several HUBs for you to explore, with NPCs to chat with and shops to buy items from using
he coins you’ve collected along the way.
Oh, and there are boss battles too.
In one example, we first had to clear a challenge involving landing a ball on the other side
of a wall of water using carefully timed Lob shots.
Doing so allowed us to find a statue of the Lightning Knight, who comes to life and uses
various lightning bases attacks, some of which we have to deflect back with a well-timed
swing of the club.
It’s crazy and chaotic, and doesn’t seem to be like any other golf game that we’ve
played before.
Oh, I also had to ask about Toadette--a character that we’ve only just barely seen.
Apparently she’s a fellow rookie that’ll start alongside in Golf Adventure you on your
golf journey, with the both of you going through a tournament together--but we don’t know
much else beyond that.
Birdo also makes an appearance in Golf Adventure, and runs the camp house, helping to introduce
you to the world.
Neat-o.
So far, we know of 16 characters in the game, including some first timers such as Pauline
and Charging Chuck.
And it sounds like they may be the only 16, as Nintendo noted these are the ones that
will be available at launch--suggesting there aren’t any more hidden away.
When we asked if more might be added down the line, such as with Mario Tennis Aces,
Nintendo only suggested that we stay tuned.
It’s not a confirmation, but hey, we’ll take it.
Plus you can always play as your Mii too, which brings over the stats from the Golf
Adventure mode.
And there we have it: 12 of the biggest things we learned about Mario Golf: Super Rush.
But if you want to hear even more, including our thoughts on the game so far, make sure
to check out our in-depth discussion for more facts and our impressions so far.
And with that, thanks for watching.
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Rush and everything else Nintendo Switch!