Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Walkthrough for Gamecube Game Name: Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Format: Gamecube Submitted By: Ghost Killer The Gamecube may be neat the end, but that doesn’t mean it didn’s have some great games on it. One of my favourites was Mario Golf and here’s a little guide to help you select the right character and watch out for hazards. ELEMENTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT BEFORE YOU START Wind Wind is very very important. If you don’t pay attention to later levels when the wind is strong you will miscalculate your shots. If the wind is faster than 5mph then adjust your shot. The more powerful he wind the more adjusting it will need. Topspin and Super Topspin These are mainly used to gain some extra yards on drives and secondary shots. Usually use super topspin when you’re sure you will follow onto the green. Backspin and Super Backspin These can be great for landing on the green as making a shot that goes too far can be recovered by backspinning to make it closer to the pin. These two are also useful to stop the ball rolling into a hazrard. Auto Swing When is the best time to use autoswing? Well it depends. If you don’t need to use any backspin and accuracy isn’t essential then go ahead and use it. Also a nice trick, if you are on the edge of the green or in a bunker just off it (no more than 20 yards) then use auto swing. Tap the A button just a little before the actual distance to the pin and more often than not the ball will trickle in! STATS Control This measures how accurately the golfer will match the path set by the ball given there is no wind. Lower stat means that the golfer isn’t going to follow that path very well. Impact The higher you have for this stat the bigger the window for error when taking your shot. If your character has a low number for this area, then it will need better precision to take shots. Spin This determines how well your character can spin the ball. While not an essential skill it can be important especially when hitting onto the green. HAZARDS & OBSTACLES Water/Lava Hazard The same thing essentially. If you land in one of these you will have to redo your shot or take it at the water’s edge and what’s more is you’ll get a nasty penalty shot as well. Avoid. Chain-Chomp These huge metal enemies will run at your ball and eat it giving you a penalty point and making you retake your shot. Chain-Chomps only attack the ball if you land in their circular area. If you hit the ball too far for them to reach they will remain asleep. Bomb-Omb Hit a ball at one of these and the bomb-omb will set off causing a huge explosion which will send the golf ball in any direction. It’s best to avoid them, as the explosion can send the ball into another hazard! Trees Trees are very common and more often than not you will hit one. They will slow your ball down or stop it altogether before causing the ball to land nearby. Be careful as a ball behind a tree isn’t going to leave an easy shot next time. Warp Pipes These are really useful and can shave off a shot or two. However plan your move as the pipes are colour coded. Meaning if you hit the ball into a red pipe it will reappear out of a red pipe. Also accuracy is key here as under shooting the ball will result in it landing behind the pipe! Thwomps These land right on your ball if you lie underneath them. They then affect the lie of you ball a lot so making your next shot is a lot harder. LAND TYPES Fairway This is what you’re going to be aiming for a majority of the time off your tee. It’s usually in the centre of the course and allows never contains any hazards. It also allows an easy shot to be taken on your next go. Fast Fairway This is similar to the fairway except (yeah you guessed it) the ball moves faster. With topspin and backspin it’s ideal to know when to use each. If you are hitting the golf ball onto a fast fairway that is near an edge try backspin and the ball may over shoot and roll over the edge. If there’s no hazards and just a long stretch of fairway ahead then by all means topspin. This could gain you up to 20 additional yards. Sand Bunkers These should be avoided at all costs as they affect the lie of your ball making it near impossible to make a good hit with anything above a sand wedge. Always use a sand wedge to get out. It may not hit the ball far, but using any other club to go the distance will more than likely result in you messing up the shot. Shore Line Obviously these are like bunkers as they are made of sand, but they don’t affect the lie of you ball as much so you could risk making a normal shot off the shore. Still though you should try and avoid them. Grassy Bunkers These are mean. Much worse than bunkers. They are the longest looking areas of grass found only in Bowser’s golf course. The only way you can get the ball out is to use a sand wedge. There’s no other way. Semi-Rough This is barely noticeable and found usually just off the fairway. It hardly affects your shot at all. Rough This is usually around the outside of the course and is littered with trees. This does affect your shot next go, but you could probably get away with an iron. However trees will no doubt obscure your shot so be aware. Heavy Rough This will affect your next shot a lot so avoid at all costs. Again trees will plague the heavy rough areas making your shot even harder! Rock It’s near impossible to land on rock as the ball will bounce off it if you hit it which is useful if you can aim where the ball will bounce as there are many short cuts in the Shifting Sands course that use this technique. If you do land on it, it will affect your shot so beware. Wasteland Darker in colour to rock and no bouncing involved, this is similar to a sand bunker but not as evil to your lie as it. It can be located around normal bunkers or around the outer edge of the course. Flower Patch Not as bad a hazard as you may think. It can affect your next shot only slightly, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Hit the ball by the way, and Pikmin will lie out of the flowers. CHARACTERS Mario Shot Path: Straight Max yards: 212 Shot height: High Impact: 10/20 Control: 5/20 Spin: 14/20 Mario is as always a very average character. Good to start off with. He hits the ball straight and has a good spin on the ball. His control though is very low. He also hits the ball high which means it can be affected by the wind easily. Peach Shot Path: Straight Max yards: 203 Shot height: Medium Impact: 13/20 Control: 12/20 Spin: 5/20 Peach is a good player and has great impact and okay control yet her spin is very bad. Her distance isn’t very strong either, but her ability to hit the ball at a medium height means wind shouldn’t be too much of a factor. Luigi Shot Path: Left Max yards: 206 Shot height: Low Impact: 16/20 Control: 10/20 Spin: 6/20 Like Mario, Luigi is also a good character to start off with. His shot height is low which means wind isn’t a factor. However you are more hazardous to trees. His swerve to the left is useful but again his spin isn’t so hot. Yoshi Shot Path: Straight Max yards: 208 Shot height: Medium Impact: 13/20 Control: 9/20 Spin: 9/20 Yoshi doesn’t really have any glaring flaws. His hit height is medium and straight which is great. His impact is fairly high and his spin and control are about average. Good character to start off with. Koopa Troopa Shot Path: Right Max yards: 200 Shot height: Medium Impact: 14/20 Control: 14/20 Spin: 7/20 Koopa Troopa is a weak character. He has the lowest hitting range and not such a great spin. However his shot height is at a nice medium level and he has a nice amount of impact and control over the ball. Donkey Kong Shot Path: Far left Max yards: 215 Shot height: Low Impact: 10/20 Control: 5/20 Spin: 12/20 Donkey Kong has a bad spin ability. But he makes up for that with his sheer strength and relatively good impact and control. However his shot height is low so trees can get in the way of your shots but wind shouldn’t be a problem. Wario Shot Path: Far left Max yards: 210 Shot height: Very low Impact: 11/20 Control: 7/20 Spin: 9/20 Wario is quite decent and is similar to Yoshi in that his stats aren’t excellent nor poor. His control may be a little lower but his other stats are fairly good. He has the lowest shot height so trees must be kept an eye on but the wind will not affect you at all. Daisy Shot Path: Right Max yards: 213 Shot height: High Impact: 10/20 Control: 6/20 Spin: 13/20 Daisy smacks the ball pretty far and has a good spinning ability but that’s pretty much it. Her high hitting height is good for avoiding trees but expect the wind to move your ball a lot. Birdo Shot Path: Left Max yards: 209 Shot height: High Impact: 12/20 Control: 8/20 Spin: 11/20 Birdo is another of the average golfers who has okay control, spin and impact stats but with a high shot height the wind can affect your shots making it harder to predict the lie of the ball. She hits her ball to the left which is useful especially for swerving around obstacles. Diddy Kong Shot Path: Right Max yards: 207 Shot height: High Impact: 13/20 Control: 9/20 Spin: 7/20 Diddy Kong has great impact and good control over the ball, yet his spin isn’t great. He swerves the ball to the right which is good to miss obstacles yet his hitting height is high meaning wind will affect the ball. Waluigi Shot Path: Right Max yards: 209 Shot height: Medium Impact: 13/20 Control: 9/20 Spin: 12/20 Waluigi has some nice stats. His medium height means wind isn’t too much of a problem and he packs quite a punch to his shots too. His impact and spin are good and even his control is fairly positive. A good starting character. Bowser Shot Path: Far right Max yards: 217 Shot height: Medium Impact: 8/20 Control: 4/20 Spin: 15/20 Bowser is the second furthest hitter in the game and has an awesome spinning ability. His shot height is also a nice medium meaning wind isn’t too bad and hitting trees isn’t a major worry. However he has poor impact and control over the ball. Petey Piranha Shot path: Straight Max yards: 220 Shot height: Very high Impact: 9/20 Control: 6/20 Spin: 9/20 Pety Piranha is good for one thing only and that is his power. He is the strongest character in the whole game but he is terrible when it comes to spinning, control and impact. Also his shot height is very high so wind is a big factor. Boo Max yards: 208 Shot path: Far right Shot height: Medium Impact: 12/20 Control: 9/20 Spin: 7/20 Boo is fairly good. His path may be hard to get used to but his medium height allows for wind to not be too much of a problem. His impact is good and his control okay but his spin isn’t too hot. Shadow Mario Max yards: 212 Shot path: Left Shot height: Low Impact: 10/20 Control: 6/20 Spin: 6/20 Shadow Mario isn’t that great to use. His low path height means trees are a problem and his stats are just plain bad. Impact is the highlight of this character and that’s about it. Bowser Jr. Max yards: 211 Shot path: Straight Shot height: Low Impact: 11/20 Control: 7/20 Spin: 9/20 Bowser Jr. has a nice straight path and the low height while means trees can get in the way, allows wind to not affect your ball. His impact is good but his control and spin aren’t. Not a great character for beginners.