Although many consider Mario's Tennis for the ill-fated Virtual Boy to be the first-ever Mario Sports title, the mustached plumber's first sporting appearance actually came in the late eighties courtesy of NES Open Golf Tournament. Since then, Mario and friends have gone on to appear in six additional golf games, with the most recent one being 2021's Mario Golf: Super Rush for the Nintendo Switch.
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Despite several decades having now passed since the series' debut outing though, the basic formula remains largely unchanged. That's not to say that there haven't been one or two stand-out titles over the years, however, with some Mario Golf games offering players far better bang for their buck than others. Likewise, a few of the titles have been a little underwhelming, either due to a lack of variety or technical issues tarnishing the overall gameplay experience.
7 NES Open Golf Tournament
Originally released for the Famicom Disc System under the title Family Computer Golf: Japan Course, NES Open Tournament Golf only features two playable characters. Players are given the choice between either Mario or Luigi, although Toad, Donkey Kong, Daisy, and Peach do appear as NPCs, along with numerous other non-Mario characters.
The game is incredibly limited in its scope, with very few game modes on offer. There were also only three courses available in the original western release of the game, with several of the courses found in the Japanese release being removed during localization. They were at least replaced with a tournament mode though, which gave western players a little more to do than their Japanese counterparts.
6 Mario Golf: Super Rush
Mario Golf: Super Rush is far from a bad game, but it's hard to argue that it isn't an incredibly underwhelming one when it's compared to some of the series' earlier offerings. Granted, it's definitely the best-looking Mario Golf game to date and the actual golf mechanics are pretty solid. However, just about everything else about the game could be seen as a massive step backward from many of its predecessors.
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The post-putt animations are mediocre when compared even to the ones in Toadstool Tour; a game that was released for the GameCube almost two decades prior. When combined with the limited number of courses and game modes, the short story mode, and Camelot's decision not to include any unlockable characters, this leads to a game that is not only a lot less fun to play, but also far less replayable.
5 Mario Golf: World Tour
Mario Golf: World Tour features more playable characters and courses than any other Mario Golf title. Granted, many of these were added into the game as paid DLC, but it provided a level of variety far beyond anything that players had seen before. Castle Club, which serves as the game's main story mode, is also an excellent addition to the series and is arguably what Super Rush's Golf Adventure mode should have been.
The online tournaments, varied game modes, and enjoyable multiplayer elements supplement Castle Club perfectly, offering yet more variety when it comes to how players choose to experience the game. The price of the DLC did leave a sour taste in the mouths of some, and many of the new items added into the game feel a little unnecessary, but it's still a great golf game nonetheless.
4 Mario Golf: Advance Tour
There was a time not too long ago when it felt like almost every big home console release also received a handheld version. Some of them were truly terrible, but those involving Nintendo IPs - particularly Mario - usually ended up being pretty good. Mario Golf: Advance Tour continued this tradition, impressing both critics and players alike with its excellent mini-games, challenging courses, and solid visuals.
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With seven courses and a wide variety of game modes, the game really does put some of the series' more recent offerings to shame. Its biggest flaw is perhaps that only eight of the eighteen playable characters are actually from the mainline Mario series and four of those need to be transferred over from Toadstool Tour. Aside from that though, it's a really fun game that still holds up fairly well today.
3 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Following the series' impressive debut on the N64, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour felt like the natural evolution of the series, with Camelot opting to perfect the formula rather than trying to rewrite it entirely. That's not to say that there wasn't at least some innovation, however, with plenty of new mechanics being added as well as some of the best multiplayer game modes to have graced the series to date.
The game features 16 classic Mario characters, four of which will need to be unlocked by completing various challenges. It's also possible to transfer over Neil and Ella from Advance Tour, with their stats also being carried over. All in all, it's an excellent game that improves on the original in almost every aspect. Unfortunately, however, two areas where it failed to do so were its clunky controls and cumbersome camera, both of which can at times lead to frustration rather than fun.
2 Mario Golf (GBC)
Like most games on the system, the Game Boy Color port of Mario Golf hasn't aged all that gracefully. At the time, however, it was as impressive as it was ambitious, with Camelot somehow able to capture the essence of the N64 version of the game and package it together in a way that was both pleasing to the eye and easy to control.
These were the days before cell phone games were really a thing and so to be able to play Mario Golf on the go was really quite something. Of course, it was nowhere near as enjoyable as the real thing, but like low-fat ice cream to somebody who's trying to watch their weight or an alcohol-free beer to a designated driver, it was a whole lot better than nothing.
1 Mario Golf (N64)
More than a decade on from Mario's first time teeing off, everybody's favorite Italian plumber returned to the links in Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64. As one might expect, the leap to 3D completely transformed the series and the increased cartridge capacity of the system helped Camelot to cram considerably more content into the game than the original.
Impressively, the game features ten distinct game types, including a wonderfully-implemented mini-golf mode. The game also features 14 playable characters, ten of which need to be unlocked. Despite the game being named after him, Mario is one such character, with players only able to control his baby form when they first start out. Japanese players also missed out on Metal Mario, who is only available in North American and European versions of the game.