If this is one of Mario's last appearances as a kiddie favourite, it's certainly in a sport with an adult flavour. Golfing has never been so much fun.
Martin Kitts

Following Shigeru Miyamoto's announcement that Mario will be redesigned to appeal to a more grown-up audience for his Dolphin debut (whenever that may be), this might be one of the last opportunities to see the billionaire plumber in his current cutesy guise.

Fortunately, Mario Golf is a suitably fitting epitaph. Taking the bare bones of the excellent PlayStation arcade title Hot Shots Golf, developers Camelot have fashioned a golf sim which has the realistic feel you need to simulate this most arcane of sports, coupled with the sense of childish enjoyment you rarely get from anything other than a Mario game.

Of course, Camelot could hardly have gone wrong with the choice of characters available. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser and the rest of the gang all make an appearance (Kong plays with a bizarre one-handed swing which Tiger Woods would certainly not approve of), and Toad and Lakitu make guest appearances as the course judge and the time trial referee. The courses are modelled on the Mario universe too, with the last of the six available being based on 18 portraits of characters and scenes from Super Mario 64. Needless to say, it looks fantastic. The N64's notorious fuzz filter makes the sweeping fairways look as smooth and inviting as grass has ever been in a videogame.