Best Mario Golf Games Of All Time (2025)

7. NES Open Tournament Golf (NES)

As with nearly all of the games in the NES library, the formative systems and mechanics put down in games of the '80s have advanced a lot in the interim.

However, while NES Open Tournament Golf (known as Mario Open Golf in Japan, so technically the first entry in the Mario Golf series) might lack the bells, whistles and frills we've come to expect from our golf games these days, the core gameplay here is as solid as ever. 18 holes might be pushing it, but a swift walk around the back nine will do nicely.

6. Mario Golf: Super Rush (Switch)

Mario Golf: Super Rush is a game that in many respects hits its marks. Golf Adventure has plenty of charm and offers a fun way to learn various mechanics and unlock courses. Away from that solo endeavour there are decent options and customisation for multiplayer games, local or online, button controls or motion-based swinging.

It's not a premium effort, however, with a nagging feeling of corners cut and, at times, an absence of creativity. However, many players should get a good amount of fun out of this one, both solo and with friends. This ain't the Masters, but for Mario Golf fans it is a solid par.

5. Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)

Mario Golf: World Tour sees developer Camelot return to the fairway and turn in an impressively lengthy and involving round of golf. There's depth not just in the level of content and diversity of options, but in the mechanics themselves; options for beginners and scratch players are impeccably implemented.

Attempts at zaniness with items feel rather superfluous, although some well-designed courses would have benefited from less conventional designs. Aside from that, this was a truly excellent addition to the 3DS library, working beautifully whether you want a 15-minute blast or a longer round.

4. Mario Golf (GBC)

Much like Mario Tennis on GBC, Mario Golf is another game revolving entirely around human characters (Kid, Sherry, Joe, and Grace). In fact, there's a total of eight playable humans and only three Mario characters.

This is a story-heavy adventure where you can freely move your character around an overworld and rounds of golf take the place of traditional RPG battles. You can level up your golfer to enhance their stats and even transfer them to the also-excellent N64 version using the Transfer Pak.

It may not mirror the scope or ambition of Dragon Quest or Pokémon, but this is a compelling little clubhouse treat which stands proud among the Mario Golf series.

3. Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA)

Mario Golf: Advance Tour is a fantastic portable golf game and then some.

Camelot nailed the mixture of RPG and straight-up golf action in the Game Boy Color entry, and it works this time around, too — so well, in fact, that there's not much need to rely on the stable of Mario characters to flesh out the experience, although we're always happy to join the plumber on the fairway, or for the various minigame modes available.

Throw in multiplayer options and Advance Tour is still worth firing up when tee time comes around.

2. Mario Golf (N64)

Camelot brought Mario and his golfing pals onto the 3D fairways in this excellent entry in his catalogue of sports games. This game also linked up with the superlative Mario Golf for Game Boy Color. They're very different games, and the handheld version is probably even better thanks to its brilliant RPG elements, but together they make an unbeatable pair.

When we're disappointed that later games like Mario Golf: Super Rush don't match the quality of older entries, it's Mario Golf that we're remembering with a faraway wistful look in our eyes.

1. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)

We're quite partial to the Nintendo 64 entry in the series, but developer Camelot didn't do much wrong when it came to the excellent GameCube iteration, either.

Featuring 16 characters and courses containing Mushroom Kingdom staples such as warp pipes and Chain Chomps, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour takes things up a gear without reinventing the game, making every bunker and green look suitably lovely and introducing some fun extra modes.

Given the dev's history and impressive catalogue of games involving Mario smacking balls of various sizes as hard as possible, MGTT is hardly revolutionary. But there's only so much you can do with golf before it turns into something that isn't really golf anymore. Ultimately, there aren't many better ways to spoil a walk than this.