Mario & Sonic Golf: Resort Tour

Mario & Sonic Golf: Resort Tour is the first game in the Mario & Sonic Golf series (developed by Camelot Software Planning). The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in North America on July 28, 2020; in Japan on September 5, 2020; in Australia on Feburary 11, 2021 and in Europe on June 18, 2021.

Opening
The game's opening starts with Mario, Sonic, Tails and Luigi looking at a shiny trophy and commenting on how nice it looks. Peach, Amy, Blaze and Daisy call on them, exclaiming that it is tee time on the planned golf course. As the eight friends are shown making excellent tee shots, Wario, Metal Sonic, and Waluigi are shown from behind, extremely jealous of how well Mario, Sonic, Amy, Blaze, Tails, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy do. The three hear a noise and turn around to see Yoshi, Silver, Rouge and Knuckles together to start their round of golf. Wario, Metal Sonic and Waluigi clench their golf clubs while laughing, and prepare to join them. They all take turns hitting their golf balls, and Yoshi, hits near a Chain Chomp. When they try to get their balls back, the Chain Chomp wakes up and barks at Yoshi and Silver, scaring them and making themm fall over. Wario attempts to hit the ball out of the bunker, but just manages to fling sand into Waluigi's face. Minutes later, Waluigi attempts to putt the ball into the hole, but fails miserably after a few tries and hit Metal Sonic in the face, resulting in Yoshi and Silver falling asleep.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong, Vector, Espio, and Diddy Kong walk past the sleeping Yoshi and Silver, so Wario, Metal Sonic, and Waluigi attempt to challenge them next. After Donkey Kong and Vector shows their golf powers, Wario, despite his terrible swing, attempts to hit the ball a long way, until it goes out of sight into the forest. Wario, Metal Sonic, and Waluigi start celebrating until they hear a loud roar. The ball suddenly flies back and lands in front of Wario. The three look up and see Bowser coming out of the forest completely enraged because he has a black eye from the golf ball. Bowser and Dr. Eggman gives chase after Wario, Metal Sonic and Waluigi in his Koopa Clown Car and his Egg Mobile and starts firing Bob-ombs at the three as they run around Lakitu Valley past Birdo, Shadow and Boo, who were playing a game of golf on their own. Wario, Metal Sonic and Waluigi find a yellow Warp Pipe that is too small for Bowser and Eggman and his Koopa Clown Car and Egg Mobile to fit through and come out the other side of the pipe and stop to catch their breath. However, Bowser and Eggman flies right above them seconds later, threatening to drop another Bob-omb and making them scream for their lives.

Meanwhile, Mario and Sonic are preparing to take a shot on that same course with Luigi, Tails, Peach, Amy, Blaze, and Daisy observing from behind. As Wario, Metal Sonic and Waluigi still try frantically to escape from Bowser's and Eggman's looming threat by going through an enormous metal door, Mario hits his ball with his golf club. Wario, Metal Sonic and Waluigi open the door and continue their escape attempt, but, Mario's ball hits them, giving them black eyes as well, and knocks the Bob-omb out of Bowser's and Eggman's hands. This ultimately results in an explosion claiming Wario, Metal Sonic, Waluigi, Eggman, and Bowser as the victims. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Tails, Peach, Amy, Blaze and Daisy witness the explosion from afar, completely baffled as to what caused it.

Gameplay
The game differs greatly from the game in controls. The game uses 3D renders for the designs of characters and courses, changing the camera view to be able to see much more of each hole in detail. Pressing or allows the player to see an overview of the hole and study the topography of the both the course and specifically the green. In order to adjust their shot, the player can use the aforementioned controls and look around using . The green also now displays moving topographic lines that follow down its path, increasing in speed the more the green slopes. A new control system has also been added, with manual and automatic swinging. The automatic swing is used by pressing  to set the power for the shot and then letting the game decide where the sweet spot marker ends up. A manual swing involves pressing  when choosing power, then pressing either  or  to set the sweet spot impact marker. This allows the use of a new feature, spin, to be used on shots. Backspin, topspin, super backspin or super topspin can be used, affecting the ball's line of movement on the ground. Topspin sends the ball rolling forward while backspin causes the ball to roll back; these spins make the ball roll a shorter distance than their super versions. Different characters' spin will be more powerful with higher spin levels. The ability to change where the ball is hit is also makes a return from the two previous games, allowing different types of shots to be taken. Approach shots, used when players approach the pin, appear in this game, as well as the limited number of power shots. Power shots have longer drives than normal shots, and only six can be used at a time. If a player does a perfect power shot (meaning they have aligned the first bar at the far left and perfectly aligned the second bar), it is not used up.

Menu

 * A - Confirm
 * B - Back
 * A - Select
 * Y - Left-Handed Character
 * X - Star Character
 * ZL - Change Clubs

Golf

 * A - Start Swing/Choose Power (automatic)
 * B - Change shot type/Choose Power (manual)
 * A  - Topspin
 * B  - Backspin
 * X  - Super Topspin
 * Y  - Super Backspin
 * ZL  - Change Direction/Change Clubs
 * ZR - Increase Power Bar

Scores
Depending on how many strokes the player required to take to hit the ball into the hole, players receive a score and a name for the score. The following is a list of them, from best to worst scores:
 * NOTE: The US version of the game has a glitch that records Hole-In-Ones on par 4 and 5 holes as Albatrosses. This is fixed in the PAL and Japanese versions.

Game modes
There are a wide variety of game modes offered in Mario & Sonic Golf: Resort Tour, from challenging tournaments to training sessions to collecting coins to shooting the ball through rings. All of the game modes are explained briefly below. Note that multi-player game modes not marked with an asterisk (*) can also be played with 1 player and AI opponents.

Single player

 * Tournament - The player competes against others for first place in an 18-hole round of golf and to earn best badges on specific holes. The lowest score at the end of the tournament is the winner.
 * Character Match - Compete in a one-on-one challenge against a computer character on any course using match play rules. Star Characters can be unlocked by accepting challenge from characters and winning.
 * Ring Shot - Compete by hitting shots through various rings on a course while still finishing at or under par.
 * Challenge - Complete Ring Shot holes to earn stars which unlock even more holes! Complete them all to unlock a special surprise.
 * Speed Golf - Complete a round of golf in the fastest time possible.
 * Training - Practice golfing on any hole. During gameplay, the player can select a course and hole, adjust the wind strength and direction, switch between sunny or rainy weather, front or back tees, and regular or tournament greens, and change the pin's location.
 * Story Mode - The player goes through hub world as Mario, Peach, Sonic, or Amy and defeat Bowser and Dr. Eggman on the Death Egg.

Multiplayer

 * Doubles - A 2-on-2 game of golf. For 1-4 players.
 * Club Slots - Play using a limited amount of clubs. When playing with four slots, there is an added gimmick for the fourth slot (i.e. no wind, double points, extra mulligan, etc.).
 * Ring Shot - Hit the ball through all the rings and finish the hole in par or better.
 * Face-Off - Play six holes against opponents to see who can complete the most holes successfully.*
 * Coin Shoot - Hit the ball near coins to collect them. Earn the highest coin total to win. The coins make up various pattens, such as the Triforce from the Legend of Zelda series, while another looks like the Nintendo Switch.
 * Quick Cash - Collect as many coins as possible in two shots under par (for example, on a par 5 hole, the player has 3 shots to collect coins), without worrying about sinking the ball.
 * Cash Cup - Collect as many coins as possible and finish the hole with par or better. Failure to do so will result in 0 coins for the hole.
 * Stroke Play - Get the fewest total strokes on a course to win. Beat courses in tournament mode to unlock them here.
 * Side Games - Fun challenges that test and improve your golfing skills.
 * Birdie Challenge - Compete on Congo Canopy to see how many consecutive birdies you can earn.
 * Practice Games - Hone your approaching and putting skills by playing these unique challenges. There are novice, intermediate and expert difficulties.
 * Match Play - Standard golfing with a different scoring system. Winning a hole earns you a medal; earn the highest amount of medals or mathematically eliminate the opponent to win. For 2 players only.
 * Skins Match - Similar to Match Play, but for 2-4 players. The player who finishes with the lowest score on a hole earns a point. Whoever has the most amount of points at the end wins.
 * Near-Pin - Compete in Congo Canopy to get the shortest total distance from the pin in one stroke. If your ball is not on the green in one stroke, it will count as being 100 feet away.

Unlockable

 * Star Tournament - Unlocked once the tournament mode on Bowser Badlands is beaten and a star version of a character is obtained. Same as tournament mode, except the player will compete against tougher star characters while using the back tees and tournament greens. Beat these to be able to use the tournament greens in other game modes. For 1 player.
 * Side Games
 * Birdie Challenge
 * One-On One-Putt - Unlocked by beating birdie challenge on all 18 holes (which will also unlock Bowser Jr.). Similar to birdie challenge, except the first shot must land on the green and the second must go in the hole (resulting in a birdie). If the first shot is not on the green, the player will lose. Beat this with 1 player to unlock the tournament greens for Congo Canopy. For 1-4 players.
 * Special Tournament - Unlocked by holding  on the title screen and pressing the  button.
 * Hole-in-One Contest - Like the Near-Pin Contest, except the game is played on the Par-3 holes of a selected course. For 1 player.
 * Password Tournament - Compete in special tournaments with preset rules by entering certain passwords. For 1 player.*

Playable characters
Excluding transferable characters, a total of 25 playable characters are featured in Mario & Sonic Golf: Resort Tour, consisting of 12 characters from Team Mario and 12 characters from Team Sonic and 1 Mii. Note that Impact, Control, and Spin are on a scale of 21. Drive - How far the ball travels in the air for on a perfect shot with a driver (1W). Trajectory - What direction the ball travels in when hit. For right-handed players, if the ball curves to the left, it's a draw; to the right, a fade; far to the left, a hook or far to the right, a slice, and vice-versa for left-handed players. Height - How high or low the ball travels in the air. The higher the ball travels, the more affected by wind it is, the higher it bounces, and the more it is affected by spin. The lower it is, the less it gets affected by wind; additionally, it makes the ball bounce further, roll more and get more affected by lie. Impact - The amount of the sweet-spot marker left for certain shots. Less makes bunker shots much harder to land and often results in mis-hits. Control - The amount of movement away from the targeted spot when hit off the perfect impact point. The higher the amount, the less the ball moves from the target spot. Spin - The amount of affect spin has on the ball. Having a higher amount will mean that the ball will roll further with the use of spin.

Default Doubles Partners
In Doubles Mode, the player alongside it's partner can compete in any mode including Tournament Mode. If two unpaired characters are on the same team, they can both receive their special shots, but the special shots can be obtained and used only by the designated players. For example, Girls get the flower special shots. if Mario and Peach or Sonic and Amy are on the same team, Peach and Amy can share their special Flower Shots with Mario and onic, but only girls can obtain it and use it.

Team names
Special team names for each pair do appear in this installment, unlike its predecessors Mario and Sonic Baseball and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS) Character Selecting Screen.

Mario

 * Mario Bros (Luigi)
 * Awesome Sidekicks (Sonic)
 * Plane Flyers (Tails)
 * Lovely Couple (Peach)

Sonic

 * Awesome Sidekicks (Mario)
 * Best Buddies (Tails)
 * Ghost Chasers (Luigi)
 * Runaway Lovers (Amy)

Non-Playable
Bosses Referees (Caddies)
 * Bowser
 * Bowser Jr
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Metal Sonic
 * Zavok
 * Dry Bowser
 * Eggman Nega
 * Jet the Hawk
 * Toadsworth
 * Toad
 * Big the Cat
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Charmy Bee
 * Toadette
 * Omochao
 * Lakitu

Story
In Eggman's Base, Bowser and Dr. Eggman were rummaging a room and found a forest bomb in the closet and planned to do something odd with it.

At the Lakitu Valley golf course after Mario, Sonic, Peach, Amy, Luigi, Tails, Daisy, Blaze, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, Rouge, Vector, Espio, and the others compete and watched a golf match, Bowser and Dr. Eggman arrive with the forest bomb. After Eggman and Bowser accidently dropped the bomb because of Sonic and Amy are about to attack, it blew up the golf course. After the attack, Knuckles exclaimed that Bower and Eggman are doing a ton of mischief lately. Cream then told Sonic that the bomb attack was scary. But then Vector suddenly noticed the Eggman is teaming up with Bowser in the Death Egg. Big then asked Tails about what are Bowser and Dr. Eggman up to. Tails then said that they have to go to the Death Egg and stop them. Amy and Peach told the referees to stay behind because refereees are told to stay at the golf course. Blaze told them that Bowser and Eggman might come back again. Mario, Sonic and others (except Charmy Bee, Omochao, Toadsworth, Toadette, Cream and Big) head to Kingdom Valley to find to Bowser and Eggman. Sonic meet Jet and challenged him to a golf match. After Jet is defeated by Sonic, Jet told the others that Eggman is building a golf course on a ship. Shadow does not like the sound of that. Just then, everyone saw Eggman's Egg Mobile and Bowser's Koopa Clown Car heading to Cheep Cheep Falls so Mario, Sonic and others head there to find Bowser and Eggman. When they got to Cheep Cheep Falls, Sonic told the others that Eggman and Bowser might be here but they saw Eggman Nega who challenges the gang to a golf match which Blaze accept it. After the match

In a post-credits scene, Mario writes an autograph on the camera, with the red marker squeaking the first seven notes of the Super Mario Bros. overworld theme and Sonic writing an autograph on the camera, with the blue marker squeaking the first nine notes of the Green Hill Zone theme.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: In the character select screen, Princess Peach sings the first few notes of the overworld theme. A remix of the underground theme is heard during the player's attempt to score a birdie.
 * Sonic Adventure: In the character select screen, Amy hums the first few notes of My Sweet Passion and in the Amy Villa Grounds Golf Course, an instrumental version of My Sweet Passion is the golf course theme.
 * Super Mario 64: Shifting Sands is possibly based on Shifting Sand Land from this game. A remix of the Peach's Castle theme is heard in Peach's Castle Grounds. A remix of the Bowser boss fight music is heard in Bowser Badlands. Hole 8 of Peach's Castle Grounds has a mountain with a similar layout to the one in Bob-omb Battlefield, and Big Bob-omb appears there, too.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games: Team Sonic's festival trophy animations are reused for the award ceremony in the tournament modes.
 * Mario & Sonic series: Some of Team Sonic's animations and voices are reused.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: Tropical Jungle and Kingdom Valley are used as golf courses.
 * Team Sonic Racing: Some character voices are reused.
 * Mario Tennis Open: Miis are wearing the same outfits.
 * Mario Party: The sound effect that plays when Toad trips on the menu screens is taken from Mario Party, as is the sound that plays when attempting to use a Power Shot when out of them.
 * Donkey Kong 64: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's voice clips were reused from this game.
 * Pikmin: Whenever a player's golf ball lands in a flower patch, Pikmin fly out.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: Some of Mario's voice clips from this game are recycled for Shadow Mario, albeit pitched down.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Blooper Bay is heavily based on Gelato Beach, an area in Isle Delfino.

Trivia

 * This game's scoreboard features many characters from other Mario & Sonic games.