Retro Game Friday: Mario Golf

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a Mario sub-series that is fairly obscure. It’s Mario Golf!

Plot Synopsis: Wait you’re expecting a plot to a game about Golf? Seriously?

Gameplay: The gameplay is pretty boring, in fact this is a pretty lame game. The game was all about hitting the “sweet spot” by tapping the A button at the correct time while aiming towards the hole. If you could do that successfully and repeatedly, the game quickly devolved into a really boring repetition of that single “mini-game”. Now that isn’t to say this was a terrible game, by all accounts it was great for multiplayer, although I never did convince my friends to play the game with me, because “Golf is boring”, so I can’t confirm or deny that.

Art: The art is quite a bit like it came out of Mario 64, which shouldn’t be a surprise to be honest. That means it’s aged incredibly poorly, and the game looks like crap now a days.

Music: It’s Mario music, but toned down because you’re playing “Golf”.

Overall: Skip this game, it’s really, really not worth going out of your way to even bother playing it.

For those who like: Golf, Sports, Mario, Repetitive Minigames.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Kore ga Koi to Iu naraba by Aikawa Saki [Quick Review]

This week for Sensate Saturday I’m Quick Reviewing a series I stumbled across the other day. It’s Kore ga Koi to Iu naraba by Aikawa Saki!

Plot Synopsis: Suzuki Sora is a 15 year old gear going who transfers to a high school an hours commute away in order to get out from under the shadow of her older sister. But high school isn’t turning out quite like she hoped.

Plot: The plot is so filled with tropes that I was as confused as often as I comprehended this first chapter. There were plenty of points where this seriously made me question if it really was published by Shueisha, as this doesn’t seem to be their normal level of quality.

Characters: Sora has a definite inferiority complex, but that doesn’t make her an interesting character. Sadly nothing else about her makes her one either. The rest of the cast we get introduced to including her senior Kadaoka aren’t that interesting either. Honestly the cast was as big a disappointment as much as the plot was.

Art: The art is okay, but it’s nothing amazing either. Honestly I’m shocked that this was published by Shueisha given their strict standards with art and editorial staff.

Overall: I’m not going to bother reading the rest of this series, and I’m suggesting that anyone else should steer clear of this one.