We’ve seen it done in many of the sports games out there before; taking your player through trainings and tournaments to become more skilled. Mario Golf: Advance Tour takes this up even a notch further, really making you feel like you’re playing an RPG.

Right off the bat you’ll be wondering if this really is a sports game or an RPG, as you’re greeted with the regular “10 minutes-o-text” before you even have player control that you get in the role playing genre. After you finally take charge of your characters and get to wander around the clubhouse a bit, you’re going to be even more confused. The starting clubhouse is a castle, you spend your time talking to the people mulling around inside, and can even search through pots, boxes and lockers. This definitely isn’t Links 386.

Once you get past the initial confusion and make your way into the first round of golf things start to feel a lot more familiar. If you’ve ever played Toadstool Tour on the GameCube then you’ll be right at home with the play controls in Advance Tour. The game plays remarkably close to its GameCube brother albeit somewhat simpler in the details. Wind and green slope don’t seem to have quite as much of an impact on the ball as one would assume, and even in the very early going it’s not out of the question to be shooting -5 or more on a round.

The story of Advance Tour puts you in the shoes of a young up and coming golfer who’s trying to make his way up the ranks. In the begining you're under the tutelage of one of the courses finest pro’s, but then you'll pair up with one of the other students and proceed to compete for golfing glory. Having this partner with you definitely changes things up a bit as you now have to compete in not only singles, but doubles tournaments as well. After each tournament you’re allotted an amount of experience points that let you increase your player’s attributes in areas of shot height, draw/fade, impact/control, spin, and power. You have to take care when modifying your characters abilities though as your experience points are limited, and if you want to stay competitive in the tournaments you have to take your partner through the ranks with you.

Besides just singles and doubles tournaments there are several other modes of play. Speed golf is a competition that times you per hole. You compete for the lowest combined total time for the course versus yourself or your peers. Club Slots makes you play a slot machine before each hole to determine 3 clubs that will be at your disposal. Go-Go Gates plays like a downhill slalom race, with you having to aim your shots through gates before you put it in the cup. Finally, Near-Pin is a competition where you get but one shot to land as close to the pin as possible to beat out your competition. After playing any of these different modes you’re awarded with experience just as you would in the tournament, stroke or practice modes.

While levelling up and practicing, your technique is one way to get better at the game, another way to add to your abilities is to search out power-ups and tickets for better clubs. Clubs that increase your spin and distance are available from a club maker, if you find the tickets needed to get him to make some for you. These and other items (such as ones that automatically increase your level) are hidden throughout the world in barrels and the like, just as you’re used to seeing in other RPG’s. While these aren't necessarily crucial to your ability to win… they couldn’t hurt.

With 8 courses in total for you to battle through, the single player game definitely has a lot of longevity to it, but when you get tired of that there are a few more tricks up the sleeves of Advance Tour. Golf is all about competing with yourself, or against others. Advance Tour offers two different multiplayer options for you to beat your friends at. First there’s a “pass the controller” type multiplayer mode where up to four players can play with one GBA. Secondly there’s a link mode that requires another GBA and cartridge, but you get to keep your hands on your own GBA at least.

So now you’ve beaten the single player adventure, pummelled your friends so much that they won’t play with you anymore… what’s a gamer to do? Well, in their continued push for connectivity Nintendo and Camelot have put in a link feature with Toadstool Tour. If you link your GBA up to your GameCube you can upload your characters from Advance Tour into and play them on Toadstool tour, and vice versa.

With so much to do, and modes of play that cater to sitting down for hours, or for only 5 minutes at a time, Mario Golf: Advance Tour has everything it needs to be a hit on the GBA. The graphics will make you wonder just how far the GBA can go, with 3D courses, and sprites that rival anything from the SNES days. The music will put you in the mood to hit that hole-in-one, and a taunting system that’s customizable will be sure to annoy the heck out of your friends when you play multiplayer. If you were looking for a new time waster on your GBA you have to go get this right now, I highly recommend it.