Mario is no stranger to a wide variety of genres. Though he’s known for his platforming adventures, he’s also been known to star in a variety of sports titles, with golf being one of the most prevalent. In fact, golf is one of the first sports Mario has ever been involved in, appearing on the NES in a game designed solely around the sport. As future titles were released, a few of them put a spin on how players could enjoy their time on the putting green. Some of these ended up attracting more attention than others, making it particularly interesting to see how the Mario Golf games are ranked in terms of copies sold.
All information was taken from VGSales. The only games included on this list are those under the Mario Golf title in particular. As a result, titles like Mario Sports Superstars and NES Open Tournament Golf will be excluded, despite them featuring Mario playing golf.
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All Games in the Mario Golf Series Ranked by Copies Sold
- 6. Mario Golf (Game Boy Color)
- 5. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
- 4. Mario Golf: World Tour
- 3. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
- 2. Mario Golf
- 1. Mario Golf: Super Rush
6. Mario Golf (Game Boy Color) — ~220,000 Copies Sold
The Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf is oddly unique. It can connect with the N64 version released before it to use characters normally locked to the other title. It also featured a role-playing mode and unique human characters that made the game feel a little less like a Mario title. This, alongside its simplistic gameplay and even more simplistic graphics, are likely reasons as to why it performed so poorly when compared to the rest of the series. Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the last time players could enjoy a role-playing story mode in the franchise, and characters from this game would even return in the GBA release.
This game is available as a Virtual Console title on the 3DS eShop. Note that the eShop will close on March 27th, 2023, so check it out while you still can!
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5. Mario Golf: Advance Tour — ~480,000 Copies Sold
The GBA release of Mario Golf unfortunately performed in a similarly poor manner to its Game Boy Color predecessor. Its performance wasn’t the only thing it shared, however; the game featured familiar connectivity with Toadstool Tour, allowing players to use more characters than they would otherwise. The graphics also got a notable upgrade, looking more like the N64 and GameCube releases than ever before.
The gameplay was still fairly simplistic, especially when compared to the massive changes Toadstool Tour brought to the table. Still, it was a respectable golfing experience with its own unique style and characters. If nothing else, it makes for an interesting part of Nintendo history that might not be explored by the company again.
4. Mario Golf: World Tour — ~490,000 Copies Sold
It’s honestly surprising to see the 3DS release of Mario Golf so low on this list. It built on foundations laid out by console releases while adding items and many, many new courses into the mix. It even featured paid DLC to include more new courses and characters. It’s possible that sales data for the game simply isn’t complete, because the fact that this game had so much to it — on top of full online play — makes its place on this list just that much more of an oddity.
This game also features a story mode, replacing the unique characters of previous handheld entries for player-made Miis. Though this leads to a lack of style in World Tour’s favor, it still allows for greater customization through unlocking outfits and equipment. World Tour is still worth checking out today thanks to the sheer amount of content it offers, even if one could argue over how interesting a lot of that content is.
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3. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour — ~1.27 Million Copies Sold
Toadstool Tour came from a time when the developers fully embraced how far they could take Mario-themed sports. It boasted a fairly sizable collection of characters alongside courses that used Mario enemies as hazards, such as Chain Chomps and Whomps. To top it off, Toadstool Tour had plenty of multiplayer options and features that gave players plenty of reasons to play against each other in-person. There are quite a few reasons as to why people still rank it as their favorite game in the franchise, and anyone with the means to play it should see why for themselves.
2. Mario Golf — ~1.47 Million Copies Sold
For quite some time, the original N64 release of Mario Golf was unmatched. It had a fair number of characters and courses, but it also featured mini-golf, which wouldn’t return for any future release. Perhaps this is why most future titles simply couldn’t match the original; for as much as they offered, they didn’t have much that the N64 release couldn’t provide.
This game was practically the first Mario sports game in all of Nintendo’s history, being succeeded by Mario Tennis just one year later. In a way, Mario Golf is the reason the mustachioed plumber is still so prevalent in so many sports titles. Mario’s spins on tennis, baseball, and soccer/football quite possibly owe their existence to this game’s success.
1. Mario Golf: Super Rush — ~2.35 Million Copies Sold
Perhaps to the surprise of no one, Mario Golf: Super Rush is the best-selling game in the series. Being released on the Switch isn’t the only reason for this game’s popularity, as it also has its own unique story and game modes that aren’t present in previous entries. The game also received updates for quite some time, adding entire features like online ranked matches. While it only managed to reach World Tour’s level of content after multiple updates, it’s hard to argue that the current version of Super Rush is worth a look for any fan of Mario Golf.
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Final Thoughts
It took some time for Mario Golf to find its own identity while still adhering to the world of Mario. Today, Super Rush is the only game to surpass the original N64 release. If a future Mario Golf game is released, it will be interesting to see if it manages to become another smash hit or an unfortunate footnote of the franchise alongside previous handheld titles.