From the earliest days of video games, golf entries have always been some of the most popular. Quite possibly the first true "casual" games, they allowed people to play games that didn't necessarily have the fastest fingers. But during the PS1/N64 era, many thought golf games were becoming too complicated, and so the "arcade golf" genre was born, with Mario Golf being one of the first standard-setters.

Mario Golf pares down things to a simplistic level. Pick a character, pick a course, and go hit the links. There are a few enhancements present here, such as a trick shot mode, where you must hit the ball through a series of rings. But for the most part, Mario Golf is as about as simple as sports games get, and that's a good thing in this case.

If there is fault to be found with the game, it's the fact that a good deal of the content is locked at the beginning. You'll only have one course and four characters to start off with, with the new stuff being gained by playing through various modes -- which can be a tough hop with under-powered characters like Baby Mario at your disposal.

But overall, with its' colorful graphics, bouncy music, and intuitive gameplay, Mario Golf is the perfect game to just pick up and play. And if you have a few buddies with you to go around the links with, so much the better.