IGN

You don't have to be a hardcore golf fan to get hooked on Mario Golf: World Tour. It rewards good play, gives plenty to do, and is a great teacher. Its incremental approach to challenge kept me coming back to test myself, and the post-game challenges and multiplayer modes inspired me to play in new ways even after I thought I was a pro.

Digital Spy

That's the nature of golf, then, but with the magic of Mario lining the seams, it feels like this game doesn't know quite where it wants to land.


Eurogamer

The natural comparison is with Everybody's Golf - which, of course, developer Camelot was responsible for in the first instance - and while the Vita game has, by a distance, the superior single-player structure, World Tour is more than a match for it in the quality of its courses and the breadth of its options. Both play a great round of golf, because both are founded upon a game mechanic that is the Holy Grail of sports games: easy to learn, difficult to master, reliable enough to empower players while leaving room for the unpredictability of human error. Click, click, click, BOOM.

NintendoLife

Mario Golf: World Tour delivers, most notably right out of the box, a lengthy and involving experience. There is impressive depth not just in the level of content and diversity of options, but in the golf mechanics themselves; the catered options for beginners and stronger players are impeccably implemented. A minor quibble is that attempts at zaniness with items feel rather superfluous, while well-designed courses would have benefited from some less conventional designs. Aside from that, however, this is an excellent addition to the 3DS library, and offers a fresh experience from its contemporaries. Whether you want to settle in for a 15 minute blast around some challenges, or a longer spell carefully constructing a new record score, this satisfies either desire.

GamesRadar

Mario Golf: World Tour may lack innovation, but it provides easy-to-grasp golfing fun and a slew of unique stages. It's a solid game that will keep you coming back for more.

VideoGamer UK

World Tour does nothing to advance golf games to wherever it is they need to go next - I think we can all admit the genre has become incredibly stale - but it still manages to entertain. And that, my friends, is no bad thing.

Edge

This inability to decide where World Tour lies among the many paths the series has taken previously is the game's true problem. It demonstrates both why Camelot is so trusted by Nintendo, and why it has been stuck making sporting spinoffs for so long. Camelot seems unsure of whether it would prefer to be held by the hand or simply set free, and ends up putting the player in that same awkward middle ground.

CVG

If you were hoping for another RPG experience like the Game Boy Color and GBA Mario Golf games, World Tour will disappoint. The Castle Club mode doesn't have that level of depth and its complete lack of guidance and direction will have you shouting a lot more than "fore" at it. If all you're looking for though is a solid no-nonsense golf game, then once you discover its Quick Round mode offers more than it seems, World Tour is worth a go.

NowGamer

The online competitions may not be quite as compelling or slick as they initially sounded, but Mario Golf: World Tour can still basically be classed as a robust and enthralling near must-have. Perfect it isn't, but that age-old formula clearly still has quite a bit of pep left in it.

Nintendo Insider

Dust off your golf clubs and enlist a hapless caddy, as Mario Golf: World Tour presents the most comprehensive entry in the series to date. The Mushroom Kingdom's finest continue to shine, and after a decade stuck in the bunker it will have you swinging your clubs for hours on end.

NintendoWorldReport

Mario Golf: World Tour succeeds in crafting a stellar golfing experience, one that will likely become a mainstay in multiplayer circles for a long time. The single-player portion doesn't seem fully realized, but the golf gameplay in World Tour is top notch. With a nice variety of courses and lots to unlock, this is another fine entry in the long line of Mario sports games.