Mario Golf: Advance Tour

Would you look at me funny if I told you this was one of my all-time favorite games? You’ve be immediately forgiven for thinking this is a golf game, what with the title, and the picture on the box, and all the screenshots of people playing golf. But it really isn’t. This is one of the loveliest RPGs Nintendo ever put out, developed by the geniuses at Camelot—you know, the same people who made Golden Sun

It’s about turning up at Mario’s golfing academy (playing as either Ella or Neil), getting to know the staff, competitors and learning the absolutely delightful overarching story, and then—sure—taking part in some golfing tournaments in between. In doing so, you gain XP, which you can then spend on improving aspects of your character’s game, the whole process feeling much more like improving spells than golf swings.

There are secrets to find, bonus competitions, and every course can get Mario-fied with bizarre extra elements like warp pipes, mushrooms and question blocks. And it’s all so overwhelmingly positive. This needs to be added to the archive, stat.