Hi Chris, just read your piece. Had you played Toadstool's Tour before?
You intimate the it's fantastic "on the course" but the surrounding structure is what let's it down. Is that what makes it worth 7/10?
Is that combined with expectations of an RPG mode as well?
It's a combination of things, really. I did indeed play Toadstool Tour back in the day, though I must confess that was back when it was first released so I probably haven't played it for almost a decade.
I was a massive fan of the GBC and GBA games and was hoping that since Camelot had developed both of those, that the 3DS version would also have a similar RPG mode. However, to have dropped points for this reason would have been petty - nevertheless, I did feel it was worth mentioning in the review in case people were seeking that information.
The reason it dropped points (only in my opinion, of course) is because the main Castle Club mode is really a bit of a mess. It's packed with NPC characters randomly scattered around, the vast majority of whom say nothing of any value, meaning the rare few who do actually have advice get lost in the crowd. There's no map pointing out which rooms do what, and much of the first few hours of the game consist of wandering around with no clue where to go next.
Putting all the unlockable stuff in a mode called Quick Play was also a bizarre move in my opinion. In almost all sports games that implies "exhibition mode", a one-off match and nothing else. For that reason I didn't feel I had any reason to choose that mode until later, for the sake of completeness when writing the review, I tried it out and realised it had a Challenge mode which is actually the way the other courses are unlocked.
Until I discovered this there was no way of telling how to get the new courses. All I had was an empty room in the Castle Club with a single pipe leading to the Peach stage and not-at-all helpful Toad simply saying "this is the only course open just now". So what? Is it a timed unlock? Do I have to do something else? Play a certain number of practice games? Take part in an online game? I was lost.
In short, my feeling was that the majority of players who pick up this game are going to have a hell of a confusing time figuring out what to do and where to go next, and for that reason the first few hours spent with the game aren't quite as enjoyable as they should be. Had the game actually been structured better I'd have given it an 8, maybe a 9 had there been a wider range of online tournaments available and had the day one DLC been present in the game too (at least those two courses).
Sorry for the lengthy reply, hope that helps a little!
Chris
