Part I: Planning your shot in Mario Golf: Super Rush.

Have you been hitting the green with the Mario Golf™: Super Rush game? Whether you’re a pro or green around the…um, green…everyone can benefit by going over the basics.

Get a fresh perspective

As you may expect, the courses you find in the game aren’t quite what you’d find in real life: they are filled with unexpected geography and some may even have some baddies that get in your way. Before you swing, press the X Button* to get an overhead view. Seeing the lay of the land will help you plan your shot.

Not only will you see hazards like Chain Chomps and Thwomps on the map, but you’ll see how far your ball will travel. The number value is the distance the ball will fly before it hits the ground, while the thick white ring is how far the ball can roll after hitting the ground.

Know your range

Have you been using the Range Finder and Elevation Finder? They’re easy to forget about, but no worries—to use them just press the R Button before you hit a shot. Next, line up your target with the center of the screen and it will measure 1) how far away your target is and 2) elevation changes. Elevation data will also appear as a graph on the bottom of the screen—this info is great to have in case there are hills or trees in the way.

Now if you press the R Button again, you can see the topography of where you pointed and how the hills are sloping. All this info is valuable when you’re selecting what type of club to use and deciding on where you want to hit the ball. For example, if you’re not confident with how you play on hills, maybe aim for flatter surfaces at first.

How the shot gauge works

This one may feel a bit different if you’re used to past Mario Golf games. To take a standard shot in Mario Golf: Super Rush with button controls, press the A Button to start the power meter and then press the A Button again to stop it. The higher the meter, the more powerful your shot.

Specialty shots

Standard shot are cool, but you can do some fancier shots, too! if you press the A Button to start the meter and then stop the meter by quickly tapping the A Button twice, you’ll add some topspin to your shot (which means the ball will roll farther forward after it hits the ground). If you stop the meter by pressing the B Button or tapping the B Button twice, you will add either backspin or super backspin (which means the ball is more likely to either stay put or roll backwards after hitting the ground).

Using the info you get from the overhead view and the Range Finder will help you pick the best shot.

Beware the shift!

Ok, let’s pause here and explain something a little…shifty. Depending on the club you’re using and the terrain you are standing on, you’ll see red areas on either side of the shot gauge. If you swap your clubs, you may see this area get bigger or smaller. What are these mysterious areas? Well, they have to do with something called “shift.”

Basically, if you use a lot of power to swing your club, your power meter will rise into these red areas. Based on a combination of different factors (like your club and character stats) your shot may then randomly shift to the side. So now you have a decision to make. Do you want to go full power and risk your ball randomly shifting to the side? Or do you want less power for a more reliable shot? There isn’t a clear-cut answer because it depends on different conditions and your skill level. However, when you’re starting out, you may want to go slow and try multiple shorter shots.

Of course, pro players don’t just use one club: You can get around some of these shifty problems by experimenting with different clubs. Try out different clubs in different situations and you’ll start to see why your golf bag has so many clubs in it!

Whew! That was a lot to talk about. Please read Part II of this series to learn about curving your shot and Star Clubs.