Mario Golf: Super Rush is the first new game in the series since 2014's Mario Golf: World Tour on 3DS. All that time brought many new systems and changes to the formula, some of which are particularly disappointing - including Mario Golf: Super Rush's "shift" mechanic.
The Mario Golf series is well known for its RPG-lite single-player mode. Super Rush has a solo campaign, but it's scaled back compared to most of the previous entries, acting more like an extended tutorial than a full game mode. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it is frustrating for fans hoping Super Rush's single player would return to the series' RPG roots.
Like the campaign, Mario Golf: Super Rush's gameplay changes are generally not disruptive - and, in some cases, purely a net positive. For example, some players won't enjoy the dashing mechanic introduced with Speed Golf, but that's easily turned off. Unfortunately, players can't change the frustrating shift system.
What Makes Mario Golf: Super Rush's Shift Mechanic So Frustrating
Shift is, essentially, a way for Super Rush to interject some randomness into its moment-to-moment gameplay. When lining up a shot, a meter shows how much power is being applied to the swing. At the top of this meter is a red triangle, and if the power is stopped inside of that triangle, the player's shot will randomly send the ball off to one side or the other. The triangle changes shape and severity depending on the type of shot, but it's always there, ready to disrupt the player's plans.
Golf is about precision. Taking that away makes for a frustrating experience. During each shot, players need to factor in the lie, wind speed, and hazards. Then, they may need to use control tools to shape the shot, depending on what's in their way on the course. Shift can ruin everything, and there's no way to account for it with Mario Golf's shot mechanics. In some ways, shift is an understandable inclusion. After all, in real-life golf, not every shot comes off exactly as the golfer plans. Subtle shifts in grip and swing can influence the ball without meaning to. However, those types of mechanics feel out of place in an arcade golf video game.
Instead of finding the fun of golf and running with it, Super Rush introduces a sticking point that harms an experience already hindered in several other areas. With the game suffering from a lack of content, shift goes from an annoyance to just another item in a laundry list of disappointment. Fortunately, Nintendo has the opportunity to fix the content drought with DLC, but it can't fix Mario Golf: Super Rush's shift without some big post-launch changes.