Releases

The two versions compared on this page are the following:

Title screen

The most noticable changes to the title screen are the two different logos and the change from "Push Start" to "Press Start." There are also slight color differences, which are easiest to see in the sky and grass.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Welcome to Mario Golf

There were a few changes to the audio at the end of the intro sequence. Please refer to the sound clips below for the rest of this section.

» Sound clips (MP3): Japanese versionU.S. version

Mario and Wario's welcome

If you watch the intro sequence all the way through, Mario and Wario welcome you to the game when the title screen appears. Because of the title change from "Mario Golf 64" to "Mario Golf," the voice clips are different in each version. Wario also has more to say in the U.S. version.

Sound effects

Before Mario and Wario start talking, there's a "wheeew" sound, followed by a few "boings" leading up to a "clink," which we're guessing is supposed to represent a golf ball falling from the sky, bouncing on the green, then landing in the cup. There are more "boings" in the Japanese version, and the "clink" is softer in the U.S. version.

Music

In the Japanese version, starting when Mario and Wario say "64," an instrument plays an echoing series of notes. This was removed in the U.S. version, possibly to make Wario's line more audible.

Character select

Though the Japanese and U.S. releases were only 45 days apart, Metal Mario is not a playable golfer in the Japanese version. Metal Mario can be unlocked in the U.S. version by collecting all 108 Birdie Badges.

Japanese version	U.S. version

Also on the character select screen, the lettering used for "Drive" and the shot types ("Fade"/"Straight"/"Draw") was changed from plain-looking text to thick, multi-colored letters.

Options

Both versions have the same options, but the menu looks a lot different in the U.S. version. The change also made room for artwork of Mario on the right side of the screen.

Japanese version	U.S. version

How to play

On the "How To Play" screen, the two Goomba chalk drawings were darkened in the U.S. version. Also, the Japanese text in the bottom-right corner of the blackboard, which was removed in the U.S. version, reads, "Nitchoku Kinopio" (日直 キノピオ). This means that Toad (Kinopio) is assigned "day duty" (nitchoku) in the class. (In Japanese classrooms, students take turns being day-leaders, who are in charge of tasks such as erasing the blackboard and leading the morning greeting.)

Japanese version	U.S. version

Characters

Tournaments and Courses

Tournaments

Courses

Leader Board names

Each course has 30 total names that appear on the leader board while you're golfing in tournament mode. Some names appear in more than one course, resulting in 126 unique names in the JP version and 118 in the US version.

We've split up this section into names that appear in both versions, names that are unique to the Japanese version, and names that are unique to the U.S. version.

Names that appear in both versions

Names that are unique to the Japanese version

Names that are unique to the U.S. version

It's interesting to note that most of the non-video-game related names here match up quite well with names of staff members who either worked on Mario Golf or other Nintendo games around the same time. In the notes column we've added our best guesses as to who the people are.